Burgh was born Karl Hans Schweinburg[1] on 9 December 1925 in Vienna, Austria.
[3] From his family's flat that overlooked Vienna's Ringstrasse, Burgh saw Adolf Hitler touring the city following the 1938 Anschluss that annexed Austria into Nazi Germany.
He then began work in an aircraft factory,[2] which he continued until the end of World War II.
[4] Following graduation, Burgh joined the administrative branch of the Civil Service.
[2] He spent two years on secondment to Community Relations Commission where he served as Deputy chairman from 1971 to 1972.
[2][3] He returned to the Civil Service as the deputy secretary in charge of the Central Policy Review Staff under Lord Rothschild.
[3] He was director-general of the British Council from 1980 to 1987, and president of Trinity College, Oxford, from 1987 to 1996.