 |
Heinrich Wilhelm August Freiherr von Gagern
b. 20 Aug 1799, Bayreuth, Royal Prussian States
d. 22 May 1880, Darmstadt, German Reich |
| Title: |
Präsident der deutschen Nationalversammlung (President of the German National Assembly) |
| Term: |
19 May 1848 - 16 Dec 1848 |
| Chronology: |
19 May 1848, elected, session of the Nationalversammlung (National Assembly), Paulskirche, Frankfurt-am-Main [2] |
| |
16 Dec 1848, resignation submitted, session of the National Assembly, Paulskirche, Frankfurt-am-Main; acknowledged [3] |
| Names/titles: |
Präsident des Reichsministerrates (President of the Reich Council of Ministers) [17 Dec 1848 - 21 Mar 1849]; Interimistischer Präsident des Reichsministerrates (Interim President of the Reich Council of Ministers) [21 Mar 1849 - 16 May 1849] (see details) |
| Biography: |
| The son of Hans Christoph Ernst Freiherr von Gagern, statesman and publicist; educated at gymnasium in Weilburg (1808-1812), military school in Munich (1812-1814); military service in Nassau troops (1814-1815), participated in the Battle of Waterloo (18 Jun 1815), was wounded; studied law and philosophy in Heidelberg, Göttingen, Jena and Geneva (1816-1820); activist of the Allgemeine Deutsche Burschenschaft, a student organization dedicated to the unification of Germany (1818); held minor judiciary positions in Darmstadt and Lorsch (1821-1823); entered the civil service as an employee of the Hesse-Darmstadt ministry for the Interior and Justice (1823); held various positions in the government of the Province of Starkenburg (1824-1832); state counselor in the Hesse-Darmstadt ministry for the Interior and Justice (1832-1833); Kammerherr (1830-1833); member of the Second Chamber of the Hesse Landstände, assembly of estates (1832-1836, 1847-1850, 1866-1872); resigned the state service and lived as landowner (from 1833); member of the court of honor (1847-1851); appointed chairman of the Hesse-Darmstadt state ministry (5 Mar 1848 - Jun 1848) and minister of foreign affairs; member of the Vorparlament (1848); elected as a representative of Zwingenberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, to the Nationalversammlung (National Assembly) and served as deputy (18 May 1848 - 21 May 1849); president of the National Assembly (19 May 1848 - 16 Dec 1848); joined the Casino faction; president of the Reich Council of Ministers (17 Dec 1848 - 21 Mar 1849, interim 21 Mar 1849 - 16 May 1849), Reich minister of foreign affairs (17 Dec 1848 - 21 Mar 1849, interim 21 Mar 1849 - 16 May 1849), head of the Reich Ministry of the Interior (17 Dec 1848 - 21 Mar 1849, interim 21 Mar 1849 - 16 May 1849); member of the Deutsche Parlament (Erfurt Union Parliament, 1850), a conference called by Prussia to form a union of German states; participated as volunteer in the German-Danish war (1850-1851); retired to private life in Heidelberg (1851-1863); envoy of Hesse-Darmstadt in Vienna (1863-1872). |
| Biographical sources: "Biographisches Handbuch der Abgeordneten der Frankfurter Nationalversammlung 1848/49", ed. by Heinrich Best, Wilhelm Weege (Düsseldorf: Droste, 1996) |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Votes (19 May 1848) |
| Heinrich Wilhelm August Freiherr von Gagern |
305 |
| Johann Georg Alexander Freiherr von Soiron |
85 |
| Robert Blum |
3 |
| Bernhard August von Lindenau |
1 |
| Ernst Friedrich Freiherr von Vincke |
1 |
| Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann |
1 |
| Adolph Philipp Heinrich Friedrich Cnyrim |
1 |
| total votes cast/absolute majority |
397/199 |
|
| Election results: Verhandlungen der deutschen constituierenden Nationalversammlung, 1:17. |
| |
| [1] |
Verhandlungen der deutschen constituierenden Nationalversammlung, 1:17. |
| [2] |
Re-elected on 31 May 1848, 30 Jun 1848, 31 Jul 1848, 31 Aug 1848, 2 Oct 1848, 2 Nov 1848, 4 Dec 1848; absent from sessions 24 Nov 1848 to 2 Dec 1848 (vacation); the duties of president is exercised by Gabriel Riesser, Zweiter Stellvertreter des Vorsitzenden (Second Deputy Chairman, 2 Oct 1848 - 4 Dec 1848). |
| [3] |
Verhandlungen der deutschen constituierenden Nationalversammlung, 6:4223. |
| |
Image: daguerreotype by Jacob Seib (1848). |
