HomeNationsGermanyHeads of GovernmentSayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, August Ludwig von
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, August Ludwig von

August Ludwig von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

b. 6 Mar 1788, Berleburg, County of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
d. 6 Jan 1874, Berleburg, German Reich

Title: Präsident des Reichsministerrates (President of the Reich Council of Ministers)
Term: 3 Jun 1849 - 20 Dec 1849
Chronology: 3 Jun 1849, appointed by the Reichsverweser (Reich Vicar) [1]
  20 Dec 1849, Reich Council of Ministers ceased to function with the resignation of the Reich Vicar submitted to the representatives of the Bundescommission, Palais des Erzherzog-Reichsverwesers, Frankfurt-am-Main [2]
Names/titles: Prinz von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg [after 4 Sep 1792]; courtesy title: Fürst August Ludwig von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; also known as zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and von Sayn-Wittgenstein zu Berleburg
Biography:

The son of Christian Heinrich Graf (from 1792 Fürst) von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; entered military service in Hesse-Darmstadt and was promoted to first lieutenant (1803) with a life guards squad; staff-captain (1804); charged with command of a unit in the war with Prussia (1806); distinguished himself in the war with Austria (battles of Aspern-Essling and Wagram, 1809); promoted to major (1811); as commander of the First Battalion of the Life Guards Brigade, participated in the war with Russia at the side of Napoléon I (1812-1813); captured (19 Oct 1813) by the Prussians after the battle of Leipzig, but was released soon afterwards; promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed commander of the Life Guards Regiment (1814); promoted to colonel (1818), major-general (1836), lieutenant-general (1839); retired from the army (1848); appointed Reich war minister (21 May 1849 - 20 Dec 1849) and President of the Reich Council of Ministers (3 Jun 1849 - 20 Dec 1849) by the Reich Vicar Johann Archduke of Austria; served as minister of state of the Duchy of Nassau (7 Feb 1852 - 31 Jul 1866); in the crisis of 1866, stood by the interests of Austria. Biography source: [3]


[1] Frankfurter Oberpostamts-Zeitung, № 132, Dienstag, den 5. Juni 1849, p. 1.
[2] Wiener Zeitung, Nr. 310, Samstag, den 29. December 1849.
[3] "Hessische Biographien", ed. by Hermann Haupt (Walluf bei Wiesbaden: Sändig, 1973-1974). Bd. 3. S. 289-292.