Karl von Berg (politician)

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Karl Heinrich Ernst von Berg (born May 6, 1810 in Hanover ; † June 19, 1894 in Oldenburg ) was a politician who was Oldenburg's interior minister for many years and Oldenburg's minister-president from 1874 to 1876 .

Origin and nobility elevation

The line of his family begins with Veit vom Berg ( Vitus de Monte ) (1541–1610), pastor in Rüdisbronn (now part of Bad Windsheim ) in Middle Franconia . In the 18th century, the non-aristocratic family changed their name from Berg to von Berg on their own initiative .

Berg came from a family of craftsmen and officials. He was the son of the Grand Ducal Oldenburg Privy Councilor and Minister of State Günther von Berg and his wife Amalie nee. Stromeyer (1777-1868). His father was raised to the hereditary Austrian baron on June 19, 1838 with a diploma of August 29, 1838 in Vienna for his services at the Congress of Vienna and the subsequent negotiations . The Oldenburg recognition for him and his direct descendants followed on December 7, 1838.

Life

Education and Early Years

As a result of his father's frequently changing position, he grew up in Hanover, Bückeburg , Frankfurt am Main and Oldenburg, where he attended high school. From 1828 to 1832 he studied law at the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg and then passed the mandatory entrance examination for the Oldenburg civil service , in which he quickly made a career due to his workforce and his origins. He initially worked as an auditor at the offices of Zwischenahn and Rodenkirchen , passed the second state examination in 1836 and was transferred to Oldenburg in 1838 as government secretary . The elevation of the father to the hereditary Austrian baron status in the same year also brought the son the title of nobility and a little later the appointment of chamberlain . 1842 took over mountain as a bailiff to manage the Office Minsen and returned in 1846 as a government assessor in the Oldenburg central authority back. During this time he took part in the sometimes heated debate about the country's trade policy orientation and anonymously published a small pamphlet in 1835 in which he advocated the affiliation of Oldenburg to the Northwest German Tax Association led by Hanover , which also took place in 1836 and for the duchy had overall beneficial effects. However, Berg soon realized that Oldenburg could not escape the pull of the Prussian-led customs union in the long run . In a brochure published anonymously in 1842, he advocated joining as quickly as possible, which, however, was not completed until 1854 because of the resistance of the government and important groups in the Oldenburg economy.

Entry into government

After the outbreak of the German Revolution , Berg received a special order in March 1848 to keep Grand Duke August I informed about the political events and the mood in the country. Through his sober and precise assessment of the situation, he gained the trust of the Grand Duke during these months and, as government commissioner at the meeting of the 34, was able to gain initial experience in dealing with the unfamiliar parliamentary bodies. In October 1849 he was promoted to Ministerialrat and on December 13, 1849, at the express request of the Grand Duke, he joined the newly formed Buttel government , in which he took over the Ministry of the Interior . Although the conservative Berg differed in his political views from the moderately liberal Prime Minister, the two men largely agreed on questions of practical government policy. Buttel valued Berg's energy, his sure judgment, his sober and practice-oriented thinking, which made him a reliable ally who could not be put off by any consideration. From the beginning, the ministry waged a two-front battle against the opposition majority in the state parliament and against the autocratic attempts at meddling by the Grand Duke, which Buttel and Berg were able to repel with the help of several offers of resignation . A conflict with the parliament over the military budget was the final push for the resignation of the government Buttel on May 10, 1851. Berg, the same time the Government had been named, declined initially, in the newly formed government Rössing enter. Only after the dispute over the military budget had been settled did he take over the Ministry of the Interior again on August 22, 1851 and was appointed to the State Council. On January 1, 1854, like the other members of the government, he received the title of Minister and was finally awarded the title of Minister of State on February 6, 1872.

Late work

As the responsible Minister of the Interior, Berg played a key role in the profound changes to the constitutional and administrative structure of Oldenburg in the second half of the 19th century. Above all, this included the creation of the Conservative Revised Basic State Law of 1852, the introduction of the municipal code of 1855, the separation of the judiciary from the administration, which began in 1857/58, as well as those administrative reorganizations that were implemented as a result of Oldenburg's accession to the North German Confederation or became necessary for the German Reich . Under his leadership, the country's transport system, which is important for economic development, was expanded and, since the mid-1860s, the construction of the first railway lines and the Hunte-Ems Canal were promoted . Berg was undoubtedly the main worker in the Rössing government and also knew how to steer the government proposals with energy and skill through the state parliament, of which he himself belonged from 1851 to 1857. After Rössing's death, Berg was appointed chairman of the state ministry on June 29, 1874 and, in addition to the interior ministry, took over the management of the department of the grand ducal house and the foreign ministry . His ministerial presidency ended after two years, however, as he got into a serious conflict with the state parliament because of the necessary additional demands on the railway budget, whose rural majority always reacted sensitively to financial and tax issues. The left-liberal MPs under the leadership of Gerhard Ahlhorn and Theodor Tantzen , who took up the fight with the ministry, made the objectively insignificant question of a salary regulation for certain groups of civil servants the subject of the test of power, as they were able to successfully appeal to the emotional prejudices of the rural population. The government immediately dissolved the state parliament, but the new elections did not bring about any significant change in the composition of the parliament. Berg drew the constitutional conclusions from this and offered the Grand Duke the resignation of the government on September 10, 1876, which he approved on October 1, 1876.

Evaluation of his work in Oldenburg

For almost 26 years - longer than any other minister since the introduction of the constitutional system - Berg headed the Ministry of the Interior, which at that time represented the decisive control point for the extensive area of ​​internal administration and important parts of economic policy. He was not a creative, forward-looking statesman, but, like his father, embodied the type of moderately conservative civil servant minister characteristic of German constitutionalism , who recognized the need for limited reforms to maintain the existing system and knew how to implement them with energy.

family

Berg was married to Adelheid Jacobea born on May 6, 1840. von der Hellen (1818–1883), the daughter of the landowner Diedrich Wilhelm von der Hellen (1786–1862) and his wife Cornelia Johanne born. Rome (1795-1819). The couple had three daughters and three sons:

  • Günther Hans Dietrich (1841–1917), imperial forest master ∞ 1868 Freiin Elsbeth von Berg (born August 22, 1843)
  • Amalie Agnes Kornelia Marie (* April 21, 1843) ∞ 1870 August von Bomsdorff (* September 18, 1842 - September 10, 1912), General of the Infantry
  • Adelheid Jacobea Elisabeth (* March 19, 1844) ∞ 1868 Friedrich Goldschmidt (* 1836), Prussian major general
  • Karl Edmund Dietrich Gerhard (1845–1899), Prussian district court director ∞ 1876 Luise Anna Marie Hegeler (born May 19, 1854)
  • Luise Hermine Ernestine (born June 26, 1851) ∞ 1873 Eugen Mentz
  • Gustav Hans Dietrich August (1853–1908), Prussian major general , wing adjutant of the emperor ∞ 1886 Stefanie Schaaffhausen (born July 6, 1866)

Works

  • About the accession of Oldenburg to the Hanoverian-Braunschweig Customs Association. Oldenburg. 1835.
  • Oldenburg's connection to the German customs union. Oldenburg. 1842.
  • Memorandum on the establishment of a fen colony in the Bokeler Moor. Together with August Christian Ferdinand Krell. Oldenburg. 1850.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Berg, Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berg, Karl Heinrich Ernst Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician and Prime Minister of Oldenburg
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1894
Place of death Oldenburg