Karl Eduard Nobiling (10 April 1848 – 10 September 1878) was a German attempted

assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

, who in 1878 made an attempt on the life of Emperor

Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...

. Nobiling was born in

Kolno Kolno is a town in northeastern Poland, located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, about northeast of Warsaw. It is the seat of Kolno County, and the seat of the smaller administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Kolno, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Gmin ...

near Birnbaum (Międzychód) in the Prussian

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

, where his father was the tenant of the local manor. He attended school in Züllichau (Sulechów) and studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

and

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where he received a doctor's degree in 1876. During his studenthood he may have had some minor contact with

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

circles, though an affiliation with the contemporary

Social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

movement has not been conclusively established. Nobiling moved to

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 ...

and in the afternoon of 2 June 1878, he shot and wounded Kaiser Wilhelm I from the window of his apartment on the

Unter den Linden Unter den Linden (, "under the Tilia, linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte (locality), Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Berlin Palace to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the Tilia, linden trees (known ...

boulevard. He used a double-barrelled shotgun and numerous pellets hit the body of the emperor, though the life of the 81-year-old was saved by his ''

Pickelhaube The (; , ; from , and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked leather or metal helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German soldiers of all ranks, as well as firefighters and police. Although it ...

'' helmet. When immediately after the failed assassination attempt several witnesses tried to disarm him, Nobiling shot himself in the head with a revolver. Not fit to be questioned, he soon fell senseless and finally succumbed to his injuries in September 1878. His attempt to murder Wilhelm came less than one month after a similar attempt by

Max Hödel Emil Max Hödel (27 May 1857 – 16 August 1878) was a German plumber from Leipzig and propaganda of the deed anarchist who became known for the failed assassination of the German emperor, Wilhelm I. A former member of the Leipzig Social-Democra ...

. Chancellor

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 ...

used the actions of Nobiling and Hödel as justification to implement the Anti-Socialist Law in October 1878.

References

Literature

* Vizetelly, Ernest A.: ''The Anarchists: Their Faith and Their Record''. Edinburgh 1911 (ausführliche Beschreibung des Tathergangs in Kapitel 3). * Kellerhoff, Sven Felix: ''Attentäter. Wahnsinnige, Verführte, Kriminelle''. Arean, Erftstadt 2005 , S. 31 ff. * Mühlnikel, Marcus: ''Fürst, sind Sie unverletzt?' Attentate im Kaiserreich 1871–1914''. Schöningh, Paderborn 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nobiling, Karl Eduard 1848 births 1870s suicides 1878 deaths 1878 crimes in Europe People from the Rhine Province Suicides by firearm in Germany Failed regicides Failed assassins Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni Leipzig University alumni German anarchists

References

See also

Literature