Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg

Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg
Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg
Interior Minister of Prussia
In office 1862–1878
Member of the Abgeordnetenhaus (Prussia)
In office 1866–1877
Constituency	Breslau 2 (Militsch-Trebnitz)
Personal details
Born	(1815-06-29)29 June 1815 Königsberg, East Prussia
Died	2 June 1881(1881-06-02) (aged 65) Berlin, Imperial Germany
Occupation	diplomat

Count Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg (29 June 1815 – 2 June 1881) was a Prussian diplomat and politician. He led the Eulenburg Expedition and secured the Prusso-Japanese Treaty of 24 January 1861, which was similar to other unequal treaties that European powers held Eastern Countries to.

Eulenburg was born in Königsberg. He was the oldest surviving child of Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Eulenburg (Prassen, 26 December 1787 - Königsberg, 30 July 1845) and Amalie Julie Eleonore née von Kleist (Perkuiken, 26 May 1792 - Königsberg, 16 November 1830).

Eulenburg studied law at the Universities of Königsberg and Bonn and worked as a government official in Oppeln then in various ministries in Berlin. In 1852 he entered the diplomatic service as the Prussian Consul-General in Antwerp. The expansion of Prussian trade led to the search of commercial partners in South-East and Eastern Asia and he was chosen to lead an extensive trade mission. Departing in October 1859 he set out for Japan, China and Siam.

In January 1861, he concluded a commercial treaty with the Bakufu, which was based on Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce. In September the same year, he concluded a commercial treaty with the Qing Empire, which was similar to the Treaties of Tianjin that Britain and France had concluded with China three years earlier.