Karl Leo Julius Fürst von Wedel
(5.2.1842 - 30.12.1919)
place of birth:  Oldenburg, Niedersachsen  (Lower Saxony)


Prussian diplomat and general of cavalry who represented Prussian abroad as military attache or ambassador. Prince (Fürst) von Wedel 
entered the military as a lieutenant in 1860, serving during as adjutant in the Hessian Cavalry Brigade during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. As a major in the Great General Staff, he was the German Empire's military representative during the negotiations to draw up the border between Bulgaria and Rumelia. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877 to 1878 he functioned as military observer within Russian Headquarters.

Prince von Wedel's diplomatic career was launched shortly thereafter when he was dispatched to the Prussian Embassy in Vienna as military attache. Upon returning to Berlin, he entered service in Kaiser Wilhelm I's court as an aide-de-camp, a career line which would parallel his diplomatic service until his death in 1919. After commanding a regiment and brigade in Berlin, von Wedel was promoted in 1889 to Generalmajor and was called to duty as an adjutant within newly crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II's military entourage. During this period, he served in the Prussian Foreign Office and was also kept busy in royal courts throughout Europe. 

Over the next few years and leading up to the War, von Wedel served in diplomatic posts in Sweden, Italy, and Austria. During his seven-year tenure as Reichsstatthalter (imperial governor) in Alsace-Lorraine, he was caught up in political unrest there during the "Saverne Affair". Upon returning to Berlin in April of 1914, he re-entered full-time service as Adjutant-General in Kaiser Wilhelm's military retinue, a posting he maintained throughout the Great War.