Prince Karl of Auersperg

Karl Wilhelm Philipp, 8th Prince of Auersperg, Duke of Gottschee (German: Karl Wilhelm Philipp Fürst[1] von Auersperg, Herzog[2] von Gottschee; 1 May 1814 in Prague – 4 January 1890 in Prague) was a Bohemian and an Austrian nobleman and statesman. He served as the first Minister-President of Cisleithania and the first President of the Austrian House of Lords (Herrenhaus).

His Most Serene Highness
Karl von Auersperg
8th Prince of Auersperg
Minister-President of Austria
In office
30 December 1867 – 24 September 1868
MonarchFrancis Joseph I
Preceded byFriedrich Ferdinand von Beust (as Chairman of the Ministers' Conference)
Succeeded byEduard von Taaffe
Personal details
Born(1814-05-01)1 May 1814
Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire
Died4 January 1890(1890-01-04) (aged 75)
Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
SpouseCountess Ernestine Festetics de Tolna

Biography

The 8th Prince of Auersperg, Karl Wilhem, was heir to one of the most prominent princely families of the Holy Roman Empire, whose sovereign principality was mediatized in the Austrian Empire following the German Mediatisation of the post-revolutionary era. He became head of the princely House at the age of thirteen on the death of his Father, Wilhelm II of Auersperg (1782–1827). In 1851 he married Countess Ernestine Festetics de Tolna, daughter of Count Ernő János Vilmos. As he died without issue, he was succeeded by his nephew Karl Maria Alexander von Auersperg, the son of his brother Prince Adolf of Auersperg.

Political career

On the advent of the new constitutional era, in 1861, he became a member of the Upper Chamber of the Reichsrat and eventually its President.

As a representative of the Liberal landed proprietors of the Diet of Bohemia, and afterward as President of the Austrian House of Peers (Herrenhaus), he took a conspicuous part in defending the constitutional system against clerical and feudal reaction and the union of the Empire.

He presided over the Austrian ministry as the 1st Minister-President of Cisleithania as a result of the reorganisation of the Empire following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. After the term of his ministry he kept being a zealous supporter of Liberal cabinets. From 28 November 1871 to 15 February 1879, his brother Prince Adolf Wilhelm Daniel von Auersperg was also to be Minister-President of Cisleithania (the 8th).

Honours

See also

References
  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.
  3. "Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1890, pp. 80, 83, retrieved 1 April 2021
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