 He served in the diplomatic corps at Athens, Dresden, and Frankfurt as Secretary of Legation; and served as ambassador in Copenhagen (1864), took part in negotiating the Treaty of Prague (1866), and from Berlin went to Constantinople (1868), Athens (1869), The Hague (1872), and in 1877 to the Italian court.He represented Austria-Hungary at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 and served as foreign minister from 1879 to 1881.In this post he was especially active in effecting friendly relations with Italy and cementing the alliance with Germany.