Adolf Marschall von Bieberstein

Adolf Freiherr Marschall von Bieberstein (12 October 1842 in Karlsruhe – 24 September 1912 in Badenweiler) was a German politician and State Secretary of the Foreign Office of the German Empire.

Marschall von Bieberstein's father, Augustus Marschall von Bieberstein, was chamberlain to the Grand Duke of Baden, and his mother, before her marriage, was Baroness von Falkenstein. He was educated at the Gymnasium of Frankfurt am Main, and studied jurisprudence at the Universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg. He was a member of the Corps Suevia, a Studentenverbindung.

After finishing his studies, he started on a career in government, working as a prosecutor in Mosbach und Mannheim. His career as a politician began in 1875, as a representative in the First Chamber of Baden; from 1878 to 1881 he was also a member of the Reichstag for the German Conservative Party and at first supported Bismarck, but then he undertook an oppositional stance towards Bismarck, after the latter turned towards the conservatives in 1879. From 1883 to 1890 Marschall von Bieberstein was the envoy of the Grand Duchy of Baden in Berlin, and participated in the fall of Bismarck in 1890.

In 1890 he succeeded Herbert von Bismarck as State Secretary of the Foreign Office under Otto von Bismarck's successor Leo von Caprivi. When he first assumed office, he incurred the enmity of Bismarck by refusing his advice. The result was a fierce press campaign against Marschall von Bieberstein. He supported Caprivi's reconciliation policy through trade agreements and sought compromise with Britain. After Caprivi's dismissal in 1894, Marschall von Bieberstein succeeded him as Foreign Minister of Prussia while remaining State Secretary under the new Chancellor Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst.

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