Friedrich Wilhelm Bernhard von Berg, also von Berg-Markienen, (20 November 1866 – 9 March 1939) was a German politician and chairman of the ''Secret Civil Cabinet'' of

Kaiser Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

in 1918.

Biography

Friedrich von Berg was born on his family's estate of Markienen (today Markiny,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) to the Prussian Major Friedrich von Berg (1835-1888). After passing his Abitur, Berg joined the Prussian Army in 1885 and became the personal adjutant of

Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia (german: Joachim Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Leopold; 14 November 1865 – 13 September 1931) was a son of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau, married in 1854. Family ...

in 1888. He left service in 1892 and started to study law at the Universities of Breslau and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, where he became a member of the

Corps Borussia Bonn The Corps Borussia Bonn is a German Student Corps at the University of Bonn. History Borussia was established on 22 December 1821 and joined the Kösener Senioren-Convents-Verband (KSCV) in 1856. It is the corps of the House of Hohenzollern a ...

next to the later Kaiser Wilhelm II. After passing his exam, Berg worked at the local court of

Bartenstein Bartoszyce (pronounced , german: Bartenstein, ; lt, Barštynas) is a town on the Łyna River in northern Poland, with 22,597 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Bartoszyce County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. Geog ...

and in 1896 at Danzig. In 1899 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where he became an assessor. In 1903 he returned to East Prussia and worked as the head of the district administration (Landrat) of the Goldap district. In 1906 he became a member of the ''Geheimes Zivilkabinett'' (Secret Civil Cabinet), the Kaiser's personal office. In 1909 he became the Landeshauptmann of East Prussia and in 1916 he was promoted to ''

Oberpräsident The ''german: Oberpräsident, label=none'' (Supreme President) was the highest administrative official in the Prussian provinces. History The Oberpräsident of a Prussian province was the supreme representative of the Prussian crown, until its ...

'' of the

Province of East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

. On 16 January 1918, Berg became the chairman of the Kaiser's office. He opposed peace negotiations to end

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as supposed by Chancellor Max von Baden and had to resign on 11 October 1918. He returned to his estate in East Prussia, where he was the President of the provincial diet (Provinziallandtag) in 1919 and the old-Prussian East Prussian Provincial Synod in 1920. The same year, he became the chairman of the German Nobility Association (Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft) which he remained until 1932. From 1921 to 1927 Berg was the Chief Representative of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

in their negotiations over the family's personal property with the Weimar German government (Cf. Expropriation of the Princes in the Weimar Republic). Berg died in 1939 on his estate of Markienen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Friedrich Von 1866 births 1939 deaths People from Bartoszyce County People from the Province of Prussia German untitled nobility Prussian politicians Members of the Prussian House of Lords University of Breslau alumni University of Bonn alumni