Adolf von Auer

Adolf von Auer (born March 22, 1831 in Munich ; † January 14, 1916 there ) was a German lawyer, chairman of the supervisory board of the Bavarian Mortgage and Exchange Bank and a member of the Bavarian Chamber of Imperial Councils .

Life

Auer came from a respected family of lawyers and officials who had been raised to hereditary nobility in 1832 . He was born as the son of the lawyer Ludwig Auer, studied law after graduating from high school in 1849 at the (today's) Wilhelmsgymnasium Munich and settled as a lawyer in Munich. His law firm was one of the largest and most respected Munich law firms. Auer, who was chairman of the Munich Bar Association for many years , established contacts with the Bavarian upper class, including through prominent clients of the old Bavarian nobility, including Prince Ludwig and the Counts of Montgelas , Lerchenfeld and Preysing , whom he represented on property and entailment law issues Prince Regent Luitpold , to whose hunting party he belonged and to whom he served as a political and economic advisor. In 1886 he married Amalie, the widow of his late friend Maximilian von Montgelas (1837-1884) and daughter of the Imperial Councilor Maximilian von Seinsheim , with which he had finally gained access to the Bavarian nobility .

On June 25, 1889, Auer was appointed Reichsrat for life. He belonged to the Chamber of Imperial Councils at a time when economic policy issues dominated the agenda. He was considered the most influential representative of an economically liberal, industry and trade-friendly policy that was opposed to all state interventionist measures. The basis of his influence was an extensive network of supervisory board positions that he held in the Bavarian economy: central was the chairmanship of the supervisory board of the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank, which he held from 1881 to 1914; in addition, he sat on the supervisory boards of the Munich gas lighting company, the Munich reinsurance company , the Bavarian central bank and the Bavarian insurance bank and was a member of other supervisory boards. Auer was a member of the Reich's stock market inquiry commission in 1892/93 . In the Chamber of Imperial Councils he exercised his influence primarily as a member of the Legal and Finance Committee (1893-1911) and as Vice President of the Chamber (1899-1914). That the ear of the Prince Regent belonged to him was evident from the central role he played as an advisor in the appointment of Georg von Hertling as chairman of the Bavarian Council of Ministers .

Auer remained a member of the Chamber of Imperial Councils until his death, but had already resigned all professional and public offices for reasons of age and health in 1914.

Julius von Auer (1832–1915), President of the Bavarian government, and Max von Auer (1821–1881), member of the state parliament, were his brothers.

Change of government in 1912

Auer's role as advisor to Prince Regent Luitpold in the change of government of 1912, which was significant for the history of the Bavarian political system, has only been recognized in more recent research. After a conflict broke out in November 1911 between the state government and the center faction in the Chamber of Deputies , which felt snubbed by Transport Minister Heinrich von Frauendorfer and subsequently refused to discuss the cultural budget, the state parliament was dissolved by the Prince Regent and new elections were held on February 5, 1912 written out. On the day of the election, Podewil's previous ministry resigned , still unaware of the result, apparently in the certain expectation that it would be entrusted with governance again. Auer belonged to Luitpold's closest circle of advisors (alongside the head of the secret chancellery Peter von Wiedenmann , the Berlin envoy Hugo von Lerchenfeld and Prince Ludwig ), with whom the regent discussed the possible options before the election. In this context, Auer submitted a remarkable report for the regent on February 2, 1912: Auer stated that the state parliament was being dissolved with the aim of electing other majorities that were more acceptable to the government; but if this project fails, ie if the old majority of the center is confirmed, then "the last shot has already been fired" and further dissolution of the state parliament is no longer possible; "The existing ministry must therefore relinquish in order to make room for a new one whose views more or less agree with the program (see above!) of the chamber majority". In this case Auer recommends his Reichsrat colleagues and parliamentary group chairman of the Center Party in the Reichstag, Georg von Hertling, as chairman of the Council of Ministers, who is "the only one in his party" who comes into question; Should Hertling refuse, then Podewils would have to remain in office, for which the center could be blamed. Since the center retained the absolute majority of the seats in the Chamber despite the loss of votes and Hertling did not refuse the offer, the new ministry was appointed on February 12, 1912 in the spirit of Auer, and the new chairman of the Council of Ministers expressly understood it not as a parliamentary but as a constitutional ministry; nevertheless, for the first time since 1869, this change of government brought a ministry to power that was in agreement with the majority of the Chamber of Deputies.

literature

• Bernhard Löffler : The Bavarian Chamber of Reichsräte 1848 to 1918. Fundamentals, composition, politics (series of publications on Bavarian national history, volume 108), Munich: CH Beck 1996 (short biography Auers, pp. 185–190).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Date not certain: in the work of Bernhard Löffler: Die Bayerische Kammer der Reichsräte 1848 to 1918, Munich 1996, on p. 190 the 14th January 1916 is mentioned, on p. 605 the 14th February 1916; January 14th is adopted here because Löffler also mentions January 14th 1916 in his work Stations of parliamentary change in Bavaria , in: Zeitschrift für Bavarian Landesgeschichte 58 (1995), pp. 959–989, here: p. 976.
2. ^ Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , 4 vol., Munich 1970–1976; Vol. 4, p. 46.
3. ^ Bernhard Löffler: Stations of parliamentary change in Bavaria , in: Journal for Bavarian State History 58 (1995), pp. 959-989.
4. ^ First printed by Bernhard Löffler: Stations of parliamentary change in Bavaria , in: Journal for Bavarian State History 58 (1995), pp. 959–989, here: p. 977 (here the following quotations).