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 as an ally of Austria.

Orders and decorations

* : ** Grand Cross of the Royal Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown, ''1849'' ** Knight of the Royal Order of Saint Hubert, ''1866'' * : ** Grand Cross of the Friedrich Order, ''1850'' ** Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (Württemberg), Order of the Württemberg Crown, ''1854'' * Electorate of Hesse: Knight of the House Order of the Golden Lion (Hesse), House Order of the Golden Lion, ''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 Ludwig Order, 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