Jürgen Ruhfus

Ruhfus, the son of an engineer, studied law and economics in Munich and Münster, and also spent time as an exchange student in Denver, Colorado.

On 22 May 1978, Rufus was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the civil division of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elisabeth II,[4] believed to be for his involvement as Schmidt's foreign policy officer and security advisor in the Anglo-German cooperation during the aircraft hijacking and subsequent West German GSG 9 rescue operation of Lufthansa Flight 181, which occurred between 13–18 October 1977, which he was involved in.

[5] After a period of reorganization, he returned to the Foreign Office in 1983,[6] where he was appointed permanent state secretary in July 1984.

[1] In November 1987, he re-entered the diplomatic service, succeeding Günther van Well as West German ambassador in Washington.

Ruhfus was chairman of the German-British Society (Deutsch-Englische Gesellschaft),[7] and served on the advisory board of the German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA.