When, at the Congress of Vienna, Hanover was elevated from an electorate to a kingdom and the Kingdom of Hanover was expanded to include the Catholic territories - the bishoprics of Osnabrück and Hildesheim - and had to negotiate political and canonical issues with the Pope, August Kestner returned to his beloved Rome in 1817 as legation secretary of the Hanoverian delegation.
The negotiations, which Hanover is the first state of the German Confederation to conduct with the Pope, drag on until 1824. After their conclusion, the delegation is transformed into an official legation. August Kestner is appointed Legation Councillor and from now on looks after the interests of the Kingdoms of Hanover and England, which were united in personal union until 1837, at the Holy See. In 1837 he was appointed Minister Resident, the permanent diplomatic representative, now solely for the Kingdom of Hanover. In 1843 he also took over the legation post in Naples.
August Kestner was the son of Johann Christian Kestner and Charlotte Kestner, née Buff. (AVS)