Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg

Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg

Fredrik "Fritz" Hartvig Herman (Baron) Wedel Jarlsberg (born July 7, 1855 in Kristiania , † July 27, 1942 in Lisbon ) was a Norwegian lawyer and diplomat . Wedel Jarlsberg began his career during the Swedish- Norwegian Union, which he was instrumental in dissolving in 1905. He is considered Norway's most important diplomat in the first third of the 20th century; among other things, he was offered the office of foreign minister three times.

Life

Wedel Jarlsberg was the son of Lord Chamberlain and Court Marshal Baron Frederik (Fritz) Joachim Wedel Jarlsberg (1819–1880) and Baroness Juliane Wilhelmine Katharina Wedel Jarlsberg (1818–1872). Like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he was baptized Fredrik, but called Fritz. The Baron title of his family had been abolished in Norway before he was born, but not in Denmark; therefore Wedel Jarlsberg led him on. He married Alice Louise Thekla von Wagner (1861–1913) on February 1, 1883, and after the death of his first wife in 1916, Baroness Mary von André, b. Palmer (1859-1941).

After studying law, which he graduated as cand. Jur. graduated, followed a long career in the diplomatic service of Sweden-Norway and later Norway. Wedel Jarlsberg became embassy attaché in Madrid in 1879 , worked as secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm from 1882 to 1884, became embassy secretary in Vienna in 1885 and in London the following year, where he was appointed chargé d'affaires in 1889 . From 1891 to 1897 he was ambassador to Madrid, from 1902 to Lisbon and 1905 to Copenhagen. After the union was dissolved , he became the first Norwegian ambassador in Madrid and Lisbon (until 1921) and Paris (until 1930) in 1906.

On the occasion of the wedding of the then Crown Prince and later King Olav V in 1929, Wedel Jarlsberg transferred his possession of Skaugum to him . After it had long been assumed that it was a wedding present, it was announced in 2009 that the then King Haakon VII had paid 120,000 crowns for the property. However, it had an estimated value of 550,000 crowns.

Dissolution of the Swedish-Norwegian Union

The Swedish-Norwegian negotiators in Karlstad - Wedel Jarlsberg in the back center

After Norway declared independence on June 7, 1905, Wedel Jarlsberg resigned from the Swedish diplomatic service and made himself available to Christian Michelsen's government , which sent him to Copenhagen. During the negotiations on the Karlstad Treaty , he worked on intervention by the great powers in the event that the negotiations should fail. Wedel Jarlsberg also played a key role in the negotiations with Prince Carl of Denmark , who was to ascend the Norwegian throne, and used his international contacts, even without official diplomatic status, to gain recognition for independent Norway.

Svalbard Treaty

Wedel Jarlsberg was the negotiator in drawing up the Svalbard Treaty in Paris in 1920. In this Agreement, Norway has the sovereignty over the archipelago Svalbard awarded. Wedel-Jarlsberg-Land in the southwest of the island of Svalbard is therefore named after him.

Awards

Wedel Jarlsberg became a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1892 , Commander 1st Class in 1896, and in 1904 the Grand Cross. In 1925 he was awarded the highest level, the Grand Cross with a chain of orders. He was the holder of the King's Medal from 1906 and the "Kong Haakon VIIs jubileumsmedalje 1905–1930".

He also received a number of foreign medals:

• Grand Cross of the Danish Order of Dannebrog
• Knight 1st class of the Order of the Zähringer Löwen
• Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honor
• Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of Our Lady of Villa Viçosa
• Grand Cross of the Portuguese Order of Christ
• Grand Cross with Star of the Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword
• Grand Cross of the Spanish Order of Charles III.
• Grand Cross of the Spanish Isabella the Catholic
• Commander 1st class of the Swedish North Star Order
• Right knight of the Prussian Order of St. John
• Austrian Order of the Iron Crown 3rd class

Works

• 1932 - Travels gjennem livet
• 1946 - 1905: Kongevalget

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Haagen Krog Steffens (ed.): Norske Slægter 1912. Gyldendal, Kristiania 1911, p. 256, (online at Oslo National Library , accessed on October 8, 2013)
2. ↑ mat betale for Skaugum. ( Memento of August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Budstikka.no, April 29, 2009.
3. ↑ Biography på Nettsted 1905
4. ↑ Caplex.no

literature

• O. Delphin Amundsen: The Kongelige norske Sankt Olavs order 1847-1947. Grøndahl & Søns Forlag, Oslo 1947.
• Gordon Andersen: Vår glemte kongemaker i 1905. In: Aftenposten. May 21, 2005 (online)
• Roy Andersen: Wedel Jarlsberg ble gjort til syndebukk. In: Aftenposten. June 7, 2005 (online)
• Arve B. Berntzen: Wedel Jarlsberg fortjener oppreisning. In: Aftenposten. June 10, 2005 (online)
• Gate Bomann-Larsen: cone tarpaulin som kollapset. In: Aftenposten. June 6, 2005 (online)
• Terje Bratberg: Fritz Wedel Jarlsberg. In: Norsk biografisk leksikon. 2nd Edition. 2002. (online)
• Jørgen Brekke: Jakten på blått blod. In: Levende history. No. 6, 2009, pp. 14-23.
• Per Erik Hagen: Måtte betale for Skaugum. ( Memento of August 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Budstikka.no, April 29, 2009.
• T. Kielland: Minister Wedel Jarlsberg. In: Samtiden. 1942.