Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary

The Imperial and Royal Foreign Ministry (German: k. u. k. Ministerium des Äußern) was the ministry responsible for the foreign relations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the formation of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until it was dissolved in 1918.

The history of Austrian diplomatic service began, when in 1720 Emperor Charles VI appointed his court chancellor Count Philipp Ludwig Wenzel von Sinzendorf Minister of the Privy Conference, responsible of foreign affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. From 1753 to 1792 Austrian foreign policy was headed by State Chancellor Prince Wenzel Anton of Kaunitz-Rietberg.

After the Austrian Empire was proclaimed in 1804, foreign affairs remained a prerogative of the Emperor and his appointed minister; epitomized by Prince Klemens von Metternich who held the office throughout the Biedermeier period and made his Geheime Hofkanzlei on Ballhausplatz next to Hofburg Palace in Vienna a European centre of power. The Baroque building, venue of the Vienna Congress, had been erected in 1719 according to plans designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. The word Ballhausplatz was often used as a metonym for the ministry, similar to Downing Street or Quai d'Orsay.

From 1867, the Foreign Ministry was one of the three common ministries (kaiserlich und königlich, often abbreviated k.u.k.) created by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, together with the Minister of War and Joint Minister of Finance concerned for the common aspects of the dual monarchy, i.e. the Foreign Policy, the Austro-Hungarian Army and the Navy. The Minister of the Imperial and Royal House and of Foreign Affairs was nominated by the Emperor; he was also chairman of the Ministers' Council for Common Affairs as governing body of the Austro-Hungarian real union. The headquarters of the ministry remained at No. 2 Ballhausplatz.

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