In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Newly Discovered Sources on Carl von Waeber (1841–1910): Sylvia Bräsel, “Bilder eines Diplomatenlebens zwischen Europa und Ostasien”*
  • Tatiana M. Simbirtseva (bio) and Sergei V. Volkov (bio)

“Bilder eines Diplomatenlebens zwischen Europa und Ostasien”: Carl von Waeber (1841–1910) [Pictures of one diplomat’s life between Europe and East Asia: Carl von Waeber (1841–1910)] is a photo-book by the German researcher Dr. Sylvia Bräsel. Following the monograph by Bella Pak (B. Pak 2013) discussed below, it is the second book dedicated to the first-ever Russian diplomatic representative to Korea, Karl Ivanovich Waeber (German: Carl [Karl]1 Friedrich [End Page 403] Theodor von Waeber; Korean: Wi Pae 韋貝, 1841–1910). It is written for a general readership, but will undoubtedly attract scholars’ attention too, as it presents for the first time a hitherto unknown historical source—the Waebers’ family archive. Bräsel was able to gain access to the archive when she found, through persistent effort, the diplomat’s granddaughter, the last surviving member of his family, in Germany in 2015. It is this important scholarly contribution by Bräsel that we would particularly like to emphasize here.

As stated in the preface, the book recounts the odyssey of the Baltic German diplomat Carl von Waeber’s family in the Russian Imperial service in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, between East Asia, especially Korea, and Eastern and Western Europe, through images and text. It would therefore be more correct to say that the book is dedicated to Carl von Waeber rather than Karl Ivanovich Waeber. The former name is how he is invariably referred to in this book—with the family prefix “von” indicating that he belonged to the nobility, to which he was elevated for his achievements in the Russian service along with his promotion to the rank of active state councilor in 1888.

According to the rules of German anthroponymy, this prefix is preserved in all mentions of his name and the names of his family members. But here we refer to him as Waeber, as he is not referred to as “von Waeber” in any official Russian sources. Under Russian law he had no right to “von,” as he received his title of nobility in Russia, not abroad, and was not included in the official lists of noble clans of the Baltic provinces. Only those German families who had lived there and had received their title of nobility by the time those territories were annexed by Russia in the eighteenth century, or who migrated there from Germany or Austria after that period but already had a title of nobility by that time, were entitled to the prefix “von” in their family name.

The book presents about a hundred previously unpublished photographs and two dozen documents from the Waeber-Maack-Sontag family archives, accompanied by Bräsel’s comments. They reflect the life course of Waeber, his wife Jenny Alide Eugenie (1850–1921, née Maack), and their descendants, as well as Marie-Antoinette Sontag (1838–1922), a distant relative who accompanied the Waebers to East Asia as a nanny to their children and confidant. They are depicted in their relationships with each other, as well as with friends, colleagues, and personalities of the time. Slightly more than half of the photographs relate to their time in Korea (1885–1897). Separate selections tell of their childhood in the Baltics (Waeber and his wife) and Alsace (Sontag), as well as their final years in Radebeul, Germany and Cannes, France.

The seven single images of Waeber are of particular interest. Taken in different years on special occasions, they are sensational because Waeber’s photographs [End Page 404] were unknown until now. They are, first of all, two ceremonial portraits in official uniform with regalia (117, 132, 158). On the right side of his chest, one can see the Star of the Order of Saint Anna, First Class. That was the highest order he ever received. It was awarded to him on March 27, 1898, shortly after his return from Korea. These portraits may have been taken on that occasion.

A rare group photo (41) captures Waeber presumably in the last year of his studies (1865...

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