Georg von und zu Franckenstein

Georg Albert Freiherr von und zu Franckenstein (18 March 1878 – 14 October 1953), known as Sir George Franckenstein, was an Austrian diplomat and a member of the Franckenstein family. Opposed to the Nazis, he became a British citizen when his post was suppressed in 1938. Biography Franckenstein was born in Dresden, Saxony, the son of Karl Baron von und zu Franckenstein (1831–1898), a diplomat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Elma née Countess von Schönborn-Wiesentheid (1841–1884). He was the younger brother of the composer and General Intendant of Munich Clemens von und zu Franckenstein (1875–1942). Georg spent his youth between Franconia and Vienna. Educated at the famous Schottengymnasium, followed by the study of politics and law at the University of Vienna, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Austrian Empire to become a career diplomat. His first posting took him to Washington D.C., followed by the Russian imperial Court in Saint Petersburg and Rome. After a short interlude at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vienna, he was ordered to the Japanese Imperial Court, then to India, and finally to Brussels, before becoming K+K Kommerzdirektor of the Austrian Embassy to the Court of St James's, Westminster. The beginning of the First World War in 1914 forced him to leave Britain and return home.