Karl, Prince of Leiningen (1804–1856)
 | This article includes a list of generalreferences,butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations.(March 2014) |
| Karl | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince of Leiningen | |||||
 Karl in 1855 | |||||
| Prime Minister of theGerman Empire | |||||
| In office | 5 August 1848 –6 September 1848 | ||||
| Predecessor | Position established | ||||
| Successor | Anton von Schmerling | ||||
| Monarch | Archduke John of Austria (Regent) | ||||
| Born | 12 September 1804 Amorbach,Principality of Leiningen (in modernBavaria,Germany) | ||||
| Died | 13 November 1856(aged 52) Waldleiningen Castle,Mörschenhardt,Grand Duchy of Baden | ||||
| Spouse |
Countess Maria Klebelsberg
(m.1829) | ||||
| Issue |
| ||||
| |||||
| House | Leiningen | ||||
| Father | Emich Carl, Prince of Leiningen | ||||
| Mother | Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld | ||||
Karl, Prince of Leiningen,KG(Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Emich; 12 September 1804 – 13 November 1856) was the thirdPrince of Leiningenand maternal half-brother ofQueen Victoria.Leiningen served as aBavarianlieutenant general, before he briefly played an important role inGermanpolitics as the first Prime Minister of theProvisorische Zentralgewaltgovernment formed by theFrankfurt Parliamentin 1848.
Biography
[edit]Descent
[edit]A member of the Hardenburg branch of theHouse of Leiningen,Karl was born inAmorbach,the son ofPrince Emich Carl of Leiningen(1763–1814) by his second marriage withPrincess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld(1786–1861). He was the only son, as Emich Carl's son by his first wife, Friedrich, had died in 1800.
Prince Emich Carl had received thePrincipality of Leiningenduring theGerman mediatisation(Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) in 1803, as a compensation for the lostHardenburgestates in thePalatinateoccupied by French revolutionary troops, and took his residence at the secularisedAmorbach Abbey.The princely territory, however, soon after passed to the newly establishedGrand Duchy of Baden,theKingdom of Bavariaand theGrand Duchy of Hesse.Prince Emich Carl died on 4 July 1814 and Karl succeeded him as third Prince of Leiningen. On 11 July 1818, his widowed mother marriedPrince Edward,the fourth son of KingGeorge III of the United Kingdom,atKew Palace,Surrey. In 1819, Karl and his younger sister,Princess Feodora,were taken from Amorbach toLondon,where their half-sister, Princess Victoria of Kent, was born on 24 May atKensington Palace.
Marriage and issue
[edit]
On 13 February 1829, Karl married theBohemianCountess Marie vonKlebelsberg-Thumburg(27 March 1806 – 28 October 1880), younger daughter of Count Maximilian vonKlebelsberg-Thumburg(1752-1811) and his wife, Maria Anna vonTurba(1763-1833). They had two sons:
- Ernst, Prince of Leiningen(9 November 1830 – 5 April 1904); marriedPrincess Marie of Badenon 11 September 1858. They had two children.
- Prince Eduard Friedrich Maximilian Johann of Leiningen (5 January 1833 – 9 April 1914). Never married.
Minor prince
[edit]Karl had attended a private school inBernand from 1821 onwards studied law at theUniversity of Göttingenwith the juristKarl Friedrich Eichhorn,then one of the principal authorities on German constitutional law and leading proponent of theGerman Historical Schoolof jurisprudence. At the British court, his multifaceted interests in art were aroused. From 1828, he had Waldleiningen Castle nearMörschenhardt(named afterWaldleiningenin the Palatinate) erected as his private residence, aRomanticcomplex resemblingNeo-Gothiccastles in Britain, such asAbbotsford House.
As amediatized house,the Princes of the Leiningen were members of theLandtagdiet in Baden, as well as in Bavaria and Hesse. Prince Karl became president of the Bavarian upper house (Reichsrat) in 1842 and also pursued a career in theBavarian Armyas Lieutenant generalà la suiteof the Cavalry. On 20 April 1842, he and 20 other noblemen gathered atBiebrich Palace,where they established theAdelsvereinto organize the settlement of German emigrants inTexas;Karl was elected president of the society.
1848: Brief moment of glory
[edit]By theGerman revolutions of 1848–49,Leiningen had achieved much reputation as aliberalreformer andfreethinker.He advocated the implementation ofparliamentarismand openly criticized aristocracy's privileges; therefore, he was appointed Prime Minister of Revolutionary Germany by Regent (Reichsverweser)Archduke John of Austriaon 6 August 1848. With a Catholichead of stateand a Lutheranhead of government,an equilibrium was reached inGerman dualism;moreover, Leiningen's close relations to the British Royal House were generally appreciated. His cabinet initially could rely on a liberal and left-wing majority in the newly established Frankfurt Parliament, however, as early as on 5 September, he resigned over theSchleswig-Holstein Questionwhen in theFirst Schleswig WarKingFrederick William IV of Prussiaunilaterally signed an armistice with Denmark at Malmö. The delegates of the Frankfurt assembly reacted with outrage and Leiningen, unable to assert the powers of the central authority, was forced to step down. He was succeeded by theAustrianpoliticianAnton von Schmerling,who acted as Prime Minister until December.
Later life and death
[edit]In 1851, Karl also resigned as president of the Adelsverein and was succeeded byPrince Hermann of Wied.Shortly after his half sister's daughterVictoriabecame engaged toPrince Frederick of Prussia,in 1855, he suffered a severeapoplecticattack. A second attack in November the following year was fatal, and he died at Waldleiningen Castle at the age of fifty-two, with his sister Feodora at his bedside.
Upon hearing of her half-brother's death,Queen Victoriawrote in her journal:
"I cannot realise that my dearly loved only brother has been taken from us! Whilst I write this, I feel as if it could only be a bad dream, from which I might yet awake, to see his dear face, hear his joyous voice & laugh, & enjoy his delightful company. It seems quite impossible, that dear Charles, the personification of life, health, & merriment, whom I can only see as such before me, — should be no longer in this world, & that I shall never see him again! It is too dreadful, too hard! But we must submit to God's will, & I do feel, that in poor dear Charles's case, his passing away is a mercy."
— Queen Victoria's Journals, Thursday 13th November 1856[1]
Honours
[edit]
Baden:[2]
Kingdom of Hanover:Grand Cross of theRoyal Guelphic Order,1824[3]
Kingdom of Bavaria:Knight of St. Hubert,1825[4]
Kingdom of Saxony:Knight of the Rue Crown,1825[5]
Ernestine duchies:Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order,April 1834[6]
Kingdom of Portugal:Grand Cross of the Tower and Sword,3 June 1836[7]
United Kingdom:Knight of the Garter,14 July 1837[8]
Grand Duchy of Hesse:Grand Cross of theLudwig Order,4 August 1840[9]
Ancestry
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References
[edit]- ^"Journal Entry: Thursday 13th November 1856".Queen Victoria's Journals.The Royal Archives. 24 May 2012.Retrieved22 March2021.
- ^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden(1834), "Großherzogliche Orden"pp. 35,52
- ^Hannover (Staat) (1835).Staats- und Adresskalender für das Königreich Hannover: 1836 (1835).Berenberg. p.19.
- ^Bayern (1849).Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Bayern: 1849.Landesamt. p. 8.
- ^"Königliche Ritter-orden",Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen (1854)(in German), Dresden, 1854, p.4
{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha(1843), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p.4
- ^Bragança, Jose Vicente de (2014)."Agraciamentos Portugueses Aos Príncipes da Casa Saxe-Coburgo-Gota"[Portuguese Honours awarded to Princes of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha].Pro Phalaris(in Portuguese).9–10:9.Retrieved28 November2019.
- ^Shaw, Wm. A. (1906)The Knights of England,I,London,p. 55
- ^Hessen-Darmstadt (1854).Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Hessen: für das Jahr... 1854.Staatsverl. p.21.
- Hermann Nehlsen (1997) (in German)Fürst Karl zu Leiningen (1804–1856).In: Gerhard Köbler, Hermann Nehlsen (Ed.):Wirkungen europäischer Rechtskultur. Festschrift für Karl Kroeschell zum 70. Geburtstag.Verlag C.H. Beck, München,ISBN3-406-42994-7,S. 763f.
- Friedrich Oswald (1985),"Leiningen, Karl Emich Fürst zu",Neue Deutsche Biographie(in German), vol. 14, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 145–146
- Sarah Tytler,The Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen,vol. II
External links
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