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Gagern, Heinrich von

Heinrich Wilhelm August Freiherr von Gagern

b. 20 Aug 1799, Bayreuth, Royal Prussian States
d. 22 May 1880, Darmstadt, German Reich
Title: Präsident des Reichsministerrates (President of the Reich Council of Ministers)
Term: 17 Dec 1848 - 21 Mar 1849
Chronology: 17 Dec 1848, appointed by the Reichsverweser (Reich Vicar) [1]
  21 Mar 1849, resignation of the Council of Ministers accepted by the Reich Vicar; the incumbent continues in office under a new style until the appointment of successor [2]
Title: Interimistischer Präsident des Reichsministerrates (Interim President of the Reich Council of Ministers)
Term: 21 Mar 1849 - 16 May 1849
Chronology: 16 May 1849, ceased to exercise the duties of office upon the appointment of successor [1, IX, 6611]
Names/titles: Präsident der deutschen Nationalversammlung (President of the German National Assembly) [19 May 1848 - 16 Dec 1848] (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)

[1] Frankfurter Oberpostamts-Zeitung, Beilage zu Nro. 334, Montag, 18. December 1848, p. 1; appointment is communicated to the Constituent National Assembly 19 Dec 1848 (Verhandlungen der deutschen constituierenden Nationalversammlung, 6:4233).
[2] Acceptance of the resignation of the Council of Ministers is communicated to the Constituent National Assembly 22 Mar 1849 (Verhandlungen der deutschen constituierenden Nationalversammlung, 8:5938).
   
  Image: daguerreotype by Jacob Seib (1848).
Last update: 29 Nov 2023
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