Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich von Kleist

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Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich von Kleist (born September 2, 1751 in Havelberg , † September 7, 1825 in Thorn ) was a high Prussian judge.

Life

origin

Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich von Kleist was a member of the behind Pomeranian noble family von Kleist made by Schwellin and Voldekow . He was born as the fourth son of the Prussian major general Reimar von Kleist (1710–1782) and his wife Hedwig Elisabeth von der Hagen (1722–1806), the older sister of the historian Thomas Philipp von der Hagen . Ludwig Franz Philipp Christian von Kleist (1748–1809) was his older brother.

Professional career

While his brothers, like many of the von Kleist family, embarked on a military career, Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich studied law. After completing his studies, he became a trainee lawyer with the government in Magdeburg in 1775, before switching from administrative service to judicial service and in 1780 becoming court judge in Bromberg . Here he played a key role in the establishment and organization of the Prussian administration of justice in the province of West Prussia, which was newly acquired by the first partition of Poland in 1772 . Not least because of his organizational skills, he was appointed Court Court President for West Prussia in Bromberg by the Prussian Crown in 1792.

As early as 1778 Kleist had acquired the Przylubie manor for 20,000 Reichsthalers and was thus heavily burdened financially. So in 1801 he asked the king for an allowance on the grounds that other and younger court presidents earned more than he did. He was also particularly committed to the establishment of orderly conditions in the previously uncivilized country, and he had suffered great losses in his estate due to the last Polish insurrection. King Friedrich Wilhelm III. refused the application on the grounds that he had already granted him an allowance of 200 Thalers two years earlier.

Kleist's economic situation deteriorated further because billeting in 1809 caused him damage of 12,000 thalers. So in the end he had to sell his estate and move to town. He died in Thorn on September 7, 1825.

family

He was married to Leopoldine Carolone Elisabeth von Wiersbitzky († 1812). The couple had four sons and six daughters.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Kleist, Heinrich Wilhelm Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian judge
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH Havelberg
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 1825
Place of death Thorn