Career
He took up his post as ambassador to Hungary on May 11, 1937. Although serving as ambassador for Hitler"s government during a critical period, he was not himself a Nazi: the United States. Ambassador to Hungary at the time, John F. Montgomery, mentioned that von Erdmannsdorff "almost resigned at one time because he didn"t want to cope with the Nazis", and Hungarian regent Miklós Horthy described him as "the last of the professional German diplomats". He was replaced as ambassador in July 1941 by Dietrich von Jagow, a party member rather than professional diplomat.
Thereafter, he served as Deputy to Ernst Wörmann, who was Chief of the Political Division of the German Foreign Office.
This led to von Erdmannsdorff"s being charged with war crimes in the Ministries Trial after the war. However, he was acquitted as a result of a determination that he lacked sufficient power and influence to have been able to prevent the crimes.
His memoirs are unpublished, and contain among other things a number of quotations from Horthy recorded during von Erdmannsdorff"s four years representing Germany in Hungary.