Konstantin von Hößlin

Konstantin von Hößlin

Konstantin Alexander Balthasar von Hößlin ( Greek Κωνσταντίνος Έσσλιν , born January 22, 1844 in Athens , † January 17, 1920 ibid) was President of the Greek Chamber of Deputies in Athens. He was one of the most important personalities in political life and the development of the then young Greek state.

Life

Constantine was the son of the banker Julius von Hößlin , who emigrated to Greece during the reign of King Otto I of Bavaria .

He himself relates from his youth: “At the table, only Italian was spoken because my uncle, like my father, did not speak Greek and my mother only understood Italian apart from Greek.” “My mother may have been about 20 years older than my brother , a very pretty lady of slender, elastic and graceful figure. She wore the costume of Smyrna . ”“ All sorts of things frequented the office, sometimes the very highest, who traveled incognito. At that time our house was probably the only bank or the only bank of repute in Athens. "" The population of Athens at that time was between 30 and 40 thousand. "" All three children had been baptized as Greek Catholics, but all had our religious impressions we from Uncle Wilhelm. I can't remember whether my mother took me to the Greek church at times. "

Von Hößlin remembers a visit to Augsburg , as well as Luisenruh Castle , the confirmation class in St. Anna and the large, ancient corner house Maximilian-Karolinenstraße, the oldest Hößlin house in Augsburg (destroyed in 1944).

Von Hößlin studied law in Zurich . He wrote about the escape of King Otto I of Bavaria and attributes the failure of the Greek adventure to the childlessness of the royal couple and thus the unresolved question of succession, but expressly emphasizes the popularity of the two among the people and the lack of support from England .

In 1861 he received his doctorate in Geneva and then began studying political science in Brussels . His wedding in 1866 was heavily overshadowed by the death of his fallen brother Ferdinand von Hößlin . In 1868 he found a job as a judge in Tripoli , later in Pyrgos , and in 1897 he became prefect in Lamia .

He took part in the liberation struggle of Lamia after the Turkish invasion and received an address of thanks from the army for his active commitment to the Greek cause, a street in Lamia was named after Constantine and the king was offered a seat in the ministry.

Von Hösslin called for the National Assembly to be called to reform the constitution. An election for the constituent assembly was called. Constantine was elected President of the Constituent Assembly.

As President of the Greek Chamber of Deputies, he was second only to the King. He was the only one who gave him permission to smoke during the sessions (he was a heavy smoker) - in recognition of Lamia .

The biography of Hößlins (up to around his 25th year) shows some interesting details, for example when his father fell under the robbers on a picnic, or he himself often had to show his courage during the riots, or how he had to show his first job when a public prosecutor broke a court, when a judge wanted to speak injustice after influencing the witnesses and he met Konstantin on his return to Esel and his successor and took him back with him, or when he challenged the commander of the Sultan's palace guard to a duel in Saloniki .

He wrote the life report in prison, into which Eleftherios Venizelos , his adversary and friend of the Entente , had had him, the previous President of the Chamber of Deputies, thrown; there he left him half starved. He was seriously ill by his daughter Polyxena (1872–1960) (wife of the German writer Ernst Hardt ) brought to the hospital in Athens, where he died shortly afterwards of angina pectoris .

Aristides von Hößlin (* 1904) wrote about von Hößlin in 1986: “His political opponents banished him to Corsica after the overthrow of King Constantine I (Greece) . But he came back to continue his fight for the return of the king. For this, his opponents locked him in prison, where he died on January 17, 1920. Shortly after his death his dream came true, the king came back, but unfortunately he could not see it anymore. His struggle was recognized and a street in Athens bears his name. "

literature

• Hartmut von Hößlin: Hösslin. Data from 5 centuries . Wißner, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-89639-087-2 .
• Wolfgang Gläßel: Giannes Kampyses and Konstantinos Chatzopulos. Modern Greek writers in Germany at the turn of the century . Ars Una, Neuried 2003, ISBN 3-89391-938-4 , ( Münchener Schriften zur Neogräzistik 2), (At the same time: Munich, Univ., Diss., 2003), pp. 236-258.

swell

• Genealogical private archive v. Hoesslin