Robert von Puttkammer
Encyclopedia
Robert Viktor von Puttkamer (5 May 1828 15 March 1900) was a Prussia
n statesman
most prominent in his roles as Prussian minister of public education and worship in 1879 and then interior minister in 1881, under Otto von Bismarck
. He also introduced reforms in German orthography
.
in the Province of Brandenburg
. His father, Eugen von Puttkamer, Oberpräsident of Posen
, belonged to a widely extended noble family, of which Otto von Bismarck
's wife Johanna von Puttkamer
and Robert von Puttkamer's own wife were also members. Robert von Puttkamer, after a short course of law, began his official career in 1850 as Auskultator in the courts at Danzig
, but in 1852 entered the civil service, receiving after his promotion to the rank of Assessor in 1854 a post in the railway department of the ministry for trade and industry. In 1859 he became a member of the presidial council at Coblenz, capital of the Prussian Rhine Province
, and from 1860 to 1866 was Landrat at Demmin
in Pomerania.
During the Austro-Prussian War
, Puttkamer acted as civil commissary in Moravia
. From 1867 to 1871 he was a councillor in the chancery of the North German Confederation
. In 1871 he was appointed president of the governmental district of Gumbinnen
in East Prussia
, in 1875 district president in Lorraine
, and in 1877 Oberpräsident in Silesia
. From 1874 onward he was frequently elected to the Reichstag
and the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, in which he attached himself to the German Conservative Party
.
, and as minister of education and public worship, he continued this policy. He took measures against the undenominational schools, and made concessions to the orthodox Evangelicals
.
In 1881 Puttkamer was appointed Prussian minister of the interior. His reactionary
conservative temper was in complete harmony with the views of Bismarck and Emperor William
, and with their powerful support he attempted, in defiance of modern democratic principles and even of the spirit of the constitution, to re-establish the old Prussian system of rigid discipline from above.
He was above all concerned to nip in the bud any tendencies in the bureaucracy to revolt, and it was on his initiative that on 4 January 1882, a royal ordinance laid it down as the duty of all officials to give the government their unconditional support at political elections. In a vain effort to combat social democracy
, he seriously interfered with the liberty of public meeting and attempted the forcible suppression of strike movements. However, he did carry out many useful administrative reforms.
This Puttkamer regime was intensely unpopular: it was attacked in the Reichstag not only by Radicals like Richter
and Rickert, but by National Liberal
s like Bennigsen
. When the emperor Frederick III
, whose liberal tendencies were notorious, succeeded to the throne, it was clear that it could not last. In spite of Bismarck's support, Puttkamer was forced to resign on 8 June 1888.
, however, whose principles were those of his grandfather, Puttkamer was largely rehabilitated. On 1 January 1889 he received the Order of the Black Eagle
. He was appointed a secular canon of Merseburg
, and in 1891 became Oberpräsident of the Province of Pomerania. In this office, which he held till 1899, he did very useful work in collaboration with the provincial estates.
He died on his property at Karzin
in Pomerania in 1900.
. This was at first vigorously opposed, not least by Bismarck, himself; but its convenience soon became evident, it was increasingly put into practice, and was so well based that later reformers needed only to follow the lines laid down by Puttkamer.
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
most prominent in his roles as Prussian minister of public education and worship in 1879 and then interior minister in 1881, under Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
. He also introduced reforms in German orthography
German orthography
German orthography, although largely phonemic, shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of almost every word can be derived from its spelling, once the spelling rules are known, but the opposite is not generally the...
.
Early career
Puttkamer was born at Frankfurt (Oder)Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...
in the Province of Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg
The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...
. His father, Eugen von Puttkamer, Oberpräsident of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
, belonged to a widely extended noble family, of which Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
's wife Johanna von Puttkamer
Johanna von Puttkamer
Johanna Friederike Charlotte Dorothea Eleonore von Puttkamer was a Prussian noblewoman, also known as Johanna von Bismarck. She was the sister of statesman Robert von Puttkamer....
and Robert von Puttkamer's own wife were also members. Robert von Puttkamer, after a short course of law, began his official career in 1850 as Auskultator in the courts at Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, but in 1852 entered the civil service, receiving after his promotion to the rank of Assessor in 1854 a post in the railway department of the ministry for trade and industry. In 1859 he became a member of the presidial council at Coblenz, capital of the Prussian Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
, and from 1860 to 1866 was Landrat at Demmin
Demmin
Demmin is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district Demmin.- Name :...
in Pomerania.
During the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
, Puttkamer acted as civil commissary in Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. From 1867 to 1871 he was a councillor in the chancery of the North German Confederation
North German Confederation
The North German Confederation 1866–71, was a federation of 22 independent states of northern Germany. It was formed by a constitution accepted by the member states in 1867 and controlled military and foreign policy. It included the new Reichstag, a parliament elected by universal manhood...
. In 1871 he was appointed president of the governmental district of Gumbinnen
Gumbinnen (region)
Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1815 until 1945. The regional capital was Gumbinnen .-History:...
in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, in 1875 district president in Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
, and in 1877 Oberpräsident in Silesia
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
. From 1874 onward he was frequently elected to the Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
and the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, in which he attached himself to the German Conservative Party
German Conservative Party
The German Conservative Party was a right-wing political party of the German Empire, founded in 1876.- Policies :It was generally seen as representing the interests of the German nobility, the East Elbian Junkers and the Evangelical Church of the Prussian Union, and had its political stronghold...
.
Ministerial work
In 1879 Puttkamer was appointed Prussian minister of education and public worship, the chosen instrument of the Clerical Conservative policy initiated by Bismarck when the Socialist peril made it expedient to conciliate the Catholic Centre. As Oberpräsident of Silesia he had already done much to mitigate the rigour of the application of the May LawsMay Laws
Temporary regulations regarding the Jews were proposed by minister of internal affairs Nikolai Ignatyev and enacted on May 15 , 1882, by Tsar Alexander III of Russia...
, and as minister of education and public worship, he continued this policy. He took measures against the undenominational schools, and made concessions to the orthodox Evangelicals
Evangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
.
In 1881 Puttkamer was appointed Prussian minister of the interior. His reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
conservative temper was in complete harmony with the views of Bismarck and Emperor William
William I, German Emperor
William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
, and with their powerful support he attempted, in defiance of modern democratic principles and even of the spirit of the constitution, to re-establish the old Prussian system of rigid discipline from above.
He was above all concerned to nip in the bud any tendencies in the bureaucracy to revolt, and it was on his initiative that on 4 January 1882, a royal ordinance laid it down as the duty of all officials to give the government their unconditional support at political elections. In a vain effort to combat social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
, he seriously interfered with the liberty of public meeting and attempted the forcible suppression of strike movements. However, he did carry out many useful administrative reforms.
This Puttkamer regime was intensely unpopular: it was attacked in the Reichstag not only by Radicals like Richter
Eugen Richter
Eugen Richter was a German politician and journalist.-Career:Born as the son of a combat medic, Richter attended the Gymnasium in his home town of Düsseldorf. Since 1856, he studied Law and Economics at the Universities of Bonn, Berlin and Heidelberg, that he finished with a law degree in 1859...
and Rickert, but by National Liberal
National Liberal Party (Germany)
The National Liberal Party was a German political party which flourished between 1867 and 1918. It was formed by Prussian liberals who put aside their differences with Bismarck over domestic policy due to their support for his highly successful foreign policy, which resulted in the unification of...
s like Bennigsen
Rudolf von Bennigsen
Rudolf von Bennigsen was a German politician descended from an old Hanoverian family. His father, Karl von Bennigsen, was an officer in the Hanoverian army who rose to the rank of general and also held diplomatic appointments...
. When the emperor Frederick III
Frederick III, German Emperor
Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...
, whose liberal tendencies were notorious, succeeded to the throne, it was clear that it could not last. In spite of Bismarck's support, Puttkamer was forced to resign on 8 June 1888.
Late career
Under William IIWilliam II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was a grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe...
, however, whose principles were those of his grandfather, Puttkamer was largely rehabilitated. On 1 January 1889 he received the Order of the Black Eagle
Order of the Black Eagle
The Order of the Black Eagle was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg . In his Dutch exile after WWI, deposed Emperor Wilhelm II continued to award the order to his family...
. He was appointed a secular canon of Merseburg
Merseburg
Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....
, and in 1891 became Oberpräsident of the Province of Pomerania. In this office, which he held till 1899, he did very useful work in collaboration with the provincial estates.
He died on his property at Karzin
Karzin
Karzin , also Romanized as Fatḩābād) is a city in the Central District of Qir and Karzin County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 7,953, in 1,651 families....
in Pomerania in 1900.
Reformer of German orthography
Puttkamer is also remembered as the author of the ordinance of the 21 January 1880 on the simplification of German orthographyGerman orthography
German orthography, although largely phonemic, shows many instances of spellings that are historic or analogous to other spellings rather than phonemic. The pronunciation of almost every word can be derived from its spelling, once the spelling rules are known, but the opposite is not generally the...
. This was at first vigorously opposed, not least by Bismarck, himself; but its convenience soon became evident, it was increasingly put into practice, and was so well based that later reformers needed only to follow the lines laid down by Puttkamer.