Robert von Zedlitz-Truetzschler

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the administrative officer of the same name, his son, see Robert Graf von Zedlitz-Trützschler (1863–1942)

Robert von Zedlitz-Trützschler, 1903. Photo by Julius Braatz.

Karl Eduard Robert Graf Zedlitz and Trützschler (* December 8, 1837 in Freienwalde ; † October 21, 1914 in Berlin ) was a German civil servant in Prussia and 1891/92 Minister of Education .

origin

His parents were the district president Carl Graf von Zedlitz-Trützschler (1800-1880) and his first wife Ulrike, born Freiin von Vernezobre de Laurieux (* December 24, 1803; † June 9, 1843).

Life

Zedlitz was initially an officer in the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps of the Prussian Army between 1856 and 1862 . After leaving the company, he managed the Niedergroßenbohrau family estate in Silesia . In the German War of 1866 he returned to the army as a volunteer and was an adjutant on the staff of the 11th Cavalry Brigade of the 2nd Army. During the Franco-Prussian War he was adjutant of the general command of the immobile guards.

Then he developed a lively activity in the Silesian district and provincial administration and in the agricultural community life of Silesia; he became a member of the country's economy and the College of the German Agricultural Council, representatives of the provincial governor of Silesia and - from 1879 to 1881 - President of the Provincial Committee in Silesia. After that, he was President of the Government in Opole and since 1884 a member of the State Council . In 1886 he became President of the Poznan Province . He was also chairman of the settlement commission for the provinces of Poznan and West Prussia .

In 1891 he became the Prussian minister of culture. In this role he presented a new elementary school law. This was markedly Christian-conservative. He wanted to establish religion as the highest educational goal and the churches as the most important educational institutions. The school boards should be denominationalized, children of dissidents should be forced to take part in religious education. The churches should be able to decide on the content of religious instruction. Politically, he wanted to enforce this with the help of the conservatives and the center . Behind this was the intention of the Reich Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi to tie the center to the government. The result, however, was a public storm of protest from the liberal to moderate conservative, mostly Protestant bourgeoisie, such as had never occurred since the establishment of the empire. The protest had an effect. At first the national liberal finance minister Johannes von Miquel and finally Wilhelm II. Von Zedlitz's draft distanced himself . This then resigned. Caprivi lost the office of the Prussian Prime Minister.

In December 1898, Zedlitz became President of the Province of Hesse-Nassau and from 1903 to 1909 President of Silesia. From 1909 he was a member of the Immediatecommission for administrative reform. In 1913 he became its deputy chairman. Since 1910 Zedlitz belonged to the Prussian manor house . In recognition of his many years of service, Wilhelm II made him Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle on September 6, 1906 .

family

On October 24, 1862, he married Agnes Emilie Countess von Rohr (* March 25, 1840 - December 16, 1928) from the Levetzow family. The couple had several children:

• Karl Konstantin Friedrich Eduard Robert (1863–1942), administrative officer and author ⚭ 1899 Olga Bürgers (* October 1, 1876; † February 21, 1899)
• Elisabeth Ulrike Emilie (7 November 1864 - 13 April 1924)
• Ehrengard Ruth (1867–1945) ⚭ 1886 Jürgen Christoph von Kleist-Retzow (1854–1897), district administrator
• Marie Agnes (born February 1, 1869) ⚭ 1891 Hermann von Tresckow (1849–1933), general of the cavalry
• Karl Otto Stephan (March 28, 1871 - March 15, 1951) ⚭ Helene von Rohr (December 17, 1882 - January 10, 1981)
• Ehrengard Ulrike Emilie (* May 24, 1877; † April 1945) ⚭ 1908 Karl von Rohr (* July 11, 1878; † April 1945)

literature

• Yearbook of the German Nobility . Volume 2, 1898, p. 899.

Web links

• Acta Borussica Vol. 10, p. 454 (PDF file; 2.74 MB)
• Meyer's Large Conversation Lexicon. Leipzig 1905–1909, Volume 20, p. 862.
• Zedlitz and Trützschler, Karl Eduard Robert Graf von. Hessian biography. (As of July 24, 2019). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Not to be confused with the court marshal of the same name Wilhelm II, who published his memoirs in 1923
2. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey : German History 1866-1918. Volume 1: The world of work and civic spirit. Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34453-4 , pp. 535f.
3. ^ General Order Commission (ed.): Royal Prussian Order List 1905. Second supplement from February 1, 1906 to January 31, 1907. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1907, p. 2.