Hermann von Hatzfeldt

Hermann Anton Leo Karl, Prince of Hatzfeldt, Duke of Trachenburg (German: Hermann Fürst[lower-alpha 1] von Hatzfeldt, Herzog[lower-alpha 2] zu Trachenberg; 4 February 1848 – 14 January 1933) was a German nobleman, member of the House of Hatzfeld, civil servant and politician. He represented the Deutsche Reichspartei in the Reichstag for a number of years.[1]

Hermann Anton Leo Karl
Prince of Hatzfeldt, Duke of Trachenberg
Photograph of Prince Hatzfeldt, c. 1910
Born(1848-02-04)4 February 1848
Trachenberg, Kingdom of Prussia, German Confederation
Died14 January 1933(1933-01-14) (aged 84)
Trachenberg, Weimar Republic
Noble familyHouse of Hatzfeld
Spouse(s)Countess Nathalie von Benckendorff
IssueHermann, 2nd Duke of Trachenburg
Count Alexander
FatherHermann Anton von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg
MotherCountess Marie von Nimptsch

Early life

Hermann von Hatzfeldt was born in Trachenberg Castle, Silesia on 4 February 1848. He was the son of Prince Hermann Anton von Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg, (1808–1874), and his second wife, Countess Marie von Nimptsch (1820–1897).[2] From his parents' marriage, he had a sister, Countess Hermine von Hatzfeldt, who married Eduard Teleki von Szék and Emil von Hoenning O'Carroll. From his father's first marriage to Countess Mathilde von Reichenbach-Goschütz (they divorced in 1846), he had three half-siblings, Stanislaus von Hatzfeldt (who married Countess Gisela von Dyhrn-Schönau), Franziska von Hatzfeldt (wife of Paul von Nimptsch and Baron Walter von Loë), and Elisabeth von Hatzfeldt (wife of Prince Karl zu Carolath-Beuthen). From his mother's first marriage to Baron Ludwig August von Buch, Prussian ambassador to the Holy See, he had a half-sister, Marie von Buch (who married Baron Alexander von Schleinitz, then Prussian minister of the Royal household, and Anton von Wolkenstein-Trostburg, the Austrian Ambassador in Saint Petersburg and Paris).[3]

His father was the eldest son of Franz Ludwig von Hatzfeldt and Countess Friederike Caroline von der Schulenburg-Kehnert. Among his extended family was uncle were Max von Hatzfeldt, a Prussian diplomat who married Pauline de Castellane (daughter of Boniface de Castellane), Sophie von Hatzfeldt (partner and confidante of Ferdinand Lassalle), and Luise von Hatzfeldt (the wife of Prussian General Ludwig Freiherr Roth von Schreckenstein).[4][5]

After graduating from high school, he became active in the Corps Saxonia Göttingen in 1868 and studied law at the Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau and the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin. The University of Breslau awarded him an honorary doctorate in medicine and law.[3]

Career
Portrait of Prince von Hatzfeldt, by Fritz Erler, 1904

Hatzfeldt entered the Prussian judicial service before serving as a cavalry major in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871. His elder half-brother died during the Battle of Amiens in November 1870.[3]

Upon the death of his father, who was excommunicated in 1847, he succeeded as head of the Hatzfeldt-Trachenberg line in 1874. In 1878, he was appointed hereditary member of the Prussian House of Lords, the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia.[6] He was chairman of the "New Faction" of landowners and was also a member of the Reichstag for the Free Conservative Party in 1878/1893 and 1907/1912. He voted against the Prussian expropriation laws directed against Poles in the Province of Posen, in both the Reichstag and the Herrenhaus.[7]

On 1 January 1900, he was given the hereditary title "Duke of Trachenberg (Herzog zu Trachenberg)" in primogeniture. From 1894 to 1903 he was the Oberpräsident of the Province of Silesia.[8]

During World War I, Hatzfeldt was a candidate for Governor-General of occupied Poland; however, Hans Hartwig von Beseler was chosen instead. In opposition to Paul von Hindenburg and General Erich Ludendorff, he campaigned for a negotiated peace with the Entente Powers. In the years 1919 to 1921 he was the representative of the Reich government for voting in Upper Silesia. He devoted the last years of his life to charitable work in the Order of Malta.[9]

Awards and honours

On 18 January 1901, Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded him the Order of the Black Eagle on the 200th anniversary of its foundation. Hatzfeld's numerous awards included the highest Saxon orders including the Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta. In 1884 he became an honorary citizen of Bojanowo (near Trachenberg), and of Breslau and Königshütte in 1903.

Personal life

On 18 June 1872, Hatzfeldt married Countess Nathalie von Benckendorff (7 September 1854, Schandau – 9 March 1931, Trachenberg) in Berlin. She was the daughter of a Russian general Konstantin Konstantinovič von Benckendorff and Princess Louise de Croy-Dülmen, and served as Chief Court Mistress of Empress Frederick.[10][11] Nathalie's older brother was Count Alexander von Benckendorff; Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I, and she was also a second cousin of Archduchess Isabella of Teschen through her mother's family.

Hermann and Nathalie had two children:[12]

Prince von Hatzfeldt died at Trachenberg on 14 January 1933.

Fishing interest

From 1892 to 1919 he was the third President of the German Fishing Association. Prince Hatzfeldt was particularly interested in the development of Silesian pond farming and his property around Trachenberg was known for its exemplary fish farming.

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:[15]

German

Foreign

Notes
  1. Regarding personal names: Fürst is a title, translated as Prince, not a first or middle name. The feminine form is Fürstin.
  2. Regarding personal names: Herzog is a title, translated as Duke, not a first or middle name. The female form is Herzogin.

References
  1. "Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstags". www.reichstag-abgeordnetendatenbank.de.
  2. Gothaischer genealogischer Hofkalender nebst diplomatisch-statistischem Jahrbuch (in German). Perthes. 1892. p. 340. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  3. Daheim-kalender für das Deutsche Reich ... (in German). Velhagen & Klasing. 1913. p. 284. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. Marx, Karl (2019). The Political Writings. Verso Books. p. 194. ISBN 978-1-78873-688-6. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  5. "Count Paul von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  6. Balfour, Michael (14 May 2013). The Kaiser and His Times. Faber & Faber. pp. 1, 2, 421. ISBN 978-0-571-30377-9. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. Stehlin, Stewart A. (14 July 2014). Weimar and the Vatican, 1919-1933: German-Vatican Diplomatic Relations in the Interwar Years. Princeton University Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4008-5703-6. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  8. Lindner, Stephan H.; Müller, Christian A. (19 April 2022). Unternehmertum und Politik in der Weimarer Republik: Aufzeichnungen des Textilindustriellen Gottfried Dierig (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 156. ISBN 978-3-11-077980-6. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  9. Bergien, Rüdiger (10 March 2015). Die bellizistische Republik: Wehrkonsens und "Wehrhaftmachung" in Deutschland 1918-1933 (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 200. ISBN 978-3-486-70549-2. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  10. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, vol. 70, 1978, p. 475.
  11. Wilhelmy, Petra (6 September 2011). Der Berliner Salon im 19. Jahrhundert (1780-1914) (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 796. ISBN 978-3-11-085396-4. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  12. Lindner, Frank (2006). Schülerwege aus Schnepfenthal (in German). Quartus-Verlag. p. 25. ISBN 978-3-936455-40-3. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  13. Diplomat, A. Veteran (12 March 1911). "SOME EUROPEAN NOBLES THAT ARE ALMOST AMERICANS; The Family Histories of Prince Hermann Hatzfeldt and Baroness Stumm, Who Are Soon to Wed, Show Their Close Relation to This Country". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  14. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Aoki Shūzō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 35, p. 35, at Google Books.
  15. Handbuch über den Königlich Preußischen Hof und Staat fur das jahr 1908, p. 11
  16. "Königlich Preussische Ordensliste", Preussische Ordens-Liste (in German), Berlin, 1: 5, 7, 273, 1895 – via hathitrust.org
  17. "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden", Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtums Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, 1884, p. 36 – via zs.thulb.uni-jena.de
  18. Sachsen (1901). "Königlich Orden". Staatshandbuch für den Königreich Sachsen: 1901. Dresden: Heinrich. p. 163 – via hathitrust.org.
  19. "Königliche Orden", Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg, Stuttgart: Landesamt, 1907, pp. 48
  20. "Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1908, p. 69, retrieved 3 September 2021
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