Georg Prahl Harbitz

Georg Prahl Harbitz

Georg Harbitz , in the church book Jørgen Prahl Harbitz, (born June 26, 1802 in house (today Osterøy ), † November 22, 1889 in Abhabengen in Aker ) was a Norwegian pastor and president of the Storting.

His parents were the innkeeper Niels Harbitz (1742-1810) and his wife Elisabeth Christine Ibsen. On February 23, he married Maren Mariken Hof (February 2, 1806– December 20, 1839), daughter of the farmer Ingebret Larsen Hof and his wife Ingeborg Martine Torgersdatter Blinderen. After her death he remained a widower.

youth

Harbitz grew up in an inn in Haus on Osterøy. At the age of 11 he started school in Bergen. He could only end this with the financial support of the Prahl family, which is why he adopted Prahl as a middle name. He was supposed to be a businessman, but the vice-principal of the secondary school found that he was more suitable for theoretical tasks and arranged for a change to the cathedral school. In 1821 he came to the university.

career

Church career

In 1825 he passed the theological exam. A year later he was already a pastor in Askvoll , because there was a lack of clergy. 13 years later he was pastor of Slidre in Oppland from 1839 to 1847 . In addition, he was appointed garrison pastor of Akershus at this time , but did not take over the office because his Storting work met resistance from the strictly conservative community. From 1848 he was pastor of the separated Vestre Slidre until he was given the parish of Nøtterøy in 1852 . In 1878 he was retired.

Political career

Harbitz sat in all 15 Storting periods from 1836 to 1869. Until 1839 he was a delegate for Nordre Bergenhus office , 1842-1851 for Kristian's office and 1854-1869 for Jarlsberg and Larvig's office . From 1848 to 1869 he was President of the Storting. He alternated first with Halvor Christensen, then with Hans Aall.

politics

Harbitz was very close to the peasant opposition under Ole Gabriel Ueland . He campaigned for local self-government and had a clear national stance. In the Norwegian-Swedish flag dispute , he protested against the depiction of the Norwegian national coat of arms on Swedish coins. But in the course of time the will to compromise and compromise became more and more a hallmark of his politics. He was also gradually becoming more conservative. He voted against the admission of the Council of State to the Storting Assemblies. He was also against the annual convening of the Storting and against the extension of voting rights. Together with other moderate officials and academics, he tried again and again to build bridges between the government and the opposition Storting majority. Despite his increasingly conservative attitude, he was able to maintain good relations with the leaders of the peasant opposition, especially Ueland, thanks to the reputation that he enjoyed with the peasant opposition. If he repeatedly succeeded in dissuading the peasant opposition from its rigorous austerity policy, this is more due to his personal contacts than to his speeches at the Storting. When, under pressure from the Swedes, Charles IV vetoed the Storting's decision to revoke the Swedish governorship in Norway, he became chairman of the special committee that was set up. He managed to find a way out of this crisis in which both sides could save face.

When Sweden wanted to revise the Union Act and strive for closer ties to Norway, he and Johan Sverdrup submitted a draft that insisted on independence and absolute equality in all matters that were not matters of the Union. Together with Ueland, he initially refused to work in the new union committee. But they both allowed themselves to be changed. But he immediately resigned from the commission.

End of life

After retiring as a pastor, Harbritz moved to his second eldest son, Gottfried, in Abhabengen, where he died in 1889. At his request, he was buried at the side of his wife in the Askvoll cemetery.

Honors

Harbitz was made a Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1851 , received the Commander's Cross in 1857 and the Grand Cross in 1864. In the same year he received the Grand Cross of the Swedish North Star Order . In 1891 the "President Harbitz 'gate" in Oslo was named after him.

literature

• Per Fuglum: Article “Georg Harbitz” in Norsk biografisk leksikon , accessed on September 7, 2009.

Remarks

The article is mainly based on Norsk biografsik leksikon . Other information is shown separately.

1. ↑ Article "Georg Prahl Harbitz" in the Norwegian WP
2. ↑ State Council is the Norwegian name for most of the ministers.
3. ↑ It was feared that the officials would no longer be able to vote freely if the superior councilors were present.