Karl Hermann Bitter (27 February 1813 – 12 September 1885) was a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

n statesman and writer on music.

Biography

He was born at

Schwedt Schwedt (or Schwedt/Oder; ) is a town in Brandenburg, in northeastern Germany. With the official status of a ''Große Kreisstadt, Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (major district town), it is the largest town of the Uckermark (district), Uckermark ...

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

, and studied law and cameralistics at

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 constitu ...

and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. He served as the

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

of Prussia on the Danube Commission from 1856 to 1860, was prefect of the Department of

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a singl ...

during the Franco-Prussian War. He later became minister of finance (1879), an office in which he displayed exceptional ability. He increased the indirect duties derived from the so-called tobacco monopoly and the tax on spirits and malt, and introduced the “Börsensteuer” (tax on the bourse). He concluded the commercial treaty with the city of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

by which that city entered the

German Customs Union The (), or German Customs Union, was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organized by the 1833 treaties, it formally started on 1 January 1834. However, its foundations had b ...

. On 25 May 1881 this agreement was signed between Bitter and the State Secretary of the imperial Treasury, on the one hand, Hamburg's Plenipotentiary Senators Versmann and O'Swald, and the envoy of the Hanseatic states in Berlin Dr. Friedrich Krüger, on the other. It stated that Hamburg was ready to accede to the Customs Union with all its territory, but excluding a permanent free port district which it specified. For this district, Article 34 of the imperial constitution would still apply, thus the freedoms of that district could not be abolished or restricted without Hamburg's approval.Borowsky,Peter. Hamburg and the Freeport - Economy and Society 1888–-1914, publ Hamburg University Press, Hamburg, 2005; pp.114-115The Last of the German Free Ports” The Times (London) 13 Oct 1888; p.8 He reestablished the stability of the Prussian finances, and took a prominent part in bringing the railroads of Germany under government control. He resigned in 1882, in consequence of differences with Bismarck. His literary activity was confined almost exclusively to works on music. His ''Gesammelte Schriften'' (Collected Writings) appeared in 1884.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter, Karl Hermann 1813 births 1885 deaths People from Schwedt People from the Province of Brandenburg Finance ministers of Prussia German writers about music German male non-fiction writers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Bonn alumni