List of ambassadors of France to Germany

This list of ambassadors of France to Germany and precursors of the modern German state also includes top-ranking French diplomats in Germany who did not formally have the ambassador title.

Ambassadors to the Holy Roman Empire

The former French Legation to the Perpetual Diet in Regensburg

Ambassadors to the German Confederation

Ambassadors to the German Confederation, also accredited to the Free City of Frankfurt, include:

For partial lists, see footnote[2] and.[3]

Ambassadors to German states

France established permanent diplomatic missions to individual German states during the Thirty Years War or shortly thereafter, most notably Bavaria, Cologne, Prussia, Saxony and the free Hanseatic cities at Hamburg, all of which date from a time around the 1620s to 1640s.[4]

 Bavaria: French envoys to the Bavarian Court at Munich

 Cologne: French envoys to the Cologne Court at Bonn

 Hamburg: French envoys to Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg

 Prussia: French envoys to the Brandenburg-Prussian Court at Berlin

 Saxony: French envoys to the Saxon Court at Dresden

At the time of the German Confederation additional missions were opened in Baden, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau and Württemberg.[2][3] After disestablishment of the German Confederation and establishment of the North-German Confederation, France's mission at Berlin became France's principal mission to Germany.

Ambassadors to the German Empire and Germany (1871–1939)

Ambassador André François-Poncet with German field marshal Erhard Milch

For main sources for this section, see footnote[5] and.[6]

Start of termEnd of termAmbassador
18721877Elie de Gontaut-Biron[7]
18771881Raymond de Saint-Vallier
18811886Alphonse Chodron de Courcel
18861896Jules Gabriel Herbette
18961902Emmanuel Henri Victurnien de Noailles
19021907Georges Paul Louis Bihourd
19071914Jules Cambon
19141920Break in diplomatic relations during World War I and its aftermath
June 1920December 1922Charles François Laurent[8]
19221931Pierre de Margerie
19311938André François-Poncet
19381939Robert Coulondre

Ambassadors to West Germany

For main sources for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Diplomatic relations between France and Germany were cut following the invasion of Poland in 1939. France restored diplomatic relations with West Germany in 1949 and with East Germany in 1973.

Start of termEnd of termAmbassador
19491955André François-Poncet (Allied High Commissioner from 1949 to 1955 and ambassador after August 1, 1955)
19551956Louis Joxe
19561958Maurice Couve de Murville
19581962François Seydoux de Clausonne
19621965Roland de Margerie
19651970François Seydoux de Clausonne
19701974Jean Sauvagnargues
19741977Olivier Wormser
19771981Jean-Pierre Brunet
19811983Henri Froment-Meurice
19831986Jacques Morizet
19861992Serge Boidevaix (German reunification occurred in 1990)

Ambassadors to East Germany

For the main source for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Diplomatic relations between France and Germany were cut following the invasion of Poland in 1939. France restored diplomatic relations with West Germany in 1949 and with East Germany in 1973.

Start of termEnd of termAmbassador (or diplomat of highest rank)
19731974Jacques Jessel (Chargé d'Affaires)
19741976Bernard Guillier de Chalvron
19761981Henry Bayle
19811981Xavier du Cauzé de Nazelle[11]
19811986Maurice Deshors[12]
19861990
(German reunification)
Joëlle Timsit

Ambassadors to post-reunification Germany

For main sources for this section, see footnote[9] and.[10]

Start of termEnd of termAmbassador
19861992Serge Boidevaix (German reunification occurred in 1990)
19921993Bertrand Dufourcq
19931999François Scheer
19992007Claude Martin
20072011Bernard de Montferrand
20112014Maurice Gourdault-Montagne
20142017Philippe Étienne
20172022Anne-Marie Descôtes
2022François Delattre[13]

See also

References