He was the apostolic nuncio to Germany from 1930 to 1946. This makes him one of the very few international diplomats in Berlin who lived through the rise, madness and fall of the NS-regime. Historical judgment doesn't really treat him too kindly. During his years in Germany he was thought of as being too weak and timid to thoroughly look after the Vatican's interests. Konrad von Preysing, bishop of Berlin from 1935 to 1950, even wrote to the Vatican in 1943 asking for a new nuncio who'd whoop butt and take names. Too late, of course.
The brainless anti-catholic or anti-christian or anti-clerical or anti-religous crowd loves Orsenigo, because there is a famous photo in which you see him talking to Hitler. This, of course, is proof enough that the Catholic Church was, like, totally Nazi, dude!
The giant you see in this last photo is none other than Clemens August Graf von Galen, who would soon become bishop of Münster and cardinal.
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The fine building in the background is the last episcopal palace to have been built in pre-revolutionary Germany. The architect, Johann Conrad Schlaun, is not well known outside of Germany (or even Westphalia), but he was one of the greats of the German baroque.
This, the palace for the prince-bishops of Muenster, is now the seat of the city's university.
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