Ludwig Karl Heinrich Freiherr von der Pfordten (11 September 1811 in Ried (Innkreis) – 18 August 1880 in Munich) was a Bavarian attorney and politician.

Biography

Von der Pfordten studied law at the University of Heidelberg and Erlangen. In 1833 he became a professor in Würzburg. In 1843 he moved to the University of Leipzig; from 1845 he served as its president and became a leader of the Saxon Liberal Party. In March 1848 he was appointed Saxon Interior Minister and Education Minister under Prime Minister Karl Braun. When Braun resigned in February 1849, von der Pfordten returned to Bavaria and was appointed Minister-President of Bavaria and Foreign Minister by King Maximilian II of Bavaria. His project was to unite the German middle-sized powers under Bavarian leadership against Prussia and Austria as a "Third Germany" (the so-called ''Trias''). Thus, he was partly responsible that Bavaria in actuality torpedoed the project of the

Erfurt Union The Erfurt Union (german: Erfurter Union) was a short-lived union of List of German Confederation member states, German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament (''Erfurter Un ...

. After an agreement between Austria and Prussia was reached with the

Punctation of Olmütz The Punctation of Olmütz (german: Olmützer Punktation), also called the Agreement of Olmütz, was a treaty between Prussia and Austria, dated 29 November 1850, by which Prussia abandoned the Erfurt Union and accepted the revival of the German Co ...

in December 1850, the trias concept lost most of its importance in the subsequent few years and von der Pfordten resigned in 1859. He then was the Bavarian envoy for the Frankfurt Parliament. In 1864 von der Pfordten returned to power when King Ludwig II of Bavaria restored him. He resigned again in December 1866, since his placement efforts had failed and Bavaria had lost the

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 ...

as an ally of Austria.

Orders and decorations

* : ** Grand Cross of the Royal

Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown The Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown (german: Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone) was an order of merit of the Kingdom of Bavaria established by King Maximilian Joseph I on 19 March 1808. The motto of the order is Virtus et Honos ('Courage ...

, ''1849'' ** Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Hubert, ''1866'' * : ** Grand Cross of the Friedrich Order, ''1850'' ** Grand Cross of the

Order of the Württemberg Crown Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

, ''1854'' * Electorate of Hesse: Knight of the

House Order of the Golden Lion }) was an order of the German Landgraviate and Electorate of Hesse-Kassel and later, the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. It was first instituted in 1770 by Landgrave Frederick II, in honour of and under the patronage of Saint Elizabeth of Hu ...

, ''20 February 1851''''Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen'' (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" pp
2245
/ref> * : Grand Cross of the Grand Ducal Hessian Order of Ludwig, ''9 August 1853'' * Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Red Eagle, 1st Class, ''14 August 1854''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfordten, Karl Ludwig Baron Von Der People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Ministers-President of Bavaria Members of the Bavarian Chamber of Deputies Barons of Germany 1811 births 1880 deaths