Arnold Duckwitz (27 January 1802 in
Bremen Germany – 19 March 1881 in Bremen) was a German statesman and merchant who served as Minister of Trade and of the Navy in the provisional government of the Frankfurt Assembly of 1848–49, and as mayor of Bremen.
From early to mid-1848, he participated as an expert in the economic committee of the
Frankfurt National Assembly. As Commissioner of Bremen he advised on German trade relations. Subsequently, he was in July 1848 appointed Reich Minister for Trade (Reichsminister für Handel) of the all-Germany 'Provisional Central Power' (Provisorische Zentralgewalt), headed by
Archduke John of Austria as regent (''
Reichsverweser''). He later became also Minister for Navy Affairs (Minister für Marineangelegenheiten). He managed to create in a short time a small navy (Reichsseewehr or
Reichsflotte) for limited use in the
Second Schleswig War
The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...
(1849) against the superior
Danish fleet.
He was also a city senator (Bremer Senats) from 1841 and mayor of the
Hanseatic city of Bremen 1857–1863, and 1866–1869. He was then a city senator until he retired in 1875.
Further reading
*''Wer liegt wo? Prominente auf Bremer Friedhöfen'' by Thomas Schaefer;Siepmann und Kurze. Bremen, 1998
*Ehmck: Arnold Duckwitz. In: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB). Band 48, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, pp. 133–140.
*Friedrich Prüser: Arnold Duckwitz. In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (NDB). Band 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, p. 151 f.
External links
Radio Bremen (RealMedia)– As Time Goes By (Arnold Duckwitz)
1802 births
1881 deaths
Mayors of Bremen (city)
German merchants
19th-century German businesspeople
{{Germany-business-bio-stub