LERSNER, KURT FREIHERR VON

(1883-1954), diplomat; Franz von Papen's* envoy to Bavaria* during 1932. Born to a Prussian officer in Saarburg (now Sarrebourg in France), he studied political science before taking a doctor-ate in law in 1905 at Heidelberg. He joined the foreign service in 1908 and was posted to the embassy in Washington in 1913, serving as second secretary until the outbreak of war. A reserve officer, he was recalled and assigned to the General Staff's political section. In October 1916, owing to a dispute with his section chief, he became liaison to the Foreign Office. Although he was discharged in February 1917, he was reassigned to the Foreign Office, which in turn appointed him liaison to the Supreme Command. He soon faced the delicate task of cultivating cooperation between the Foreign Office and Erich Luden-dorff.* His role was singularly critical during the Armistice* negotiations of late October 1918 when, reporting to Prinz Max* von Baden, he urged "against granting credence to any possible promises of the Supreme Army Command"; Ludendorff was dismissed forthwith.From November 1918 he was assigned to Germany's Armistice Commission, a post he retained until March 1919. He then accompanied the team that went with Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau* to Ver-sailles* and succeeded Rantzau in June 1919 as the team's chairman. In Feb-ruary 1920, after managing to coax some concessions from the Allies, he resigned in disgust over their list of war criminals.

Lersner held a Reichstag* mandate during 1920-1924 for the DVP and served on the chamber's foreign affairs committee. In mid-1921 he became chairman of the committee researching the causes of World War I; he resigned the post in 1925. He was uneasy with the Republic; his opposition to Gustav Strese-mann* led him to resign from the DVP in 1924 in an abortive bid to reestablish the National Liberal Party. He thereafter served in Berlin as a legation counselor (Legationsrat); during 1929-1934 he was assigned to IG Farben.* On 20 July 1932 Papen briskly dispatched him to Bavaria to calm fears that his "Prussian coup" was the first step in a general crackdown on Germany's federal structure. Although Lersner remained in retirement during most of the Third Reich, he engaged in various diplomatic missions to Paris. While he was assigned during 1939-1945 to the embassy in Turkey, he helped Ambassador Papen draft a secret peace initiative to the Allies.