Arthur Adolf, Count of Posadowsky-Wehner, Baron of Postelwitz (German:Arthur Graf[a] von Posadowsky-Wehner Freiherr[b] von Postelwitz, 3 June 1845 – 23 October 1932) was a German conservative statesman. He served as thesecretary for the Treasury (1893–1897),secretary of the Interior,vice-chancellor of the German Empire andPrussianminister of State (1897–1907).
Born toSilesian nobility, the son of a judge, Posadowsky-Wehner studied law inBerlin,Heidelberg andBreslau and earned adoctorate in law in 1867. He subsequently acquired an agricultural property, and entered politics in 1871, when he became a member of the province government in Posen. In 1882 he became a member of the Parliament of Prussia, and was appointed Landeshauptmann of Posen in 1885.
Posadowsky was a crucial figure for the election reform in 1903. He took care of a new voting technique to protect the secrecy of the ballot for the German parliament.
Posadowsky-Wehner was the candidate of theGerman National People's Party for thePresidency of Germany in1919, but he lost toFriedrich Ebert. Posadowsky-Wehner would begin to distance himself from the DNVP in the aftermath of theKapp Putsch, eventually leaving the party at the end of 1920.
He received the following orders and decorations:[1]
Kingdom of Prussia:
Duchy of Anhalt: Grand Cross of theOrder of Albert the Bear
Austria-Hungary:[5]
Baden:Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion,1895[6]
Kingdom of Bavaria:
Belgium: Grand Cordon of theOrder of Leopold (civil)
Brunswick: Grand Cross of theOrder of Henry the Lion
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of theSaxe-Ernestine House Order
Grand Duchy of Hesse:Grand Cross of the Merit Order of Philip the Magnanimous,16 November 1898[8]
Kingdom of Italy:Grand Cross of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Mecklenburg:Grand Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Golden Crown,27 February 1905[9]
Oldenburg:Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown
Russian Empire:Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:Grand Cross of the White Falcon
Kingdom of Saxony: Grand Cross of theAlbert Order, with Golden Star,1894[10]
Württemberg:[11]
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| Preceded by | Vice Chancellor of Germany 1897–1907 | Succeeded by |
| German Empire (1871–1918) |  | |
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| Weimar Republic (1919–1933) | ||
| Third Reich (1933–1945) | ||
| Federal Republic (1949–) | ||
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