Wilhelm Ludwig Georg, Fürst zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (October 9, 1770 - April 11, 1851) was a Prussian statesman and confidant of

Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

who once held the post of Interior Minister of Prussia. With Karl Albert von Kamptz, the Justice minister, he contributed significantly to the end of the Prussian reforms and was one of the driving forces of the Restoration era in Prussia.

Early life

Born into an ancient House of Sayn-Wittgenstein, Wilhelm Ludwig was the second son and youngest child of

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

Johann Ludwig zu

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein was a county and later principality between Hesse-Darmstadt and Westphalia. History The county with imperial immediacy was formed by the 1657 partition of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Wittgenstein and raised from a county t ...

(1740-1796) and his wife, Countess Friederike Karoline Luise von Pückler-Limpurg (1738-1772), daughter of Count Christian Wilhelm Karl von Pückler-Groditz (1705-1786) and Countess Karoline Christiane von Löwenstein-Wertheim-Virneburg (1719-1793).

Life

He studied law at

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

in 1786. After graduation, he became a courtier of

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) was a German nobleman of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He became Count Palatine of Sulzbach at the age of six following the death of his father J ...

. Between 1797 and 1806, he was the Oberhofmeister of Prussian Queen Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1804, he was elevated to the rank of

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

. With the help of Sophie Marie von Voß, his family friend, Wittgenstein was brought into king Friedrich Wilhelm III's circle. Following Prussian defeat in the

Battle of Jena–Auerstedt The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (; older spelling: ''Auerstädt'') were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Pruss ...

in 1806, he went to Great Britain for a loan and British military intervention. He didn't succeed in the diplomatic mission and was arrested in Hamburg by the French. After the Prussian court returned to Berlin and Potsdam, Wittgenstein became

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

in 1810. He helped reappoint Karl August von Hardenberg and advocated closer ties with France. From 1812, he became the head of Prussian police as Privy Councilor of State and began persecution of the liberal and national movement in Prussia. He broke up Tugendbund and took part in the arrest of Justus von Gruner. During the

German campaign of 1813 The German campaign () was fought in 1813. Members of the Sixth Coalition, including the German states of Austria and Prussia, plus Russia and Sweden, fought a series of battles in Germany against the French Emperor Napoleon, his marshals, and th ...

, he lost influence for a moment. Nevertheless, Wittgenstein became Minister of Police in 1814 and in this capacity also a member of the Prussian Council of State from 1817. He was in close contact with

Klemens von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ( ; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich () or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire. ...

and exerted influence in Metternich's interest. Along with the crown prince, later Friedrich Wilhelm IV, he was one of the leaders of the reactionary party in opposition to Prussian reforms led by Hardenberg. After the assassination of

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

, he pushed forward the reactionary reorganization of

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

and the 'Persecution of Demagogues' and implemented

Carlsbad Decrees The Carlsbad Decrees () were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Austrian Empire. ...

strictly. In 1819 he resigned as Minister of Police and became Minister of the Royal House but continued the policy of reaction. Wittgenstein and his reactionary circles in the Prussian court harassed and spied upon

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

and his pupils, such as Leopold von Henning,

Friedrich Wilhelm Carové Friedrich Wilhelm Carové (June 20, 1789 – March 18, 1852) was a German philosopher and publicist. Biography He was a lawyer, held some judicial offices, was made doctor of philosophy by the University of Heidelberg, and officiated for a short ...

etc. Wilhelm never married and didn't have any children.

References

{{reflist Interior ministers of Prussia House of Sayn-Wittgenstein People from Siegen-Wittgenstein University of Marburg alumni Prussian diplomats People from the Electorate of Bavaria Members of the Prussian State Council (1817-1918) 1770 births 1851 deaths