Editing Otto von Guericke (section)

=== Diplomatic pursuits ===
Otto von Guericke's first diplomatic mission on behalf of the city led him in September 1642 to the court of the [[Electorate of Saxony|Elector of Saxony]] at [[Dresden]]. Von Guericke's mandate was to bring about a more lenient treatment from the [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxon]] military commander for Magdeburg. In 1648, he represented the city at the peace treaty delegation, that ended the Thirty Year's War. During a 1654 diplomatic mission to [[Regensburg]], Guericke presented his invention of the air-pump to impress those he was going to meet and help sway the talks in his favour, as well as promote his own scientific achievements. Diplomacy assignments, often dangerous as well as tedious, would occupy much of his time for the next twenty years. His private life, of which much remains unclear, was developing in parallel. Otto von Guericke utilised both his official status and his scientific knowledge in each other's support to serve his city's political agenda. Demonstrations of his inventions, such as the air-pump and the [[electrostatic generator]] were meant to impress his audiences and improve and extend political communication. He would, if necessary forgo scientific and technical elaborations on how his showpieces worked, leaving people to believe in his wizardry, a characteristic that was of great use for the promotion of a great leader.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment|last=Schiffer|first=Michael|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|isbn=9780520939851|pages=17–18}}</ref><ref name=":0" />