Andreas von Budberg

The title of this article is ambiguous. On the Russian diplomat Andreas von Budberg-Bönninghausen see Andreas Fjodorowitsch von Budberg-Bönninghausen .

Andreas Eberhard Baron von Budberg (called von Bönninghausen ) ( Russian Андрей Яковлевич Будберг , Andrei Jakowlewitsch Budberg ) (born August 10, 1750 at the Magnushof (today: Mangaļmuiža ) near Riga ; † September 1, 1812 in St. Petersburg ) was a Russian general, diplomat and finally foreign minister.

Life

Andreas von Budberg

The Budberg family (actually Bönninghausen), originally from Westphalia , settled in Livonia in the 13th century . Andreas von Budberg was the eldest son of Colonel Jacob Friedrich von Budberg. He entered the Russian military at an early age of thirteen. He served as an officer in the 3rd Grenadier Regiment and took part in the battles against the Ottomans. He made it to captain, but had to say goodbye to active service for health reasons with the rank of major and took a position in the garrison of Riga. He later returned to active field service. In 1777 he was a captain in the Land Cadet Corps. He then served as Prime Major in the Siberian Musketeer Regiment and rose to lieutenant colonel.

In 1783 Andreas von Budberg married Juliana Magdalena Wilhelmina von Meck. The marriage resulted in two daughters but no son. In the same year he was recommended as a diplomat by Field Marshal Georg Browne to Tsarina Catherine II . He was initially commissioned to recruit the Count von Anhalt, who was active in the Electoral Saxon service, for the Russian military, which was also successful.

In 1785 he was appointed colonel and companion or tutor of the heir to the throne Alexander . During this time he continued to educate himself and learned about the French language. He is said to have had a significant influence on the development of the prince. Budberg also taught him in the German language.

As a thank you, Budberg was made major general in 1787. He was entrusted with some other duties abroad before he applied for leave in 1793. In 1795 he was sent to the German courts to look for a wife for Prince Constantine . He proposed a daughter to the Sachsen-Coburg family and accompanied members of the family to Russia. The Prince actually married Juliane von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld .

Budberg was appointed envoy in Stockholm to sound out a possible marriage of Empress Alexandra's granddaughter with the King of Sweden. After Katharina's death he remained ambassador to Sweden and Paul I appointed him privy councilor in 1797. To restore his health, he asked for a vacation and traveled to German spas. He then returned to his post in Sweden. After Alexander I ascended the throne, he asked again for leave and traveled to Italy. He was recalled to St. Petersburg and given the post of war governor of the capital. He was also promoted to general of the infantry . Ill again, he took another vacation and went to Courland. Alexander I appointed him to the Council of State (Conseil) in 1804.

In 1806 he was appointed Foreign Minister. He turned against the peace between France and Russia, which had already been negotiated by Peter von Oubril in July, and helped ensure that it was not ratified. With regard to the Russo-Ottoman war since 1806, he advocated Russian supremacy in the Ottoman Empire . In 1807 he signed the Bartenstein Treaty with the Prussian Minister Karl August von Hardenberg , which contained a continuation of the alliance between Prussia and Russia against Napoleon . At Napoleon's insistence, he officially did not take part in the negotiations that led to the Peace of Tilsit . Budberg, however, accompanied the emperor to Tilsit. Despite his decidedly anti-French attitude, he received the Star of the Legion of Honor from Napoleon and received a tobacco box with the imperial portrait. Because of the alliance between Russia and France, he resigned from his office. However, the emperor did not grant the application until 1808. His correspondence with Catherine II and Alexander I. is an important source.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Raphael Utz: Unusable past. Nationalism and Foreign Policy in the Tsarist Empire. Wiesbaden 2008, p. 95.

literature

• Brockhaus` conversation lexicon . Volume 3, Leipzig 1882, p. 693.
• M. von Wrangel: Biography of the Minister Andreas Eberhard von Budberg. In: Messages from the area of ​​the history of Liv, Estonia and Courland. Riga 1845, pp. 22–35.
• Genealogical manual of the Baltic knighthoods . Part 1, 2: Livonia, series 9–15 . Görlitz 1929, p. 648 (digitized version)
• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Andreas von Budberg. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital