Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R09517, Deutsch-französischer Krieg, Hauptquartier Versailles

Robert von Keudell (27 February 1824 - April 25/26 1903) was a German diplomat, politician and music lover.

Life

Von Keudell's parents were the Prussian major Leopold von Keudell (1769-1831) and his wife Wilhelmine von Hartmann (1789-1848). He was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

. Keudell studied law at the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

University in Königsberg. Keudell was an excellent pianist and admirer of Robert Schumann, with whom he corresponded from 1847 to 1853. His two wives were also talented pianists. His second wife played with

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...

, among others. In 1839-1840 he had become acquainted with

Fanny Hensel Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn He ...

in Italy and had encouraged her composition. From 1872 to 1873 he was German envoy at the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire. History The name ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. In 1873 he became envoy to the Quirinal in Rome and - as a result of the embassy upgrading from 1876 - German ambassador in Italy (until 1887). As a member of the

Free Conservative Party The Free Conservative Party (german: Freikonservative Partei, FKP) was a liberal-conservative political party in Prussia and the German Empire which emerged from the Prussian Conservative Party in the Prussian Landtag in 1866. In the federal ele ...

he sat in the Reichstag in 1871/72 and from 1890 to 1893. From 1870 to 1872 and again from 1889 to 1893 he was a member of the

Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives (german: Preußisches Abgeordnetenhaus) was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the House of ...

. Bernhard Mann (ed.): '' Biographisches Handbuch für das Prussian House of Representatives. 1867–1918. '' Collaboration with Martin Doerry, Cornelia Rauh and Thomas Kühne. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1988, p. 212 ; on the election results see Thomas Kühne: '' Handbook of elections to the Prussian House of Representatives 1867-1918. Election results, electoral alliances and election candidates '' (= '' Handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. '' Volume 6). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, , pp. 216–219 and pp. 160–163. He was a close friend of the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Robert von Keudell married on February 1, 1870 Hedwig Louise von Patow (1842–1882), a daughter of the politician

Robert von Patow The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. After the death of his first wife, he married Alexandra von Grünhof (1861–1933), daughter of the Duke Ernst von Württemberg (1807–1868) They had three children together: *

Walter von Keudell Walter von Keudell (17 July 1884 – 7 May 1973) was a German forest expert and politician. He served as interior minister of Germany between 1927 and 1928 during the period of the Weimar Republic. Early life Von Keudell was born in Castella ...

(1884–1973) * Otto Viktor von Keudell (1887–1972) * Hedwig von Keudell (1891-1987) Robert von Keudell died on April 25/26 1903 in

Chojna Chojna (german: Königsberg in der Neumark; csb, Czińsbarg; la, Regiomontanus Neomarchicus "King's Mountain in the New March") is a small town in northwestern Poland in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It lies approximately south of Szcze ...

References

Notes

Sources

* {{Authority control 1824 births 1903 deaths Politicians from Königsberg 19th-century German diplomats Members of the Reichstag of the German Empire Free Conservative Party politicians