Leeftijd:46y 6m 29d
Il est marié avec Matilda Cass Ledyard.
Ils se sont mariés le 24 février 1897 à Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, United States, il avait 43 ans.Source 1
Clemens August Freiherr von Ketteler (22 November 1853 – 20 June 1900) was a German career diplomat. He was murdered during the Boxer Rebellion.
Family and early career:
Born at Mâºnster in western Germany, Baron von Ketteler was born into a noble Mâºnsterland family. His uncle Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler was a Zentrum party politician. His nephew was the diplomat Wilhelm Freiherr von Ketteler thatwas murdered by the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsfâºhrers SS (SD) in Vienna in 1938 for his opposition to Hitler. Another relative was the french marshal Louis Franchet d'Espâ®rey. Kettelers american wife Matilda Cass Ledyard shared ancestorswith the Bush family.
Following his graduation in Mâºnster and Coesfeld in 1873, he entered the Prussian military and served there until he was appointed to join the Imperial German diplomatic corps in 1882.
Initially he served as an interpreter in the German consulates in Kanton (Guangzhou) and Tientsin between 1880 and 1889. After working in the German Department of Foreign Affairs for a short period, he was sent to Washington, D.C. between1892 and 1896 and to Mexico from 1896 to 1899.
Death in Beijing:
Ketteler returned to China in 1899 as Plenipotentiary at Beijing, from which he pointed out in vain the dangerous situation for the Europeans. On 12 June 1900, when the Boxers moved to the inner city and burned down church buildings,Ketteler reacted by ordering German embassy guards to hunt them down. On 18 June, German troops captured a Chinese civilian suspected of being a Boxer in the inner city and took him to the Legation Quarter, where he was detained. The crowdwhich later gathered to demand his release were fired upon by Austrian guards; many were wounded. On 14 June, soldiers of the German Marines fended off Boxers trying to break through the barricades and managed to kill approx. 20 of them.
The Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves engaged in combat against Clemens von Ketteler and the German marines at the Legations on June 17. Stones were hurled at the Germans by the Chinese Muslims, Ketteler told his marines to shoot back at theMuslim troops. The Muslim troops were feared by the westerners, so the British Sir Claude Macdonald warned that "When our own troops arrive we may with safety assume a different tone, but it is hardly wise now.", warning von Ketteler forhis shooting incident with the Muslim forces.
Ketteler brutally attacked a Chinese civilian for no reason, and beat a boy who was with him after taking him to the legations. Ketteler then murdered the boy by shooting him. In response, Thousands of Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves underGeneral Dong Fuxiang of the Imperial Army and Boxers went on a violent riot against the westerners. The Kansu braves then attacked and killed Chinese Christians around the legations in revenge for foreign attacks on Chinese. Angry at theChinese Christians for collaborating with foreigners who were murdering Chinese, the Muslims and Boxers roasted some of them alive and attacked and ransacked their property. The Muslims also assassinated the Japanese chancellor, tearing himapart.
At 8.00 a.m. on 20 June, Ketteler, together with his interpreter and other associates, headed for the Zongli Yamen (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) accompanied by armed escorts. At the western end of Xizongbu Hutong, only one block awayfrom the ministry, the party ran into the Manchu Hushenying bannerman and were fired upon. Ketteler was killed in the ensuing firefight. Ketteler was specifically targeted by the Manchu captain En Hai for assassination, in revenge forKetteler murdering the boy. En Hai, later gave himself up to the Allied occupying forces. A Muslim commander from the Kansu Braves then ripped the skin off the Baron and ate his heart.
En Hai was subsequently tried and convicted, and was executed in Beijing on 31 December 1900 by beheading. He showed no emotion during interrogation, and was fully composed and calm, admitting to killing Ketteler, and even requestedexecution, saying "I received orders from my sergeant to kill every foreigner that came up the street...I am glad to die for having killed one of the enemies of my country." When questioned about whether he had consumed alcohol during theincident, En Hai said he had not "touched a drop". En Hai was praised as "brave and dignified", and called a "hero".
Ketteler was succeeded by Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein as ambassador of the German Empire in Beijing, who signed the Boxer Protocol on behalf of Germany.
The Ketteler-Denkmal in Beijing:
After China's loss to the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1901, treaties were signed between China and eleven nations (the Eight Nations plus Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands). Prince Chun, father of the last emperor Puyi, travelled to Germanyin his official capacity as ambassador extraordinary to express the regrets of Emperor Guangxu over the death of Ketteler to Kaiser Wilhelm II. A paifang or "memorial gate" called Ketteler-Denkmal (German: "Ketteler Memorial") was erectedat the location where he fell. Work on this gate began on 25 June 1901 and was completed on 8 January 1903.
On 13 November 1918, two days after Germany signed an armistice with the Allies, the Ketteler-Denkmal was officially abolished. The following year, the gate was moved to the present-day Zhongshan Park and renamed "The Victory of JusticeGate" (Chinese: â⢠¬¨â߬ê¬Üⶬà¬ââ⢬ã¬ùâ߬â¬åâ⢬ù¬ä). In 1953, on occasion of the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference in Beijing, it was renamed once again, this time to "The Protection of Peace Gate".
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