Ferdinand Heinrich August von Weckherlin

Ferdinand Heinrich August Weckherlin , from 1806 von Weckherlin , (born February 23, 1767 in Schorndorf , † July 27, 1828 in Boll ) was a finance minister of the Kingdom of Württemberg .

Youth and education

Weckherlin was born as the son of the Constanzian gradient administrator in Schorndorf and received his school education there. At the age of fifteen he had to finish school. His father wanted him to be his assistant, but the son continued his education partly self-taught, partly he was promoted by the later prelate of Abel and the later secret church councilor Paulus. Perhaps even more important were the influences of the finance officer von Autenrieth, who had previously taught at the Hohen Karlsschule . Weckherlin was particularly interested in the natural and camera sciences .

In 1790 Weckherlin published his first work Achalm und Metzingen in Tübingen , a contribution to the topography and statistics of Württemberg . Three years later followed the apology of the Württemberg scribes .

Work in civil service

In 1793 Weckherlin also became an accountant in the ducal rent chamber. In 1797, Duke Friedrich Eugen appointed him Rentkammerrat. In 1797 and 1798, Weckherlin published the magazine of charitable essays and remarks for writers from Württemberg .

In 1799 he became inspector of customs control, which in 1804 enabled him to write his treatise on commercial freight forwarding . In 1804 he was appointed court and domain councilor in addition to his previous activities, he became a member of the Rentkammerkollegium and subsequently worked as a consultant in the field of finance and state economy, which was made necessary in particular by the new territories acquired by Elector Friedrich.

When the country was reorganized in 1806, he became a court and finance councilor and a member of the Oberlandes-Ökonomie-Kollegium, and he was mainly involved in the organization of the newly added areas. In that year he received the Knight's Cross, which was associated with the personal nobility, and in 1808 the Commander's Cross of the Civil Merit Order and in 1818 the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown . Further appointments followed.

In 1808 he worked out a general customs and excise regulation. In 1811 he became a State Councilor. He set up free ports in Buchhorn and Friedrichshafen, was supposed to regulate the forwarding trade there and negotiate trade relations with Switzerland.

In 1816 he was significantly involved in the work of the debt settlement institute, which benefited the course of the Württemberg government bonds. He rose further under King Wilhelm and became Minister of Finance in 1821. In this capacity, he redesigned the country's accounting system, with a particular focus on centralizing and planning budgets. A reorganization of tax law, exemption from the consequences of serfdom, freedom of the land and other innovations helped agriculture. In 1818, Weckherlin wrote his works On Abolition of the Fall Fief Association and On Arbitrary Dispersal of Farmers' Estates . Weckherlin also made an outstanding contribution to forestry and saltworks and metallurgy.

In the course of the reform of tax law, a detailed survey of the country took place under Weckherlin. Weckherlin also submitted several explanatory writings on this subject, for example the principles of the new building and commercial cadastre in Stuttgart in 1829 . The reorganization of indirect taxes, which should benefit trade and transport, was particularly important. Weckherlin therefore spoke vehemently z. B. for the construction of the Wilhelm Canal in Heilbronn, which enabled shipping on the middle Neckar to Cannstatt.

Weckherlin's scientific interests corresponded with the establishment of the Statistical-Topographical Bureau, the establishment of which King Wilhelm ordered in the 1820s.

Weckherlin officially retired on October 29, 1827. However, he continued to devote himself to the affairs of the country, but died in the summer of 1828 while taking a bath in Boll. He left five daughters and one son.

Web links

• State bibliography of Baden-Württemberg

literature

• Württemberg year books for patriotic history, geography, statistics and topography , ed. by JDG Memminger, Stuttgart and Tübingen, year 1828, 1st issue, pp. 59–75 online .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Royal Württemberg Court and State Manual 1815, p. 34.
2. ↑ Royal Württemberg Court and State Handbook 1824, p. 29.

predecessor	Office	successor
Karl August von Malchus	Head of the Department of Finance in the Privy Council of Württemberg 1818–1827	Karl Friedrich Eberhard Freiherr von Varnbuler