Baron Franz von Pillersdorf
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Franz Anton Graf von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky | |
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Succeeded by | Anton Feirherr von Doblhoff-Dier |
Personal details | |
Born | Moravia | 1 March 1786
Died | 22 February 1862 Vienna, Austria | (aged 75)
Baron Franz Xaver von Pillersdorf (1 March 1786 – 22 February 1862) was an Austrian statesman.
Life and career
Born in
The events of 1812-1815 increased the oppressive political climate still more. Baldacci became minister of the army and headed the administration of the occupied zones in France, and Pillersdorf was put at his side. Pillersdorf's stay in France and travels to the United Kingdom allowed him to make comparative studies and think about how the people could start participating in lawmaking and government in Austria as well. But the time had not come for such changes in Austria, since Emperor Francis I kept the reins of power tightly to himself.
After the
The French July Revolution of 1830 heightened the tension in the various classes of the population. In 1832, Pillersdorf, who thought that concerns about conflict with the new government in France should not frustrate attempts to bring more order to Austria's finances, was taken away from finances and moved to the chancellery, where he became a privy councillor (Geheimrat) on the inner track of the government. A new field opened itself to him where no skilled hand had been on the plough since the reign of Emperor Joseph II. All kinds of weeds needed to be pulled, and obstacles removed, in order to create a foundation for public welfare which until now had not been allowed to develop. As stubbornly as the current order was maintained, so public discontent with it became greater. Even patriotic men faced with a sort of longing the storm that rose up from the French July Monarchy and unleashed itself on Austria.
In the
Pillersdorf then was elected as a deputy of the
Pillersdorf went into deep seclusion. His lot was to stand, "not amongst those who had been judged, but among those who had been shamed." But his fellow citizens sought to heal these wounds: when constitutional government returned to Austria in 1861, they confidently called him to the newly established
Honours
References
- Hanns Schlitter, “Pillersdorf, Franz Freiherr von” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Band 26 (Leipzig, 1888), S. 135–137. (in German)
- Carl Schurz, Lebenserinnerungen biz zum Jahre 1852, Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1906 and 1911. (in German) Schurz mentions Pillersdorf in Chapter 5 and says that as prime minister he consulted with students as part of the process of drafting a new press law.