''Knut'' Otto Christian Hans Konstantin Hubertus von Kühlmann-Stumm (17 October 1916 – 19 January 1977), was a German

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

for the Free Democratic Party who owned Ramholz Castle.

Early life

Kühlmann was born 17 October 1916, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He was the son of German entrepreneur and industrialist

Richard von Kühlmann Richard von Kühlmann (3 May 1873 – 16 February 1948) was a German diplomat and industrialist. From 6 August 1917 to 9 July 1918, he served as Germany's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and led the delegation that negotiated the Treaty of ...

(1873–1948) and Margarete Freiin von Stumm (1884–1917). His father served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, who was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. His maternal grandfather was Baron Hugo Rudolf von Stumm, a German industrialist, landowner, member of the state parliament and Prussian cavalry officer. As an infant, he inherited Ramholz Castle upon his mother's death. He attended school at Schloss Salem. After school he completed a two year banking apprenticeship in Berlin.

Career

From 1936 to 1945 he served in the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. After World War II he ran his own farm in Ramholz. He inherited a share of family mining company '' Gebrüder Stumm'' in Neunkirchen,

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

. From 1956 to 1972, Kühlmann was member of the German FDP. From 1960 he was member of German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. During the period of the

Kiesinger cabinet The Kiesinger cabinet was the 7th Government of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1 December 1966 to 22 October 1969 throughout the 5th legislative session of the Bundestag. It was led by the Christian Democratic Union's Kurt Georg Kiesinge ...

, Kühlmann-Stumm served as opposition leader from 1966 to 1968. He left the FDP because of its support for the ''

Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' () for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Re ...

'' of chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

,Frankfurter Rundschau: Marodes Märchenschloss-Bewegte Familiengeschichte (German)
/ref> joining the conservative CDU instead.

Personal life

Kühlmann married Jutta von Ramin, daughter of Jürgen von Ramin. Together, they had a son: * Magnus von Kühlmann-Stumm. Baron von Kühlmann-Stumm died in a car accident on 19 January 1977 in

Bad Soden Bad Soden am Taunus (, ), commonly known as Bad Soden, is a town and spa in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, Hessen, Germany. It had a population of 22,563 , up from 21,412 in 2005. Information Bad Soden is a residential town for commuters working in F ...

- Salmünster.

Awards

* 1968:

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

References