Danzig Senate Passport 1935
The following travel document is a unique, beautiful identification paper I have never seen before! Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
This SENATE PASSPORT (Senatspass) of the Free City of Danzig was used as a diplomatic passport issued Hans-Richard Hirschfeld, a government counselor, commissioner, later diplomat, and vice-consul in New York and Switzerland. When this Senate passport was issued in 1935, Hirschfeld was already working for a few years in the Presidential Department of the Gdansk Senate.
As the son of the landowner
Feodor Hirschfeld and his wife, Emma née Schwerdtfeger, Hirschfeld attended the Realgymnasium in Rendsburg. During his military service from June 20 to December 7, 1918, he graduated from high school on September 23, 1918. He studied law and political science at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, the University of Jena, and the New Hamburg. From 1920 he was a member of the Corps Thuringia Jena. After his referential exam on May 26, 1923, he worked from June 1923 to January 1924 at the ship and cargo control of the Hamburg-America Line from January May 1924 as a sailor.
Until mid-December 1924, he was a construction worker in New York. On November 14, 1925, he joined the Justice and Administrative Service of the Free State of Prussia, and on December 22, 1925, the Free City of Gdansk.
After his assessor’s examination on January 29, 1930, he was in the Foreign Department from November 1, 1930, to May 31, 1931, and from July 17, 1932, to August 30, 1936, and in the Presidential Department of the Senate of Danzig from June 1, 1931, to July 16, 1932. On November 1, 1932, he became a member of the Government Council. Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
What a career! From sailor to a construction worker and government council member to diplomat and vice-consul and even ambassador in Federal Germany after WWII! Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
On February 27, 1936,
he was drafted into the Foreign Service. On May 1, 1936, he joined the NSDAP. Initially an attaché in the legal department of the Foreign Office, Hirschberg was sent to the Consulate General in New York on October 3, 1936. In May 1938, he became vice-consul, and in December 1940, consul.
After the German consular authorities in the USA had been closed in June 1941, he was entrusted with provisional tasks in the Foreign Office (personnel, administration, organization, foreign propaganda).
On September 12, 1941, he was sent to the Legation Council of Bern in October 1943. Since June 27, 1944, Counsellor I. From June 1 to November 1, 1945, he was with the Federal Political Department, German Representation of Interests in Basel.
After returning to Germany,
he worked as a freelancer. He was denazified in November 1947. From May 3, 1948, to June 29, 1950, he worked at the Schenefeld District Office (District of Steinburg) as a civil servant and head of the housing office. On June 14, 1950, he was reassigned to the Foreign Service, which was initially a department of the Federal Chancellery; it was not until March 1951 that the Foreign Office was re-established.
From the end of 1951, Hirschfeld headed the Department of Private International Law and Civil Law, and from January 1952, he was a lecturer to the Legation Council. Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
On September 21, 1953, he took over the management of the re-established Consulate General in Antwerp. On November 2, 1956, he was appointed Ambassador in Reykjavík and remained in Iceland until October 17, 1964, retiring on May 25, 1964. Hans-Richard Hirschfeld was born on 26. Oktober 1900 in Aasbüttel and died on 28. Juni 1988 in Remagen-Oberwinter, he was 88 years old.
The Passport Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
As mentioned earlier, this is the first time this type of SENATE PASSPORT has been displayed! A beautiful document and significant for passport history in general. Every passport collector would love to have this document in their collection. Many thanks to my fellow US collector, who bought this outstanding document to my attention.
I talked to Helmut Weitze – Military Antiques, who sold this exceptional document and provided me with the pictures you see here. I am very grateful for this support. If you collect Militaria, then make sure to visit their website with fantastic collectibles. Congratulations to the collector who got this precious document into his collection!Danzig Diplomatic Senate Passport
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
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