Ludwig von Biegeleben

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Ludwig Freiherr von Biegeleben

Ludwig Maximilian Balthasar von Biegeleben (Austrian baron since 1868) (born January 14, 1812 in Darmstadt , † August 6, 1872 in Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn ) was a diplomat in the service of the Grand Duchy of Hesse . During the Revolution of 1848 he was Undersecretary of State of the Provisional Central Authority . For more than twenty years, as an Austrian diplomat, he played a decisive role in determining the German policy of the Habsburg Empire .

Early years

Biegeleben came from an originally Arnsberg civil servant family. He was the son of Kaspar Josef von Biegeleben , who was initially a high-ranking official in Kurköln and later in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. His mother Marianne (nee von Braumann) came from a patrician family in Aachen . His brother was the later Hessian finance minister Maximilian von Biegeleben .

Biegeleben was interested in art and literature and studied law in Bonn , Heidelberg and Giessen . During his studies he became a member of the old fraternity Germania Bonn in 1827 , in 1828 the old fraternity Germania Gießen and in 1829 the Heidelberg fraternity Fäßlianer . After graduating, he worked for about ten years in the Hessian court system.

Biegeleben then entered the diplomatic service of the Grand Duchy and in 1842 became legation secretary and chargé d'affaires in Vienna . There he met his wife Maria (1825–1871), a daughter of Franz Anton Freiherr von Buol-Berenberg (1794–1865), in the house of Ottilie von Goethe . The marriage in 1846 resulted in five children.

Biegeleben also took part in the translation of Francesco Petrarca during this time .

Undersecretary of State 1848

Biegeleben, who grew up in a parental home that was closely connected to the old empire , pleaded for Austria to play a central role in Germany. Although he rejected the revolution of 1848 as a conservative, it still seemed to offer him an opportunity to reorganize German relations and to establish closer ties between Austria and Germany. Heinrich von Gagern brought Biegeleben in August 1848 as Undersecretary of State to the Foreign Ministry of the provisional central authority in Frankfurt am Main . There he tried to work in the pro-Austrian sense. He was one of the most important pillars of the imperial administrator John of Austria . For this he was also authorized representative in Prussia, Bavaria and Austria between July and October 1849. After that, until 1850 he was a consultant in the department for foreign affairs at the Federal Central Commission.

Austria's policy on Germany

In this position he proved so well that after the suppression of the revolution, both Joseph von Radowitz for Prussia and Felix zu Schwarzenberg for Austria tried to win him over. Biegeleben decided on Austria. Since the summer of 1850 he was a section councilor and two years later a real court and ministerial councilor in the German department of the Foreign Ministry.

In the period between the Dresden Conferences and the German War of 1866, Biegeleben, who was highly valued by Emperor Franz Joseph I as "state secretary" and recorder, played a decisive role in Austria's policy on Germany, not least because of his diplomatic grades.

His primary concern was to maintain the leadership role of the Danube Monarchy in Germany. This was important for the preservation of the Habsburg State and the German Confederation . In the interests of Austria, Biegeleben tried to contribute to its reform.

Biegeleben was a staunch opponent of the Prussian claim to equal rights and clearly rejected the small German solution . After Otto von Bismarck took office , Biegeleben became his real opponent. At times he stood in opposition to the sometimes contradicting policies of the ministers Karl Ferdinand von Buol-Schauenstein , Johann Bernhard von Rechberg and Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly . He himself partially underestimated Bismarck and did not correctly assess the real balance of power.

Biegeleben played a central role in the ultimately failed Frankfurt Fürstentag of 1863. As the second Austrian plenipotentiary, he took part in the London Conference in 1864 to end the German-Danish War . After that, Biegeleben tried to form an alliance of German medium and small states to come to terms with the French ruler Napoleon III. to agree, in order to bring a reform of the German Confederation on the way. He also accepted a confrontation with Prussia. The defeat in the German War of 1866 meant the end of Biegeleb's political plans for Germany. With the establishment of the German Empire, Biegeleben finally failed and withdrew from civil service in 1872.

Works

  • Karl Kekule / Ludwig Biegeleben (Hrsg./Trans.): The rhymes of Francsco Petrarca. Stuttgart, Tübingen, 1844 digitized

Literature (in chronological order)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 1: A-E. Winter, Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-8253-0339-X , p. 97.
personal data
SURNAME Biegeleben, Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Biegeleben, Ludwig Maximilian Balthasar von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hessian-Austrian diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1812
PLACE OF BIRTH Darmstadt
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1872
Place of death Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn