Alexander Gustav Adolf Graf von Schleinitz (29 December 1807 in

Blankenburg am Harz Blankenburg (Harz) () is a town and health resort in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, at the north foot of the Harz Mountains, southwest of Halberstadt. It has been largely rebuilt since an 1836 fire, and possesses a castle with ...

– 19 February 1885 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was the

Foreign Minister of Prussia This article lists foreign ministers of Prussia. History After the creation of the German Empire in 1871, the imperial chancellor was normally also foreign minister of Prussia. However, during the chancellorship of Prince Hohenlohe (1894–1900 ...

from 1858 to 1861 and minister for the royal household from late 1861 to his death.

Life

Early years

He came from an old aristocratic family from the

Margraviate of Meissen The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen () was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' ( Saxon Eastern March ...

that was elevated to the rank of ''

Reichsfreiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in i ...

'' already in the 16th century; his father was the ''Regierungspräsident'' of Blankenburg, and later minister of state in the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

, Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Schleinitz (1756–1837); his mother was Barbara von Hochstetter (1768–1819). He was the brother of the minister of state of Brunswick, Wilhelm von Schleinitz (1794–1856), and of the Prussian ''Regierungspräsident'' Julius von Schleinitz (1806–1865). Schleinitz studied in Göttingen and Berlin, and joined the Prussian civil service in 1828. In 1835 he became an embassy attaché, in 1841 he was made an Expert Councillor (''Vortragender Rat'') in the foreign ministry. In July 1848 he replaced Heinrich Alexander von Arnim as Foreign Minister, thus joining the government of

Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen (10 January 1803 – 3 December 1890) was a Rhenish banker and politician who served as a Prime Minister of Prussia. Life During the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany, Ludolf Camphausen stepped suddenly from his ban ...

. However, after a few days he resigned from his post, and subsequently represented Prussia at the court of Hannover.

Political career

In May 1849 he negotiated the peace treaty with Denmark, and in July 1849 once again took up the position of Foreign Minister in the government of

Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg Friedrich Wilhelm, Count von Brandenburg (24 January 1792 – 6 November 1850) was a morganatic son of King Frederick William II of Prussia and politician who served as Minister President of Prussia from 1848 until his death during the reign of hi ...

. However, since his German patriotic views were not compatible with the way Prussian politics was developing, he retired from public service on 26 September 1850 as a '' Wirklicher Geheimer Rat'', and from then lived near Koblenz in close contact with the court of the Prince of Prussia, and at Schloss Gebesee in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. After the Prince-Regent, the later King and Emperor Wilhelm I, assumed control of the government, Schleinitz, who was one of the King's closest confidants, once again took over the Foreign Ministry, in the Prince-Regent's government of the "New Era" that was called together in November 1858. The main tenets of his foreign policy were the attempt to form an alliance with Britain and Austria, the maintenance of the balance of power in Europe and a strengthening of Prussia's role in Germany. The domestic problems of the liberal government moved him to leave the government in October 1861 and take over the Ministry of the Royal Household, where he remained to his death in 1885. From then onwards he was the arch-enemy of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

, who became Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862. Prussian Liberals, as well as Bismarck himself at times saw the Household Ministry as a "Counter-Government" of Queen Augusta, to the King's conservative government. On the occasion of the Emperor's and Empress' golden wedding anniversary, Schleinitz and his wife were elevated to the rank of ''

Graf (; feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title ...

'' (

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

) on 11 June 1879.

Marriage

From 1865, Alexander von Schleinitz was married to Marie von Buch (1842–1912), who was 35 years younger than he was. As ''Gräfin Schleinitz'' she became the most important salonière of the time in Berlin. Along with "Mimi", as she was known, he championed

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

. They had no children. Their joint grave, which has not been preserved, is in the Trinity Church Cemetery No. 1 in Berlin.

Honours and awards

Notes

References

Citations

Literature

* Bastian Peiffer, ''Alexander von Schleinitz und die preußische Außenpolitik 1858-1861''. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main/Berlin/Bern/Bruxelles/New York/Oxford/Wien 2012, . *

: ''Gedanken und Erinnerungen'', ed. Ernst Friedlaender. Stuttgart 1959. * Otto Freiherr von Schleinitz (ed.): ''Aus den Papieren der Familie v. Schleinitz. Mit einer Vorbemerkung von Fedor von Zobeltitz''. Berlin 1904. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schleinitz, Alexander von 1807 births 1885 deaths Counts in Germany Prussian diplomats Prussian politicians People from the Harz Foreign ministers of Prussia Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 2nd class Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion