Felix zu Schwarzenberg

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Felix zu Schwarzenberg
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Felix Prinz (called Prince ) zu Schwarzenberg (born October 2, 1800 in Krumau , † April 5, 1852 in Vienna ) was an Austrian statesman , diplomat and officer . From 1848 until his death in 1852 he was Austrian head of government. The Greater Austria or Schwarzenberg Plan goes back to him .

Life

Schwarzenberg came from one of the most influential families of the German-Bohemian nobility. He was born as the second eldest son of Prince Josef von Schwarzenberg (1769-1833) and his wife Pauline von Arenberg (1774-1810). His mother died in a fire during a ball on the occasion of Napoleon I's wedding to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. One of his brothers was the Archbishop Friedrich zu Schwarzenberg .

Ascent

After a short military career, he became a diplomat. Supported by Metternich , he held the most important foreign posts of Austrian diplomacy in Saint Petersburg , London , Paris and Turin . Most recently he was ambassador to Naples . After the outbreak of the March Revolution in 1848 , Schwarzenberg joined Radetzky's army in Milan and then in Vienna. When the liberal government of Johann von Wessenberg dissolved there in October under the pressure of a democratic uprising , a Habsburg family council decided to appoint Schwarzenberg as Prime Minister. At the same time the decision was made to abdicate Emperor Ferdinand I in favor of his nephew Archduke Franz Joseph .

As prime minister

In the three and a half years of his tenure from November 1848 to April 1852, Schwarzenberg not only fought down the revolution and regained Austria's political power in European politics, but also laid the foundations for the economic and social modernization of the Habsburg monarchy . On November 21, 1848, he formed a government that included liberals like Alexander von Bach and Karl Ludwig von Bruck alongside conservative reformers like Franz Seraph von Stadion and later Leo von Thun-Hohenstein . Schwarzenberg was a determined anti-revolutionary, but he was ready to give constitutionalism a chance. Unlike his predecessor Metternich, he tried not just to prevent the revolution, but to overcome it. His anti-revolutionary determination was also reflected in his responsibility for the illegal shooting of Robert Blum, a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly .

Schwarzenberg achieved his first success against the Frankfurt National Assembly. His demand for the inclusion of the German provinces of Austria in a German nation state ( Greater German solution to the German question ) he opposed , in the sense of a Greater Austrian solution, with the claim to participation of the entire Habsburg Monarchy in an Austro-German confederation of states . He responded to the federal constitutional concept of the Reichstag, which was moved from Schwarzenberg to Kremsier , with a centralized constitution with strong monarchical power, but without actually putting it into force ( neo-absolutism ). With the recall of the Austrian MPs from Frankfurt, the assembly there lost the claim to a German national representation.

Just as resolutely as Schwarzenberg threw down the revolution in Austria, Germany and Hungary, he began in domestic politics with a revolution from above : the basic relief in favor of the peasants was carried out. Alexander von Bach and Anton von Schmerling organized a new system of administration and jurisdiction. Leopold von Thun-Hohenstein modernized the teaching system with his colleagues Alexander von Helfert , Antonin Krombholz , Franz Serafin Exner and Hermann Bonitz .

Schwarzenberg died of a stroke in the early evening of April 5, 1852, while he was in office in Vienna .

Balance sheet

Schwarzenberg's politics made more enemies than friends. He was too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives. To the insecure but power-conscious young Emperor Franz Joseph I , the Prime Minister seemed to be a threat to his position as ruler. He decided to disempower the government and overthrow Schwarzenberg as prime minister. Schwarzenberg was spared this humiliation; he died during a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Only at the end of his reign did Emperor Franz Joseph recognize that Schwarzenberg was not only the most successful but also the most important politician in his government.

Private life

Prince Schwarzenberg remained unmarried. However, he had several affairs, such as in 1828 during his time as attaché in London with Jane Digby . From this connection comes a daughter, whom Schwarzenberg also recognized and entrusted to the care of his sister Mathilde:

  • Mathilde Selden (1829–1885), ∞ (1850) Rittmeister Anton Freiherr von Bieschin (1814–1898)

Others

Felix zu Schwarzenberg, who became an honorary citizen of Budapest during his lifetime , was revoked posthumously in 2011 under the national conservative city leadership. He was also awarded the Order of the Black Eagle by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia on June 23, 1851 .

literature

Fiction

  • Oswald Richter-Tersik: Ilona Beck. Roman 1937, 1953 (An “illegitimate” relationship by Felix, she was active in a political mission for him). As a much-played film of the 1940s: “ Maria Ilona ” with a top-class cast.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Budapest revised the list of its honorary citizens in Pester Lloyd of March 25, 2011, accessed on April 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ Louis Schneider: Das Buch vom Schwarzen Adler , page 211 (35), Duncker, Berlin, 1870.

Web links

Commons : Felix zu Schwarzenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schwarzenberg, Felix too
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwarzenberg, Felix Fürst too
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Krummau , Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1852
Place of death Vienna