Marnix Krop

About Marnix Krop

Marnix Krop served as the Dutch ambassador in Berlin from 2009 to 2013, where he followed and guided the remarkable rise of Germany’s significance in Europe.

Born on September 2, 1948, he completed his law degree at the University of Groningen in 1972. From 1973 to 1975, he pursued a master’s degree in International Relations in Bologna (Italy) and Washington, DC. From 1977 to 1985, he worked at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation in Amsterdam, initially as a research associate and since 1980 as deputy director. In 1989, he joined the diplomatic service and served as deputy ambassador in France (Paris) and as ambassador in Poland (Warsaw, co-accredited in Minsk) and Germany (Berlin). At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Krop was a speechwriter for Minister van den Broek, director of the strategy department, and served as the general director for European cooperation (DGES) from 2002 to 2006.

In August 2013, Marnix Krop bid farewell to his last “country” and simultaneously to Dutch diplomacy in a typically Dutch manner by cycling nearly 900 kilometers from Berlin to Wassenaar.

He currently works as an independent advisor and publicist (KropPBA). Additionally, he is a Fellow at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague and the Germany Institute of the University of Amsterdam. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of various cultural institutions and recently wrote a book about Germany and Europe, which is set to be published this month.

In his lectures, the retired ambassador speaks engagingly about the euro crisis, Germany’s (leading) role within and outside the European Union, as well as about German-Dutch relations in politics, economy, culture (and in football). Due to his many years of experience in leadership positions, leadership is a natural topic for the former ambassador.