Adolph Aloys Freiherr von Braun (17 June 1818 – 4 March 1904) was a diplomat and statesman who became one of the closest collaborators of the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

He was the Privy Councillor and Director of the Emperor's Cabinet's Chancellery (Hofrat und Chefs der Kabinetskanzlerei) from 1865 to 1899.

Von Braun was born in a suburb of Bubna in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia (today the Czech Republic).

He attended primary and high school in Prague and Pilsen, graduated with highest honours, and received the "Ring of the Emperor".

1850-1851 : Accompanied the Foreign Minister to conferences in Dresden and other German courts and was entrusted with special missions at this crucial historic moment for the Empire.

Responsibilities as Chargé d'Affairs were extended to the Princely Courts of Lippe, Schaumburg-Lippe, Waldeck and Hessen-Homburg and to a special mission at the Grand Duchy of Baden.

1869 : Napoleon III invited the Emperor Franz Joseph I to the opening of the Suez Canal (planned by Austrian Engineer Alois Negrelli and built by French Ferdinand de Lesseps).

Braun traveled in the retinue of the Emperor who made the first pilgrimage of a Habsburg Monarch to the Holy Land since Friedrich III in 1430.

1881 : Braun was appointed Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Kanzler des Goldenen Vlies) until his death.

[2] He developed personal relationships and correspondence with musicians such as Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.

Braun spoke fluent German, Czech, French, Italian and English and had extensive knowledge of the numerous languages spoken in the Austrian Empire.