Rudolf Weber (1861-1925) was born in Amtsbauhof near Schwerin, Mecklenburg. After studying law in Tübingen, Berlin and Leipzig he joined the German Foreign Office for a career as a diplomat, with posts as a consul and consul general in Bahia, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay, and Jassy, Romania. During the second half of the First World War, he was a captain in the German army in Champagne, France, commanding a German-held territory behind the lines.