Johann Christoph von Bartenstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johann Christoph Freiherr von Bartenstein, after Martin van Meytens

Johann Christoph Freiherr von Bartenstein (born October 23, 1689 in Strasbourg , † August 6, 1767 in Vienna ) was a statesman and diplomat in the service of the Habsburg monarchy . He founded the family of the Barons von Bartenstein .

Life

origin

The bourgeois born Bartenstein grew in Strasbourg in a strict Lutheran family: his father Johann Philipp Bartenstein (1650-1726) was one of Thuringia be delayed professor of philosophy and director of the Strasbourg Gymnasium ; his mother came from a family of scholars in Strasbourg.

Studies and first contacts

The young Bartenstein studied languages , history and law in Strasbourg . He completed his history studies in 1709 with a thesis on the war of Moritz von Sachsen against Charles V (“ Prince's Uprising ”), his law degree in 1711 with a thesis on inheritance sneaking .

At the age of nineteen he traveled to Paris , where he came into contact with Benedictines , then moved to Vienna : There he met Reichshofrat Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz , who encouraged him and advised him to pursue a career in state administration .

Career in Vienna

Coat of arms of Johann Christoph von Bartenstein as imperial baron 1732 and 1733

In 1715 the young Bartenstein , who was baptized as a Protestant, converted to the Catholic faith because he was aiming for a career in the Austrian administration. Already in 1719 he was in the equestrian collected and made in the 1720s and 1730s, a brilliant career at the Habsburg imperial court.

Bartenstein was first secretary , later secretary of the secret conference , the highest government authority in Vienna and closest confidante and advisor to Emperor Charles VI. In 1732 ( according to another source: 1733) he received the nobility diploma as imperial baron and rose to the position of Privy Councilor and Vice Chancellor in the Austrian State Chancellery . After Karl's death in 1740, he remained connected to his daughter and successor Maria Theresa and shaped the Habsburg domestic and foreign policy for years .

In 1753, the now 64-year-old Bartenstein was replaced by Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg as head of foreign policy and was henceforth active in domestic policy. Most recently, Bartenstein was director of the Secret House Archives and wrote textbooks for Crown Prince Joseph II.

Afterlife

When he died in 1767, he left his descendants extensive estates in Lower Austria and Silesia . His son Johann Freiherr von Bartenstein acquired the Poysbrunn rule and had the Bartenstein crypt laid out in Falkenstein .

In Vienna in 1873 the Bartensteingasse was named after him in the inner city near the parliament .

Act

Diplomatic successes and defeats

Bartenstein and the Pragmatic Sanction

In his time, Bartenstein was considered one of the most influential personalities and brightest minds at the Viennese court. As a skilled diplomatic mastermind, he was instrumental in the political enforcement of Charles VI. The Pragmatic Sanction issued in 1713 , the proclamation to secure undivided Habsburg house ownership by introducing female succession; The fact that the Habsburg hereditary lands and Hungary adopted this decree by their own resolutions in 1723, that the Pragmatic Sanction of the Basic Law of the State and was recognized by England in 1731, was also thanks to Bartenstein.

Bartenstein as a matchmaker

After Maria Theresa took office, he strengthened the insecure young Archduchess and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary against the veteran ministers at court. The successful marriage of the heir to the throne with Franz Stephan of Lorraine is also attributed to the diplomatic skill of the Strasbourg resident: he knew how to prevent the regent's marriage to the infante Don Carlos of Spain , who she hated , and he also arranged the marriage of Maria Theresa's younger sister Marianne with the younger brother of Emperor Franz I (Stephan von Lothringen), Prince Karl Alexander, Field Marshal, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Captain General of the Austrian Netherlands. Skilfully maneuvering, he shook hands with the powerful Cardinal Fleury and caused Franz Stephan to cede his duchy to France in exchange for Tuscany . This ended the War of the Polish Succession in 1735 , followed by the wedding in Vienna in 1737 and the accession of Lorraine to the throne as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1745 . This brilliant diplomatic achievement secured Bartenstein the lifelong loyalty of the Empress and Queen Maria Theresa and is considered a brilliant piece of his career.

Peace of Belgrade

Bartenstein was less successful in other foreign policy analyzes and decisions: His enforcement of a renewed entry into the war by Austria on the side of Russia in 1737 against the Turks in the 7th Austrian Turkish War led to a serious defeat in the Peace of Belgrade in 1739.

Austrian War of Succession and Silesian Wars

The most important years in Bartenstein's political activity are probably the first years of Maria Theresa's reign, when the Habsburg monarchy, both through the Prussian invasion of Silesia ( Silesian Wars ) and through the attacks on the Austrian heritage, as undertaken by Bavaria and Saxony with the support of France ( War of the Austrian Succession ), got into an existential crisis: Bartenstein unreservedly supported the inexperienced queen, who strictly refused to cede any territory and insisted on the indivisibility of her countries.

But Maria Theresa trusted Bartenstein not only as a foreign policy advisor: On her behalf, he was probably the most important political publicist at the Hofburg during the First and Second Silesian Wars , who represented the political and legal position of Habsburg in numerous official publications on foreign affairs Representations were distributed in sometimes many thousands of copies.

Last years in domestic politics

After the end of his foreign policy activity, Bartenstein was not dropped: Maria Theresa entrusted him with the internal administration of her countries and the development of a new customs tariff . He headed the Austrian medical service and was appointed President of the Illyrian Court Deputation , which regulated the affairs of the population who immigrated from Serbia . Most recently he became head of the Secret House Archives, newly founded in 1749, and wrote a historical textbook for the young heir to the throne Joseph: handwritten fourteen volumes of text and six volumes of supplements from Charlemagne to Rudolf II.

Conclusion

In diplomatic circles, the climber Bartenstein, who was equally well-known for his great learning and his sharp tongue, was not undisputed: contemporaries made fun of his cringing behavior towards the crown and his arrogant behavior towards foreign diplomats. In any case, Maria Theresa judged Bartenstein that he was “a great statesman” and emphasized that “he alone was responsible for maintaining this monarchy. Without him everything would have come to an end ”Except for Maria Theresa herself, the bourgeois-born loner had no domestic power, no network of personal relationships that would have supported him even in times of crisis. Nonetheless, the diplomat, always loyal to Austria, played a key role in the new identity of the Habsburg multi-ethnic state as a self-confident hegemonic power .

Quotes

  • "No assignment, no archduchess!" (Bartenstein to Franz-Stephan von Lothringen, who initially does not want to renounce Lorraine)
  • "Two Pfeiffer (sic!) Are not good in a tavern!" (Kaunitz about Bartenstein before his transfer)
  • “I have to afford the judiciary that I am solely responsible for maintaining this monarchy; without him everything would have come to an end. "(Maria Theresa in a letter to Johann Christoph von Bartenstein)

Survival

Bartenstein's political fate at its peak is staged in the 1981 film How the Moon Over Fire and Blood .

literature

Web links

Commons : Johann Christoph von Bartenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On Bartenstein's journalistic activity, see above all the first volume of the Prussian State Papers edited by Reinhold Koser from the reign of King Friedrich II. Berlin 1877, page 515ff. Likewise Alfred von Arneth, Bartenstein and his time, Vienna 1871.
  2. ↑ Quoted from: Franz Herre, Maria Theresia, Cologne 1994, p. 47.
personal data
SURNAME Bartenstein, Johann Christoph von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bartenstein, Johann Christoph Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian statesman and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1689
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1767
Place of death Vienna