Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg | |
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| 1stMinister President of Prussia | |
| In office 19 March – 29 March 1848 | |
| Monarch | Frederick William IV |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen |
| Interior Minister of Prussia | |
| In office 1842–1845 | |
| Preceded by | Gustav Adolf Rochus von Rochow |
| Succeeded by | Ernst von Bodelschwingh-Velmede |
| Foreign Minister of Prussia | |
| In office 19 March – 21 March 1848 | |
| Preceded by | Karl Ernst Wilhelm von Canitz und Dallwitz |
| Succeeded by | Heinrich Alexander von Arnim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 April 1803 |
| Died | 8 January 1868(1868-01-08) (aged 64) Boitzenburg Castle,Brandenburg, Prussia |
| Party | None |
| Spouse | Countess Anna Caroline von der Schulenburg |
| Relations | Friedrich Wilhelm von Arnim-Boitzenburg (grandfather) Johann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn (grandfather) |
| Parent(s) | Friedrich Abraham Wilhelm von Arnim Georgine von Wallmoden-Grimborn |
Adolf Heinrich Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (10 April 1803 – 8 January 1868) was a Germanstatesman. He served as the firstMinister-President of Prussia for ten days during theRevolution of 1848.
Arnim was born in thePrussian capitalBerlin, the son of envoyFriedrich Abraham Wilhelm von Arnim (1767–1812) and his wife Georgine von Wallmoden-Grimborn (1770–1859), a daughter of theHanoverian field marshal and art collectorJohann Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn and thereby presumably a granddaughter of KingGeorge II of Great Britain. His parents divorced when he was three years old.[1]
Having finished his studies inBerlin andGöttingen in 1825, he joined the Prussian Guards Uhlans regiment asa One-year volunteer and afterwards entered civil service at theKammergericht.
In 1830, he was appointedLandrat official in theUckermark district. In 1833, he became Vice-president of the PomeranianStralsund government region. One year later, he assumed the position of President in theAix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) region, from 1838 inMerseburg,Saxony. In 1840 he became governor (Oberpräsident) of theGrand Duchy of Posen.
In 1842 Arnim was called back to Berlin to be appointed PrussianState Minister of the Interior. Nevertheless, he resigned in 1845 because his plans for a constitution for Prussia were at odds with KingFrederick William IV's romantic ideals. When the March Revolution broke out in 1848, his services were again in demand. From 19 March 1848, he acted as the first Prussian Minister-President andForeign Minister. However, he again resigned within a few days after the king chose to place himself at the head of the national movement.
A member of theProvincial BrandenburgLandtag assembly since 1839, Arnim from 18 May to 10 June 1848 was a representative forPrenzlau in theFrankfurt Parliament and also was a member of the short-livedErfurt Union Parliament in 1850. He belonged to the newly establishedPrussian House of Representatives from 1849 and later joined theHouse of Lords chamber of thePrussian Parliament.
Arnim is known to this day for his remarks as Prussian Interior Minister during theVormärz era concerningHeinrich Heine's poemThe Silesian Weavers. The verses were published in theVorwärts! weekly newspaper after an 1844 riot in theProvince of Silesia, which later also inspired the dramaThe Weavers byGerhart Hauptmann. In a report to King Frederick William IV he described Heine's poetry as "an address to the poor amongst the populace, held in an inflammatory tone and filled with criminal utterances" ("eine in aufrührerischem Ton gehaltene und mit verbrecherischen Äußerungen angefüllte Ansprache an die Armen im Volke"). Subsequently, the Royal Prussian Kammergericht banned the poem, which in 1846 led to a prison sentence for a person who had dared to publicly recite it.
He married Countess Anna Caroline von derSchulenburg (1804–1886), a daughter of Count Hans Günther Werner von der Schulenburg. One of his children was politicianAdolf von Arnim-Boitzenburg, who was in 1880 for a short time president of German Reichstag.
Arnim died on 8 January 1868 at hisBoitzenburg estate.
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