Karl Hugo Freiherr von Weizsäcker (25 February 1853 – 2 February 1926) was a German politician who served as Prime Minister of the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

, and a member of the prominent Weizsäcker family.

Early life

He was born Karl Hugo Weizsäcker in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, the son of the theologian

Karl Heinrich Weizsäcker Karl Heinrich Weizsäcker (11 December 1822 – 13 August 1899) was a German Protestant theologian. Life and work Weizsäcker was born in Öhringen near Heilbronn in Württemberg, the son of Sophie (Rößle) and Christian Ludwig Friedrich Weizsä ...

and his wife, the former Auguste Sophie Christiane Dahm. While serving as a politician at the court of the Kingdom of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, his family was raised to nobility as

von Weizsäcker The term () is used in German surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means or . Nobility directories like the often abbreviate the noble term to ''v.'' I ...

. Weizsäcker studied at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

Career

While serving in the administration of King

William II of Württemberg William II (; 25 February 1848 – 2 October 1921) was the last King of Württemberg. He ruled from 6 October 1891 until the dissolution of the kingdom on 30 November 1918. He was the last German ruler to abdicate in the wake of the November Rev ...

, he was raised to the nobility on 24 February 1897. From 1900 onwards, he served as Minister of Culture — until 4 December 1906 when he was made

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. He served in this office until 6 November 1918, shortly before the monarchy was abolished in the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. In 1916, he and his family were raised to the hereditary noble title of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

(Freiherr).

Personal life

Weizsäcker was married to Paula von Meibom. They were the parents of

Ernst von Weizsäcker Ernst Heinrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (25 May 1882 – 4 August 1951) was a German naval officer, diplomat and politician. He served as State Secretary at the Foreign Office of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1943, and as its Ambassador to ...

(1882–1951), Ambassador to the Holy See. Weizsäcker died in Stuttgart in 1926.

Descendants

Through his son Ernst, he was a grandfather of the physicist

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 28 June 1912 – 28 April 2007) was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the team which performed nuclear research in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, un ...

and of

Richard von Weizsäcker Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician ( CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobili ...

, who was

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

from 1984 to 1994.

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Weizsacker, Karl von 1853 births 1926 deaths German barons

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cac ...

Politicians from Stuttgart Members of the Privy Council of Württemberg Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Weizsäcker, Karl Von Minister-presidents of Württemberg