Rudolf von Auerswald

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Rudolf Ludwig Caesar von Auerswald (born September 1, 1795 in Marienwerder , † January 15, 1866 in Berlin ) was a Prussian civil servant, minister and prime minister .

Rudolf von Auerswald, 1862.

origin

He came from an old Meißen noble family with the same name Auerswalde parent house (today a district of Lichtenau in the district of Central Saxony ), which was first mentioned in 1263. He was a son of Hans Jakob von Auerswald (1757-1833), President of the Chamber and, since 1802, Upper President in Königsberg . His brothers were the royal Prussian major general Hans Adolf Erdmann von Auerswald (1792–1848) and the royal Prussian general landscape director Alfred von Auerswald (1797–1870).

Career advancement

Auerswald also spent his youth in Königsberg and was friends with Prince Wilhelm (later King Wilhelm I). After completing his studies, he went to the military and joined the 1st body hussar regiment. Under General Yorck , he took part in campaigns in Livonia and Courland in 1812 . Even during the Wars of Liberation from 1813 to 1815, v. Auerswald soldier. Until 1821 he stayed in various positions in the military and resigned as Rittmeister.

Member of the United State Parliament, the Prussian and German National Assembly

Von Auerswald married his cousin Countess Adele Dohna-Lauck as early as 1817. After his retirement he bought in bulk Rödersdorf (now Russian: Nowosjolowo) in the district Heiligenbeil in East Prussia the estate and was there in 1824 District Administrator . In 1835 he was elected "General Landscape Councilor" by the Prussian landscape, and since 1838 he was also Lord Mayor of Königsberg.

At the same time he was a member of the knighthood in the provincial parliament of the province of Prussia . He acted temporarily as deputy state marshal . He was among those which contributed significantly in 1840, during the homage State Parliament the new king Frederick William IV. To remember the constitutional promise of 1815 and a constitution to ask for Prussia. In older historiography, this step is considered to be the actual beginning of liberalism in the Prussian eastern provinces.

Von Auerswald gave up his work in the corporate representation as well as his post as mayor and in the Prussian countryside in 1842 in favor of the position of regional president in Trier.

Revolution and reaction time

Immediately after the beginning of the March Revolution, in 1848, under Prime Minister Ludolf Camphausen, he was appointed Upper President of East Prussia. After Camphausen's resignation, Rudolf von Auerswald became his successor and at the same time took over the foreign office. Alongside him, the Rhenish liberal David Hansemann played a key role. During Auerswald's term of office, the government draft of a new Prussian constitution was presented. The model was the liberal Belgian constitution of 1831, which was considered to be one of the most liberal and modern of its time and had a particularly strong influence on Rhenish liberalism. However, this was not accepted by the Prussian National Assembly , which instead set up its own constitutional committee. Auerswald himself was barely able to hold on to the government for a quarter of a year. The trigger for the resignation was the request of the Prussian National Assembly that the government should fight the reactionary forces in the military.

Riot in front of the seat of Prime Minister v. Auerswald in August 1848 (contemporary illustration)

After his resignation he returned to his post as senior president in Königsberg. After the dissolution of the National Assembly, the imposition of a new constitution and the election of a new parliament, von Auerswald returned to the political stage and became president of the first chamber. He held this office until 1850. As chairman of the House of States, he then took part in the Erfurt parliament .

Following his parliamentary work, von Auerswald was appointed Upper President of the Rhine Province. Critical comments against the policies of the reaction era led to his dismissal. He withdrew from public life for almost two years and spent most of this time traveling abroad, including a. to Paris, Italy and North Africa.

Government participation in the "New Era"

It was not until 1853 that he returned to political life as a member of the second chamber and was soon a leading member of the liberal opposition. He owed this position, among other things, to his personal and trusting relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm. After Wilhelm took over the reign and the resignation of the Manteuffel government , Wilhelm appointed the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Prime Minister. Auerswald served in his cabinet as Minister of State without portfolio . However, he was Deputy Prime Minister and was considered the real head of the government. However, the new liberal era hoped for by the population met with considerable resistance from the civil servants, the opposition at the regent's court and above all in the manor house .

In particular, however, the government's army bill in 1860 brought Auerswald into opposition to his own liberal party. Nevertheless he tried to mediate between the king and parliament. However, no agreement was reached and in the new elections to the House of Representatives in 1861, the Liberals split on this issue. Without the support of the liberal majority, the government could not hold out either. In March 1862 von Auerswald and most of the other ministers resigned. The subsequent government was headed by Otto von Bismarck , who fought out the problem of army reform in conflict with the liberals.

Rudolf von Auerswald withdrew completely from politics after his resignation, but did not fall out of favor despite his liberal views. Rather, a court office as Oberburggrafen von Marienburg was created especially for him . In 1866 von Auerswald died in Berlin.

family

As early as 1817 von Auerswald married his cousin Countess Adele von Dohna-Lauck (born March 31, 1795, † August 28, 1859). From his sons, Adalbert von Auerswald fell as colonel in 1870, Cäsar Achatius von Auerswald (born November 28, 1818 - November 21, 1883) became the district president and married Emma Marie Franziska von Buhl Countess Schimmelpfennig von der Oye widowed von Koschinsky (born June 18 1824).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl Mittermaier , David Hansemann , Maximilian von Schwerin-Putzar , Rudolf von Auerswald, Benedikt Waldeck , Friedrich Römer , Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann , Ludolf Camphausen , Hermann von Beckerath , Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch , Carl Theodor Welcker
personal data
SURNAME Auerswald, Rudolf von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Auerswald, Rudolf Ludwig Caesar from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian civil servant, minister and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Marienwerder (West Prussia) , West Prussia
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 1866
Place of death Berlin