Arthur von Bernstorff

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Arthur Friedrich Karl Graf von Bernstorff (born February 21, 1808 in Berlin , † April 8, 1897 in Wedendorf ) was a Prussian administrative officer, Mecklenburg district administrator and large landowner .

Life

Arthur von Bernstorff came from the Mecklenburg prehistoric nobility, the von Bernstorffs, with the parent company of the same name in Bernstorf, southwest of Grevesmühlen in what is now the north-west Mecklenburg district .

Bernstorff's parents were the Prussian chamberlain and legation councilor Ernst Graf Bernstorff (1768-1840) and his wife, Baron America Riedesel zu Eisenbach (1780-1856), a daughter of General Friedrich Adolf Riedesel . The father owned the Gartow estates in the Kingdom of Hanover and Wedendorf in Mecklenburg. Bernstorff was tutored by private tutors until he reached university entrance qualification. After studying law, he worked in the Prussian civil service and worked at various courts. After changing to the diplomatic service, he worked as a legation secretary at the Prussian embassies in Dresden and Kassel . In 1838 he took his leave, now with the rank of legation councilor, and initially settled in Bernstorf .

After the death of his father, he inherited the Wedendorf estate as well as Hundorf , Bernstorf, Hanshagen and other estates and farming villages, which in total formed a 4,500 hectare enclosed area east of Rehna . Bernstorff resided at Wedendorf Castle . Investments in affordable industrial and transport properties, such as the Lübeck-Büchener Railway , brought additional income, which enabled him to purchase other goods such as Quadenschönfeld and Beseritz . In Quadenschönfeld he had the manor house extended and a new one built in Beseritz.

From 1840 Bernstorff regularly took part in the state parliaments . With the protection of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II. He was appointed district administrator in 1843. Politically belonging to the right wing, he was involved in state politics. In 1866, for example, he was against the planned Reichstag electoral law and in 1874 during the constitutional negotiations he opposed the government's draft. In 1880, as the longest-serving district administrator, he took over the directorate of the state parliament sessions, a decisive, powerful position. Resignation offers at the request of members of the estates or because of his health were made by the Grand Duke, now Friedrich Franz III. always averted, also as a token of his appreciation for a loyal friend. From 1885 he was an honorary member of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology .

When the criticism in Schwerin did not end that the Schwerin Cathedral still did not have a tower - as Friedrich Franz II had used the funds planned for it in 1862 for the construction of the Paulskirche - in 1888 the building officer Georg Daniel was commissioned by the Count to build it. The neo-Gothic cathedral tower with a height of 117 meters was completed in 1893; Bernstorff took over the cost of 330,000 marks. The city of Schwerin then made him an honorary citizen in 1889. In 1893 he received from Friedrich Franz III. the Grand Cross of the House Order of the Wendish Crown as "thanks for his friendship and unshakable loyalty in good and bad days." He headed the sessions of the state parliament until 1896 and held the office of administrative district administrator until his death. Arthur von Bernstorff died on April 8, 1897 a few weeks after his 89th birthday as the senior of the entire family. He left his children a fortune of 12 million marks and goods with a total area of ​​7,000 hectares.

family

Arthur von Bernstorff married Auguste Maria Crescentia von Miltitz (1815–1880), daughter of a royal Saxon court marshal , on May 16, 1835 in Dresden . The family had eight children:

  • Andreas Gottlieb Karl Ernst (1837–1906) ∞ Klothilde Countess von Bernstorff (1843–1920)
  • Werner Joachim Harry (March 4, 1839 - March 8, 1890) ∞ Elisabeth Wilhelmine Freiin Riedesel zu Eisenbach (June 10, 1844 - February 4, 1921)
  • Bechtold Ernst Christian (1840–1908), owned, ∞ Elisabeth von Arnim (1843–1913)
  • Bechtold (1842–1895) ∞ Karoline von Arnim adH Favorithof (1843–1917)
  • Auguste Margarethe (1843–1884) ∞ August Adolf von Passow († 1884)
  • Hans Karl Gottfried (* 1846) ∞ Anna Amalie Dorothea Hermine Giesecke (* 1859)
  • Therese Ferdinandine Anna Marie (September 27, 1852 - March 23, 1946) ∞ Friedrich Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach (September 18, 1848 - January 18, 1904)
  • Ernst Eugen Hartwig Werner (* 1854) ∞ Elisabeth Freiin von Lützow called von Dorgelo (* 1858)

Arthur von Bernstorff grew up next to three older siblings:

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Bernd Kasten:  Bernstorff, Arthur Friedrich Karl Graf von. In: Andreas Röpcke (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for Mecklenburg. (= Publications of the Historical Commission for Mecklenburg : Series A). Volume 7, Schmidt-Römhild, Rostock 2013, ISBN 978-3-7950-3752-9 , pp. 33-36.
  2. ^ Friedrich von Meyenn: Quarterly and final report. In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology , Volume 62, 1897, p. 31
  3. ^ Hermann Grotefend : Quarterly and final report. In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology , Volume 56, 1891, p. 11
  4. ↑ Nekrolog: Arthur Friedrich Karl Graf von Bernstorff. In: Biographisches Jahrbuch and German Nekrolog. Vol. 4, Berlin 1900, Col. 7
  5. ^ Genealogical pocket book of the count's houses. 70th year, Justus Perthes, Gotha 1897, pp. 113–115
  6. ^ Story in the book. Website of the Bernstorff Family Association, p. 218 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Bernstorff, Arthur von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bernstorff, Arthur Friedrich Karl Count of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian administrative officer, Mecklenburg district administrator and large landowner
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH April 8, 1897
Place of death Wedendorf