Heinrich von Lützow

Count Heinrich von Lützow

Strelzhof Castle in Willendorf (Lower Austria)

Heinrich Joseph Rudolf Gottfried Graf von Lützow zu Drey-Lützow and Seedorf (born September 11, 1852 in Baden near Vienna , † November 8, 1935 in Vienna) was an Austro-Hungarian diplomat .

Life

Heinrich Graf von Lützow came from the Austrian-Bohemian ( Catholic ) branch of the noble family of the von Lützow , originally located in Mecklenburg , which was raised to the rank of count in 1692 . After graduating from the Schottengymnasium in Vienna in 1871, he joined the Austro-Hungarian army and in 1872 was appointed lieutenant in the Uhlan Regiment No. 1. In 1874 he switched to the diplomatic service as a provisional attaché at the embassy in Stuttgart , from where he was transferred to the Austrian embassy in the Kingdom of Saxony in early 1877 in the same rank in Dresden . After passing the diplomatic examination with excellent success, he was definitely accepted into the diplomatic service of Austria-Hungary in December 1877 - although he did not have a degree.

Initially assigned to the embassy in Brussels as embassy attaché, he was transferred to the embassy in The Hague in June 1879 , where he met Eleonora Baroness Tuyll van Serooskerken and married her on November 27, 1879. Because of the marriage he was immediately transferred back to Brussels, then from May 1881 to the embassy in Rome with the title of legation secretary . In 1886 he was transferred to the embassy in London , appointed legation secretary there in 1887, came to Paris in 1891 as legation counselor , until finally on December 4, 1895 he was appointed “envoy extraordinary and authorized minister at the royal Saxon court in Dresden and the grand ducal and ducal Saxon court Höfen, the ducal court of Anhalt and the princely Schwarzburg and Reuss houses ”- a function that, in contrast to the imposing title of its title, was almost a sinecure , since the Austro-Hungarian legation in Dresden was almost exclusively for protocol matters in the traffic of the Austrian and Saxon ruling house and had no political functions whatsoever (since 1871 these of course went through the Austro-Hungarian embassy to the German Empire in Berlin ). Lützow used this function to make important contacts and to prepare for his future career, supported by the benevolent trust of his head of department, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister (1895–1906) Count Agenor Gołuchowski .

In February 1897 he was Austria-Hungary's delegate at the international medical conference in Venice, at the end of 1899 he was called back to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna as “Second Section Head”, appointed to the Privy Council (“Excellency”), and after almost two years at the end of 1901 appointed "First Section Head". This function included the top administrative management of the entire Foreign Ministry, so it was comparable to that of a permanent state secretary .

On March 7, 1904 he was "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Royal Italian court in Rome" to invoke the function, when he from nunmehrigen foreign minister until 4 March 1910 held Alois Graf Lexa of Aehrenthal dismissed and 1911 for discussion was provided . In 1913 he was transferred to permanent retirement.

In addition to his diplomatic activities, Heinrich Graf von Lützow had been a member of the manor house of the Austrian Imperial Council for life from December 27, 1909 and met this function conscientiously until the fall of the Habsburg monarchy in November 1918. Furthermore, he dressed for a long time a. a. the socially influential function of a president in the Vienna Jockey Club. However, in 1920 he had to sell his country estate Schloss Strelzhof near the Schneeberg to Credit Foncier Auxiliaire AG Zurich. His wife, with whom he had a very happy marriage throughout his life, from which three daughters resulted, died on October 17, 1934, he only survived her a little more than a year. His handwritten memoirs, which are highly informative for Austro-Hungarian politics, especially with regard to the Triple Alliance partner Italy , were published in 1971.

origin

His parents were Franz von Lützow, Count von Tuppau and Sachsengrün (born November 2, 1814 in Jičín ; † November 7, 1897 in Vienna ) and his wife Henriette Seymour (born March 13, 1822 in Knockbreda; † March 24, 1909 in Parkstone , England ). His brother Franz (born March 21, 1849 in Hamburg ; † January 18, 1881) died in London in 1881 . His sister Rosa (born March 31, 1850 in Hamburg; † February 5, 1927 in Borohrádek , Bohemia ) married Prince Alfred zu Salm-Salm on September 18, 1869 .

family

He married the baroness Eleonore Tuyll von Serooskerken on November 27, 1879 in Wassenaar , a Dutch municipality in the province of South Holland north of The Hague (born September 28, 1855 in Karlsruhe , † October 17, 1934 in Vienna). The couple had several children:

• Nora (born February 1, 1891 in Cannes ; † May 12, 1945 in Königswiesen , East Prussia ) ⚭ February 12, 1924 in Budapest Karl Friedrich Maria Khuen von Belasi , Count of Khuen-Lützow
• Irene Amy Romola (born January 12, 1884 in Rome ; † May 1, 1980 NN) ⚭ Count Adolf Oswald Dubsky von Trebomyslic (born June 30, 1878; † November 16, 1953 in Wasserburg (Lake Constance) )
• Elsa (* London November 8, 1886; † Vienna October 10, 1974) ⚭ January 8, 1910 Count Franz Johann Duclas von Thurn-Valsassina (* Vienna May 10, 1876; † Vienna July 26, 1939)

meaning

Entirely tied to the views of his mentor and fatherly friend, Count Gołuchowski, Heinrich Graf von Lützow tried with great diplomatic sensitivity to breathe life into the rather paper-based alliance of the Triple Alliance . This endeavor, however, met with little approval from Gołuchowski's successor, Arenthal, who in particular gave all of Lützow's suggestions to the Italians' hearts, which were critical of Austria , through a demonstrative gesture (such as the transfer of a small, always controversial area around the Basilica of Aquileja to the Kingdom of Italy) win when rejected as completely out of the question. Although Lützow therefore had only limited opportunities in his work in the Roman mission, he managed to win the trust and affection of influential circles, so that when he was recalled, the correspondent of a Berlin newspaper said: “May it never lead to a foolish war between Italy and Austria are coming, but one thing is certain: the Austrians have already lost the first battle by separating the Lützows from Rome ... "

The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which Ärenthal seemed so important was by him as ominous precedent of violation of unstable equilibrium on the Balkan considered and led ultimately to that escalation that the assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand had the effect .

Fonts

• Euthanasia - A tale of Turf, Tent and Tomb. Routledge, London 1895.
• In the diplomatic service of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. With an introduction by Reinhard Wittram (Ed. Peter Hohenbalken). Publishing house for history and politics, Vienna 1971.

literature

• Arthur Breycha-Vauthier :  Lützow Heinrich Graf von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 354 f. (Direct links on p. 354 , p. 355 ).
• Friedrich Heer: Conservative self-criticism. In: Salzburger Nachrichten. December 11, 1971, p. 25. (Review of Heinrich Graf von Lützow: In the diplomatic service of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy )
• Daniele Varè: The shadows of the Spanish Steps. Roman memories. Frankfurt am Main 1954.

Web links

• Family data from Lützow