Leopold von Plessen (Minister)

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Leopold von Plessen, Suhrlandt , portrait around 1808 ( Schwerin State Museum , Grand Ducal Estate)
Coat of arms of the family branch

Leopold Engelke Hartwig Freiherr von Plessen , also Engelke Leopold Hartwig von Plessen , Leopold Hartwig Freiherr von Plessen (born January 21, 1769 in Raden ; † April 25, 1837 in Schwerin ) was a diplomat, chamberlain and from 1836 to 1837 President of the Privy Council and (First) Minister in Mecklenburg-Schwerin .

Life

Leopold von Plessen came from the originally noble Mecklenburg-Holstein noble family von Plessen . He was the sixth of ten children of the captain and landowner zu Raden (1754), Vogelsang and Lalendorf Christoph Leopold Hartwig (born January 9, 1721 in Schwerin; † December 16, 1783 in Raden) and his wife Katharina Dorothea von Plessen (born 27 April 1741 in Steinhausen , † March 15, 1803 ibid.) Born in Raden near Güstrow .

Taught only by private tutors, he studied philosophy at the University of Rostock from Michaelis 1785 and then from Easter 1787 camera studies and European constitutional and international law in Göttingen. In 1790 he became a member of the Royal Prussian War and Domain Chamber in Berlin and in the same year took part in the coronation of Emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt am Main . After various educational trips and a stay in Regensburg , Plessen entered the Mecklenburg civil service on March 11, 1793 as an auditor at the Schwerin Chamber of Commerce with the character of Drosten. On September 10, 1796, he became ducal-Mecklenburg-Schwerin Chamberlain, after having acquired the Vogelsang estate in the same year when his father's estate was divided. After further trips through England, France and Austria, Plessen stayed mainly at the court of the (partial) duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and quickly gained the trust of his prince. From 1802 to 1806 Plessen stayed as the Mecklenburg ambassador to the Reichstag in Regensburg and in 1803 pursued the interests of the Mecklenburg Princely House to obtain the electoral dignity with a special ducal commission. In June 1805 he temporarily returned to Mecklenburg and was appointed to the Privy Council in recognition of his services.

Appointed Real Secret Council and Minister in 1807, Leopold von Plessen worked in the government of the Mecklenburg-Schwerin region as third minister and director of the cabinet, and in 1808 as second minister. During the time of the German Wars of Liberation, Plessen traveled a lot, often entrusting diplomatic missions and negotiations with Russia, Prussia and other great powers. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, as a representative of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, he repeatedly advocated the revival of the German Empire and achieved the rise or equalization of his prince, Duke Friedrich Franz I , to Grand Duke of Mecklenburg. At the Congress of Vienna he advanced to become one of the most important representatives of the small German states (less powerful) and, through skillful diplomatic tactics, was ultimately able to help preserve the state sovereignty of Mecklenburg and other small states.

In 1815 Leopold Freiherr von Plessen took part in the Bundestag of the German Confederation as envoy and plenipotentiary minister of both parts of Mecklenburg , as well as in the ministerial conferences in 1819 and in the Vienna conference in 1819/20.

Portrait around 1820

Prince Metternich offered Plessen the post of Austrian Foreign Minister and Finance Minister after the Karlsbad Conferences were over - in recognition of his previous services. Plessen turned down this because of his friendship with the incumbent Foreign Minister Count Johann Rudolf Buol-Schauenstein. Metternich and the Prussian Minister Graf von Bernstorff later offered a post as Austrian and Prussian envoy to the Bundestag . Plessen also rejected these two offers out of ties to his homeland Mecklenburg and because of his long-standing friendship with Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I. The so-called “Plessensche Salon” in the Neustadtisches Palais in Schwerin advanced to become the spiritual center of the royal seat in the following years due to the visits of numerous foreign diplomats.

Since 1782 Plessen was the owner of the knightly estate Dolgen am See and had the Dolgen manor house rebuilt based on the model of the father-in-law mansion on the Orellen estate in Livonia . Since 1824 he spent every summer on his estate on the Dolgener See and helped the village of Dolgen to achieve considerable political importance through the visits of numerous national and foreign state guests and other high-ranking personalities. For official reasons, the von Plessen family took their permanent residence in Ludwigslust , where Duke Friedrich the Pious had already built spacious apartments for court officials. In his last years increasingly active in domestic politics, Plessen represented the interests of the Schwerin Grand Duke at numerous state parliaments. On May 5, 1836, Leopold von Plessen was appointed President of the Privy Council and (First) Minister in the highest-ranking state office in Mecklenburg-Schwerin; he thus succeeded his predecessor August Georg von Brandenstein, who died at the age of 81 . After Plessen's death in 1837, Christian Friedrich Krüger took over the management of government.

family

Wife Sophie

His wife Martha Friederike Sophie Baroness von Camphausen (1776-1835) (winner of the Russian Order of St. Catherine II. Class (June 24 jul. / July 6, 1824 greg. )) Was a daughter of the Russian Privy Council Balthasar von Camphausen (1745–1800) and the lady-in-waiting of the Hereditary Princess Helene Paulowna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, as well as Chief Chamberlain of the Hereditary Grand Duchess Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . The couple left two sons and a daughter; two other offspring - his first-born daughter Helene in the first year of life in 1804 and a fifth child on the day of birth in 1811 - died very early. His daughter Luise (1804-1857) married in 1832 in Ludwigslust with the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Real Privy Councilor Friedrich Albert von Oertzen (1797-1873) from the house of Kittendorf and lived on his estate in Kurzen and Langen- Trechow . His son Friedrich (1806-1853) became a Prussian government trainee in 1837; he died single and childless in Braunschweig . His son Hermann (1810–1855) became chamberlain of Mecklenburg in 1839 ; Hermann was married twice: In 1839 he married in Rostock Lisette of Stralendorff gen of Kolhans (1819-1846) from the house. Golchen , but died childless already with 26 years of life. In 1847 he married Hedwig Ernestine von Storch (1816–1874), the daughter of the Justice Council August Leopold Justus von Storch and his wife Friederike Christine, born in Hohen Sprenz . von Drieberg ; this second marriage had five children. The manor Dolgen am See was Leopold von Plessen to Fideikommiss designed; it was initially taken over by his son Hermann and then continued by his son Gustav and his descendant Leopold.

Honors and appreciation of lifetime achievement

Invitation card of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to a reading by Hermann and Dorothea in the Cotta'schen Buchhandlung , 1814

In 1808 Leopold von Plessen was made a royal Danish knight by the Dannebrog Order . In 1819 he received an honorary doctorate from the Law Faculty of the University of Rostock on the occasion of the 400th anniversary. Almost at the same time, the Mecklenburg Patriotic Association awarded him honorary membership. Plessen later became a full member of the Royal Society for Nordic Antiquity in Copenhagen.

In 1819 Leopold Freiherr von Plessen was also one of the founding members of the Society for Older German History .

In 1835 he was also made an honorary member of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology , which had just been founded . Emperor Franz I of Austria awarded him the Grand Cross of the Imperial Leopold Order on June 20, 1820 .

A short time later, Plessen received from the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. the royal Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, first class.

The Mecklenburgische Volks-Zeitung (March 1990) and the Ostsee-Zeitung (January 2002) posthumously recognized Leopold von Plessen as a pioneer of German unity .

Death, Condolence and Burial

Ludwig von Hirschfeld, Hinstorff`sche Buchhandlung , Wismar 1896
Grave site in the old cemetery near Doberaner Münster (May 2018)

On April 25, 1837, Leopold von Plessen died of paralysis as a result of a flu-like illness. Metternich described his death as a loss for the smaller German states as well as for the federal government. Grand Duke Paul Friedrich von Mecklenburg as well as countless citizens of the state capital and the surrounding towns paid his last respects in the Neustadtisches Palais zu Schwerin, which was used by Leopold von Plessen as the Ministry of Finance from 1820 onwards.

Plessen was on the side of his 1835 already previous wife Sophie in the old cemetery at the Doberan Minster on the eastern monastery wall (now as a park "stream garden" listed building ) buried where the double grave is obtained (2016) state in restored today.

The diplomat and writer Ludwig von Hirschfeld (1842–1896) found the following closing words in his book Von einer deutschen Fürstenhofe :

“Leopold von Plessen was buried at the side of his wife, only a few steps away from the venerable walls of the old church, a magnificent monument of Gothic architecture, the mausoleum of the Mecklenburg dukes, in whose central nave the stone sarcophagus of Friedrich Franz I rises. So they rest close together in death, the three people whose fates were closely intertwined in life. (...) Leopold von Plessen deserved that posterity got to know him for what he was:

a noble person,
an important statesman and -
what one
could rarely say of his contemporaries -
a German patriot! "

Works

  • Basics for improving the credit system, especially on knighthood goods in Mecklenburg. sn, sl 1804.
  • Attempt to improve the circulation of paper money and rectify public debt in the Imperial Austrian State. sn, Regensburg 1806, digitized .
  • On the natural relationship and the limitations of trade between different states in relation to the present events. Commissioned by Montag und Weiß et al., Regensburg et al. 1806, digitized .
  • Ideas about the real basis of necessary paper money. Commissioned by Montag und Weiß, Regensburg 1806, digitized .
  • Basic features of a future German entity and a national unity. sn, Vienna 1815.

literature

Fritz Apian-Bennewitz, Inaugural - Dissertation , University of Rostock , 1930
  • Albrecht Bartsch: Nekrolog LEH von Plessen. In: Freimüthiges Abendblatt. Schwerin. Vol. 20, No. 1008, 1838, ZDB -ID 13272-x , pp. 321–336 ( digitized ; PDF; 1.1 MB), (reprinted in: Julius von Maltzan : Some good Mecklenburgische Männer. Lebensbilder. Hinstorff , Wismar 1882, pp. 115-136).
  • Karl Ernst Hermann Krause :  Plessen, Leopold von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 26, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1888, pp. 272-276.
  • Ludwig von Hirschfeld: An old school statesman. From the life of the Mecklenburg Minister Leopold von Plessen. In: Ludwig von Hirschfeld: From a German royal court. Historical memories from old Mecklenburg. Published by his widow. Volume 2. Hinstorff, Wismar 1896, pp. 1–263
  • Fritz Apian-Bennewitz : Leopold von Plessen and the constitutional policy of the small German states at the Congress of Vienna 1814/15. Ivens, Eutin 1933 (Rostock, University, dissertation, 1933).
  • Ulrike Palme: Leopold Hartwig Engelke von Plessen - a European from Mecklenburg in the 19th century. In: Wolf D. Gruner , Gunther Viereck (Eds.): Colloquium in memory of Prof. Dr. Phil. Habil. Ilona Buchsteiner (= Rostock Contributions to German and European History. Volume 13, ISSN  1431-410X ). University of Rostock - Philosophical Faculty - Historical Institute et al., Rostock 2004, pp. 87–97.

Web links

Commons : Leopold von Plessen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Power of attorney from Friederich Franz, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, Count of Schwerin, for the Privy Council and Minister of State Leopold Hartwig Frh. Von Plessen, Schwerin  in the German Digital Library
  2. ^ Grand Ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin State Calendar. 1837, ZDB ID 514730-x .
  3. ^ Main line of Plessen.
  4. ↑ cf. M. Naumann: The Plessen - family line from XIII. to XX. Century . Edited by Dr. Helmold von Plessen on behalf of the family association. 2nd revised and expanded edition. CA Starke Verlag, Limburg an der Lahn 1971, p. 154
  5. ↑ See the entry of Leopold von Plessen's matriculation in the Rostock matriculation portal
  6. ↑ cf. Fritz Apian-Bennewitz: Leopold von Plessen and the constitutional policy of the small German states at the Congress of Vienna 1814/15. 1933.
  7. ^ Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Power of attorney from Carl, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, for the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin Privy Councilor and Minister of State Leopold Hartwig Frh. Von Plessen, Neustrelitz  in the German Digital Library
  8. ↑ Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Power of attorney from Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, for the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin Privy Councilor and Minister of State Leopold Hartwig Frh. Von Plessen, Frankfurt a. Main  in the German Digital Library
  9. ^ Authority of Georg, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, for the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg-Schwerin State Minister Leopold Hartwig Frh. Von Plessen as authorized representative for the Vienna Conference, Neustrelitz  in the German Digital Library
  10. ↑ a b c Ulrike Palme: Leopold von Plessen. In: Ilona Buchsteiner (Hrsg.): Mecklenburgers in German history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Ingo Koch Verlag, Rostock 2001, ISBN 3-935319-22-3 , pp. 67–87, here pp. 79–80.
  11. ↑ Hartwig von Plessen: The Dolgen estate. In: Mecklenburg landlords in the 20th century. Memories and biographies. New Hochschul-Schriften-Verlag Koch, Rostock 2000, ISBN 3-935319-08-8 , pp. 527-531.
  12. ↑ Список кавалерам Императорских Российских орденов всех наименований на лето от рождества Христова 1827. Часть 1 Санкт-Петербург при Императорской Академии Наук. 1828. С. 13.
  13. ^ Genealogical handbook of the Baltic knighthoods. Part 1, 1: Livonia. Volume: 1. GA Starke, Görlitz 1929, p. 25 .
  14. ↑ see M. Naumann: Die Plessen. Line from the XIII. to XX. Century. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Starke, Limburg an der Lahn 1971, pp. 160–162.
  15. ^ The learned Teutschland, or Lexicon of the now living German writers. Volume 15: The learned Germany in the nineteenth century. Meyer, Lemgo 1811, p. 54, "Since 1808 royal Danish knight from the Danebrog Order".
  16. ↑ Entry in the Rostock matriculation portal
  17. ^ Archives of the Society for Older German History, Volume 1; Directory of the first founders: Baron von Plessen, Grand Heart. Mecklenburg State Minister and Minister of the Bundestag . Frankfurt a. M. 1820, p. 85
  18. ↑ At the first general meeting of the history association (April 22, 1835), six "men who were equally distinguished by their position and services to Meklenburg" were appointed honorary members, one of whom died in the first financial year. See Albrecht Bartsch: Annual report of the association for Meklenburg history and antiquity. 1. Jg., 1836, ZDB -ID 542819-1 , p. 4, 59, Among the five honorary members of the association is mentioned: "His Excellency the Mr. Secret Councilor = and Government = President of Plessen zu Ludwigslust." ( Digitized ( Memento of September 21, 2005 in the Internet Archive )).
  19. ↑ Klaus Havemann: Von Plessen was a pioneer of unity. In: Ostsee-Zeitung. OZ series: Literary walk through Bad Doberan. January 23, 2002, p. 14
  20. ↑ Lutz Werner: A pioneer for German unity: the Mecklenburg Leopold von Plessen. In: Mecklenburgische Volkszeitung. March 1990, p. 4 u. 5 (each full page)
  21. ↑ Ulrike Palme: Leopold von Plessen. In: Ilona Buchsteiner (Hrsg.): Mecklenburgers in German history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Ingo Koch Verlag, Rostock 2001, ISBN 3-935319-22-3 , pp. 67–87, here p. 82.
  22. ^ A b Ludwig von Hirschfeld: A statesman of the old school. In: Ders .: From a German royal court. Historical memory from Altmecklenburg. Volume 2. 1896, p. 263.
personal data
SURNAME Plessen, Leopold von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Plessen, Leopold Engelke Hartwig von (full name); Plessen, Leopold Hartwig from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION President of the Privy Council and (First) Minister in Mecklenburg-Schwerin
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1769
PLACE OF BIRTH Wheels
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1837
Place of death Schwerin