Erich Graf von Kielmansegg (13 February 1847 – 5 February 1923) was an
Austrian statesman. He served as
stadtholder
In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...
of
Lower Austria and short time
Cisleithanian Minister-President of
Austria-Hungary in 1895.
Biography
He was born in
Hanover the son of Count Eduard von
Kielmansegg (1804–1879), Minister-President of the
Kingdom of Hanover from 1855 to 1862 and himself a grandson of Lieutenant-General
Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, an illegitimate son of King
George II of Great Britain with
Amalie Sophie Marianne von Wendt and Juliane von
Zesterfleth zu Bergfried (1808-1880). With his father he had to emigrate upon the annexation of Hanover by
Prussia after the 1866
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
and moved to
Vienna. Kielmansegg studied
Jurisprudence at the universities of
Heidelberg and
Vienna and entered the Austrian civil service in 1870.
From 1876 he served as ''
Hauptmann'' (captain) of the
Baden District, Austria
Bezirk Baden is a district of the state of Lower Austria in Austria.
Municipalities
Towns (''Städte'') are indicated in boldface; market towns (''Marktgemeinden'') in ''italics''; suburbs, hamlets and other subdivisions of a municipality are in ...
and from 1882 as an official of the state governments in the Cisleithanian crown lands of
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
and
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
as well as in the Austrian Ministry of the Interior. From 17 October 1889 he was stadtholder of Lower Austria, where he carried through the union of Vienna with the suburbs (Greater Vienna), the
Vienna Danube regulation and the expansion of the
Donaukanal and the
Wien River.
After Minister-President Prince
Alfred III of Windisch-Grätz had resigned over the language conflict with the
Young Czech Party in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
, Kielmansegg, a confidant of Emperor
Francis Joseph I of Austria, was appointed Minister of the Interior and Cisleithanian Prime Minister on 18 June 1895, though only as an acting officeholder until the implementation of the
Badeni
The House of Badeni is the name of a Polish aristocratic family. The dynasty became important in the 19th century in partitioned Poland as one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Galicia.
History
The dynasty originated from the bou ...
government on 29 September. He remained Lower Austrian governor until 18 June 1911, however, he had to cope with the rising political power of the
Social Democrats and the
Christian Social Party under the popular Vienna mayor
Karl Lueger
Karl Lueger (; 24 October 1844 – 10 March 1910) was an Austrian politician, mayor of Vienna, and leader and founder of the Austrian Christian Social Party. He is credited with the transformation of the city of Vienna into a modern city. The pop ...
.
Personal life
He was married to Russian noblewoman Anastasia
Lebedewna von Lebedeff (1860-1912). In August 1892
Countess Anastasia von Kielmannsegg allegedly took part in
sword duel with
Princess Pauline von Metternich over a floral arrangement at the Vienna Musical and Theater Exposition, which was later denied by the Princess as a "ridiculous invention by Italian journalists". The marriage between Erich and Anastasia remained childless.
Death
Retired Kielmansegg died in Vienna from
pneumonia, he was buried at the
Döbling Cemetery
The Döbling Cemetery (Döblinger Friedhof) is a cemetery in the 19th district of Döbling in Vienna, Austria.
Location
The cemetery lies in the south of Döbling on the border to Währing in the Katastralgemeinde of Oberdöbling, in the Hartä ...
. A born
North German
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
he was, with the exception of Chancellor
Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust, the only
Protestant minister of Austria up to this date.
Notes
References
*
External links
Ottův slovník naučný
Ottův slovník naučný nové doby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kielmansegg, Erich
1847 births
1923 deaths
Burials at Döbling Cemetery
19th-century Ministers-President of Austria
Nobility from Hanover
Ministers-President of Austria
Austrian Protestants
Counts of Austria
category:Governors of Lower Austria (to 1918)
Grand Crosses of the Order of Franz Joseph
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
