Paul Gautsch Freiherr von Frankenthurn (26 February 1851 – 20 April 1918) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n statesman who served three times as

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

Biography

Paul Gautsch was born in Döbling (a

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

suburb incorporated in 1892), the son of a civil servant. He attended the elite

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; german: Theresianische Akademie) is a private boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early ...

boarding school and, having obtained his ''

Matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, C ...

'' degree, went on to study law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

. Gautsch achieved the ''promotio

sub auspiciis Praesidentis (Latin for ''Doctoral graduation under the auspices of the Federal President''), often abbreviated as doctoral graduation (German: ), is a special form of doctoral graduation and the highest possible distinction for academic achievements for a ...

'', the highest possible honor for the country's best students, and began his career as a government official in the Austrian

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. In 1881 Gautsch became head teacher of the Theresianum school. On 5 November 1885 Emperor

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until ...

appointed him Minister of Education in the second cabinet of Minister-President Eduard Taaffe, an office he held until the downfall of Taaffe's government in 1893. Ennobled to the rank of ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empir ...

'' in 1890, he again served as Minister of Education in the Cisleithanian government of Kasimir Felix Badeni from 1895 to 1897. After Badeni's resignation amidst the national crisis of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech Re ...

conflict, Gautsch was appointed Minister-President on 30 November 1897. He delayed the convening of the Imperial Council parliament, declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, and largely ruled by emergency decrees. His attempts to resolve the conflict by attenuating the language ordinances made by Badeni finally failed and Gautsch resigned on 5 March 1898, after only three months in office. The Badeni ordinances were finally revoked under Minister-President Manfred von Clary-Aldringen in October 1899, nevertheless the language dispute remained insuperable. After his resignation, Gautsch served as president of the Austrian supreme audit institution (''Oberster Rechnungshof'') until on 1 January 1905 he was again appointed Minister-President. However, his second term in office too did not last long; preparing the way for

universal male suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slo ...

he met with resistance in the Austrian parliament and again resigned 1 May 1906. It was Minister-President Max Wladimir von Beck who could implement the electoral reform in December. Gautsch returned to the Court of Auditors, until he was named Minister-President for the third time on 28 June 1911, again in troubled times when upon the Cisleithanian legislative election the government of his predecessor Richard von Bienerth-Schmerling had lost its majority in parliament. After violent rioting in Vienna as a result of high prices in September followed by shots in parliament, Gautsch resigned his office on November 3. He was succeeded by

Karl von Stürgkh Count Karl von Stürgkh (30 October 1859 – 21 October 1916) was an Austrian politician and Minister-President of Cisleithania during the 1914 July Crisis that led to the outbreak of World War I. He was shot and killed by the Social Democratic ...

, who held the office for almost five years, leading

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Gautsch remained politically active as a peer of the Austrian Herrenhaus and confidant of the Emperor. He died in Spring 1918, a few months before the dissolution of the Monarchy. In 1908, the '' SS Baron Gautsch'' passenger ship of the Austrian Lloyd had been named in his honour; the vessel sank in the first days of the Great War on 13 August 1914, when it hit a mine field laid by the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

near the

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...

n coast. 147 people lost their lives in the sinking.

Private life

He was married to Elden Helene Schlumberger von Goldeck (1854-1909). They had one son and two daughters: *Baroness Helene Gautsch von Frankenthurm (b. 1877); married

Rudolf Klein von Wisenberg (b. 1865) *Baron Oskar Freiherr Gautsch von Frankenthurn (1879-1958); married to Countess Karola Friderika Maria Festetics von Tolna (1888—1951) *Baroness Mathilde Gautsch von Frankenthurn (b. 1883); married to Count Alexander Maria Wenzel von

Zedtwitz The House of Zedtwitz is the name of an old and distinguished German and Czech noble house which originated from Franconia, Germany. History The family first appeared in a written document in 1235 and later in 1288 where progenitor Berthold ...

(1871-1940)

Honours

* : ** Knight of the

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

, ''1880'' ** Knight of the Iron Crown, 1st Class, ''1887'' ** Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, ''1892''; in Diamonds, ''1898'' ** Grand Cross of St. Stephen, ''1906''; in Diamonds, ''1911''

Notes

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frankenthurn, Paul Gautsch von 1859 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Ministers-President of Austria 20th-century Ministers-President of Austria 19th-century Austrian people Ministers-President of Austria Barons of Austria University of Vienna alumni People from Döbling Members of the House of Lords (Austria) Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Knights of the Order of Franz Joseph