High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Valdemar Rudolph von Raasløff (6 November 1815 in Altona 14 February 1883 in Paris) was a Danish politician, military officer and diplomat. Raasløff spent his school years in Sorø and in 1832 he was admitted to the Royal Military College (Kgl. Militære Højskole), from which he graduated in 1838 as second lieutenant in the artillery. Instead of serving in Denmark, he applied for service abroad and in 1840-41 he served in the French Army in Algeria. He later summarized his experiences in Algeria in a book, which was translated into several languages. In 1849-50, he served as captain in the Danish army in the First War of Schleswig, however, in 1851, he left the military in order to go to America and become an engineer. In 1857, he was appointed Denmark's Minister Resident in Washington, DC.