Albrecht Bernstorff was the oldest of Andreas von Bernstorff's and Augusta von Hottinger's five children. The Bernstorff family was known for its eminent statesmen and diplomats. He grew up in Berlin and on the family estate in Stintenburg, and embarked upon a short agricultural apprenticeship before being chosen for a
Rhodes Scholarship in 1909. When Bernstorff learned that his application for a Rhodes scholarship had been accepted; he abandoned his studies in agriculture, and enrolled on October 8, 1909, as a
political economy student at
Trinity College, Oxford where he studied until 1911. During his stay at Oxford, he co-founded the Hanover Club, an Anglo-German student debating society, and co-authored a small booklet containing advice for future German students. The return from the United Kingdom was not easy for Bernstorff. He first enrolled in law at the
Humboldt University of Berlin, but from October 1, 1911, he had to do his military service. He carried it out as a voluntary
aspirant and chose the prestigious regiment of
cuirassiers of the guard. After only six months, he was exempted due to his hay fever and his asthma attacks, due to an allergy to horse hair. Bernstorff never got involved in the army. He completed his degree at
Kiel University, following a short stint of voluntary military service. After being admitted to diplomatic service in 1914, Bernstorff spent the next three years at the German Embassy in Vienna, from where he was recalled in 1917. He was later involved in the
Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission. He then took a one year leave from his diplomatic career to gain experience in the banking business, joining the bank Delbrück, Schickler & Co. in Berlin. Bernstorff worked at the
German Embassy in London from 1923 to 1933 and was considered an important figure in
British–German relations. He was forced into retirement for his open opposition to the
Nazi government. After returning to Germany, he joined the Jewish bank A.E. Wassermann, which was engaged in transferring Jewish assets abroad. In 1940, he was sent to
Dachau concentration camp but was released a few months later. Through
Adam von Trott zu Solz, he had established relations with both the
Solf Circle and the
Kreisau Circle and used his wide range of contacts in Germany and abroad to help connect resistance members to influential circles which helped lay preparation for the
20 July plot. After a second arrest in July 1943, Bernstorff was imprisoned at the
Gestapo headquarters, then in February 1944 at the
Ravensbrück concentration camp. In December 1944, he was transferred to
Lehrter Strasse prison, in Berlin's
Moabit district, where the Gestapo interrogated him under torture. At the end of April 1945, he was assassinated by the
SS. ==References==