Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust

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Friedrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Beust around 1860
Signature Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust.PNG

Friedrich Ferdinand Graf von Beust (also: Ferdinand Beust ) (born January 13, 1809 in Dresden ; † October 24, 1886 at Altenberg Castle , near St. Andrä-Wierter ) was a statesman in the Kingdom of Saxony and in the Habsburg Monarchy . As an opponent of Bismarck, he tried to bring about a common policy of the German middle states between Austria and Prussia.

Life

Friedrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Beust, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1867

Beust studied law and political science at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Berlin from 1826 to 1830 . Then he entered the diplomatic service of the Kingdom of Saxony . He became Legation Secretary in Berlin in 1836 and in Paris in 1838 , Chargé d' affaires in Munich in 1841 , Minister-Resident in London in 1846 and Envoy in Berlin in 1848 .

Beust was Saxon Foreign Minister from 1849 to 1866, Minister of Education from 1849 to 1853 and Minister of the Interior from 1853 to 1866. In addition, he served from October 25, 1858 to August 15, 1866 as chairman of the entire ministry of the Kingdom of Saxony, but was already considered a key member of the cabinet before 1858. He had the Dresden May Uprising put down in 1849 with the help of Prussian troops. With Prussia and Hanover he concluded the three kings alliance . Since Bavaria and Württemberg did not join, Beust turned away from Prussia and towards Austria. During this time he gained decisive influence on King John I.

Beust saw himself as a counterpart to the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck , although Saxony had neither politically, militarily nor economically a position of great power comparable to Prussia . At the Würzburg conferences he worked on a common policy for the medium-sized states and also presented his own plan for reforming the German Confederation . In 1864 Beust was the representative of the Federation at the London Conference to End the German-Danish War .

In 1866 he led Saxony on the side of Austria in the German war . After the defeat in the Battle of Königgrätz , he resigned from the Saxon service at Bismarck's request and went to Austria.

Beust was Austrian or Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister from October 30, 1866 to 1871 , from February 7, 1867, before the settlement with Hungary was concluded , until the end of the year also Austrian Prime Minister . As this he carried out the settlement with Hungary in February 1867 and introduced the constitutional constitution . From June 23, 1867, in addition to the function of kuk Foreign Minister, he also held the title of Reich Chancellor . After his departure, this official title expired.

After his dismissal as Foreign Minister and Chancellor on November 8, 1871, he became Ambassador to London and from 1878 to 1882 in Paris . His successor as kuk Foreign Minister was Count Gyula Andrássy . In 1882 he retired into private life.

family

Friedrich Ferdinand Graf Beust, b. January 13th. 1809, d. Oct. 23. 1886. "Peace to his ashes, justice to his memory"

As a member of the noble Beust family , he held the title of baron . In 1868 he was raised to the rank of count. His parents were the court judge Friedrich Karl Leopold von Beust (1779-1845) and his wife Erdmuthe Wilhelmine von Carlowitz (1774-1854).

His older brother Friedrich Constantin von Beust was chief miner in Saxony and general inspector of the mines in Cisleithanien .

Von Beust married Freiin Mathilde von Jordan (1817–1886) in 1843, the daughter of the Bavarian Lieutenant General Wilhelm Freiherr von Jordan and his wife Violanda nee. Countess of Sandizell . They had a daughter, Marie (1845–1926) who married the later Saxon finance minister Léonce Freiherr von Könneritz in Dresden in 1863 , and three sons.

Count von Beust rests in the Matzleinsdorf Evangelical Cemetery (crypt 10, right) in Vienna.

Fonts (selection)

  • Memories to memories . Verlag Wöller, Leipzig, 1881.
  • From three quarters of a century . 2 volumes, Cotta publishing house, Stuttgart 1887. ( Digitized volume 1 ); ( Digitized Volume 2 )
  • Austria's policy of neutrality, and the future relationship of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to Germany. Publishing house Ludwig Aigner, Pest 1870 ( digitized version ).

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography at Archives for History and Sociology in Austria
  2. ↑ a b Rudolf Vierhaus (Ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE) . Verlag Saur, Munich 2005, Volume 1, ISBN 978-3-598-25031-6 , pp. 627 f.
  3. ↑ Josef Matzerath: Nobility trial at the modern age. Saxon nobility 1763 to 1866. Declaration of a traditional social formation . Verlag Steiner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-515-08596-0 , p. 245.

Web links

Commons : Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
- Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister
Dec. 30, 1867 - Nov. 8, 1871 		Gyula Andrássy
Franz Karl Becke kuk Finance Minister (interim)
Jan 15 1870-21. May 1870 		Menyhért Lónyay
Rudolph Apponyi from Nagy-Appony Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
1871–1878 		Alajos Károlyi
Felix von Wimpffen Austro-Hungarian ambassador to France
1878–1882 		Felix von Wimpffen  (2.)
personal data
SURNAME Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand Freiherr von; Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand Count of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saxon and Austrian politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH October 24, 1886
Place of death Altenberg Castle (Lower Austria)