Karl von Varnbüler und zu Hemmingen

As a representative of the knighthood of the Neckarkreis, Varnbüler held a seat in the lower house (German: Abgeordnetenhaus) of the Württemberg State Parliament from 1845 to 1849 and, again, from 1851 until his death in 1889. In 1848, he was a member of the Frankfurt Parliament. A noted speaker, Varnbüler soon became a member of the most important commissions, which often appointed him Speaker, particularly on Economic issues. On 21 September 1864, King Charles I, who had just come into power, appointed Varnbüler Minister of Foreign Affairs. Between 1864 and 1870 he was de facto senior minister and as such succeeded Joseph von Linden as effective Prime Minister. By 1864, Varnbüler had united the management of the railways with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and took care of the further expansion of the railway network. Upon the break out of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, Varnbüler opted for an alliance between Württemberg and Austria. After Prussia's victory, King Charles dispatched Prince Frederick and Varnbüler to the Prussian headquarters in Mikulov in June 1866. Varnbüler went from Nikolsburg to Würzburg to take part in the conclusion of the armistice to be agreed with General von Manteuffel. On 5 August, Otto von Bismarck demanded the southern German States send appropriately authorized envoys to Berlin for peace negotiations. Varnbüler immediately set out on the journey. After just one week, on 13 August, the Württemberg peace treaty with Prussia was complete.[1]

Varnbüler opposed efforts to expand the competence of the Customs Parliament and to turn the "Customs Parliament" into a "full Parliament". In the customs parliamentary elections, the German party lost in all 17 Württemberg constituencies. Varnbüler himself was elected in the four Württemberg constituencies. The union of the southern German states demanded by the Democratic Party to form the so-called Southern Confederation. At the same time he emphasized the firm intention of the Württemberg government to faithfully observe the treaties with Prussia. On 23 March 1870, the King appointed the Foreign Minister as President of the Privy Council, succeeding Ludwig von Golther. A few weeks after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, he retired on 31 August 1870 and was succeeded by Hermann von Mittnacht as senior minister. In 1872 he was elected to the Reichstag in the Second Württemberg constituency, holding office until 1881.[1]

In the Reichstag he was a member of the Free Conservative Party. In the middle of 1878, Bismarck received from him a fully worked out plan for the customs and tax reform in the form of a memorandum. Even after losing his seat in the Reichstag in 1881, Varnbüler followed Reich politics with great interest and repeatedly commented on political issues of the day in articles in the free-conservative journal Die Post. Otherwise, he took an active part in the negotiations in the Württemberg state parliament until a few months before his death and devoted himself to the management of his estates with old zeal. He had the Schloss Hemmingen rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style and laid out an English gardens.[1]

From a liaison with the actress Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier, he was the father of writer Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932), who grew up with his mother and has been described as the "most respected German language writer in the field of supernatural fiction".[4]