Baron Johann von Wessenberg-Ampringen (german: Johann Philipp Freiherr von Wessenberg-Ampringen; 28 November 1773 – 1 August 1858,

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n diplomat statesman.Also known in English as John Philip Baron de Wessenberg (British Foreign Office, ''British and foreign state papers'' Volume 2, H.M.S.O., 183
p. 446
"Treaty of alliance of the 25th March 1815 concluded between Austria Russia Prussia and Great Britain"). Wessenberg was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, where his father worked as a tutor to the princes of the

electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

House of Wettin. Johann's younger brother

Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg Ignaz Heinrich Karl von Wessenberg (4 November 17749 August 1860) was a Germans, German writer and scholar, and liberal Catholic churchman as well as Vicar general and administrator of the Bishopric of Constance, Diocese of Constance. Imbued from ...

later chose an ecclesiastical career and in 1801 was appointed Vicar general of the

Bishopric of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance, (german: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its German Mediatisation, secularis ...

. In 1776 the family returned to Freiburg in

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (german: Vorderösterreich, formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-we ...

. Johann joined the Austrian civil service in 1794. He served as a diplomatic envoy during the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war on revolutionary France by most of the European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, N ...

supporting the forces of

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

. From 1801 he worked as a secretary at the Austrian embassy in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

led by Count Johann Philipp von Stadion and in 1805 was appointed ambassador at

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, where he witnessed the occupation by the French troops under General Mortier in 1806. In 1808 Wessenberg returned to Berlin as ambassador at the

Prussian court The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. King

Frederick William III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

had fled from

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's forces to

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

and Wessenberg had no opportunity to convince him to join the

Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Empire ...

against France. From 1811 to 1813 on he led the legation at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and afterwards travelled as special envoy to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, France and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

before in 1814 he was appointed second Austrian delegate (after

Prince Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...

) at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

. Wessenberg efforts made a major contribution to the establishment of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. From 1830 he again served as ambassador at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, he also took part in the proceedings after the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

that finally led to the 1839 Treaty of London. After the

Revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, retired Wessenberg was appointed

Minister President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary system, parliamentary or semi-presidential system, semi-presidential system of government where ...

on 18 July, he nevertheless was forced to flee with the court from the

Vienna Uprising The Vienna Uprising or October Revolution (german: Wiener Oktoberaufstand, or ) of October 1848 was the last uprising in the Austrian Revolution of 1848. On 6 October 1848, as the troops of the Austrian Empire were preparing to leave Vienna to s ...

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

, whereafter he resigned on 21 November in favour of

Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg Felix Ludwig Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzenberg (german: Felix Ludwig Johann Friedrich Prinz zu Schwarzenberg; cs, Felix Ludvík Jan Bedřich princ ze Schwarzenbergu; 2 October 1800 – 5 April 1852) was a Bohemian nobleman and an Au ...

. Wessenberg spent his last years at his family's estates in Freiburg, where he also died.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessenberg, Johann Philipp 1773 births 1858 deaths Austrian Empire politicians Foreign ministers of Austria 19th-century Ministers-President of Austria People from Dresden 18th-century Austrian people 18th-century German people 19th-century Austrian people 19th-century German people Barons of Germany Austrian people of German descent W