Georg von Hertling

Georg Graf von Hertling
7th Chancellor of the German Empire
In office 1 November 1917 – 30 September 1918
Monarch	William II
Preceded by	Georg Michaelis
Succeeded by	Prince Maximilian of Baden
18th Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia
In office 2 December 1917 – 3 October 1918
Monarch	William II
Preceded by	Georg Michaelis
Succeeded by	Prince Maximilian of Baden
26th Minister President of the Kingdom of Bavaria
In office 1912–1917
Monarch	Otto Ludwig III
Preceded by	Clemens von Podewils-Dürnitz
Succeeded by	Otto Ritter von Dandl
Personal details
Born	31 August 1843(1843-08-31) Darmstadt
Died	4 January 1919(1919-01-04) (aged 75) Ruhpolding
Political party	Centre

Georg Friedrich Graf von Hertling (31 August 1843  – 4 January 1919) was a Bavarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Bavaria 1912–1917 and then as Prime Minister of Prussia and Chancellor of the German Empire from 1917 to 1918. He was the first party man to hold the office.

Biography

He became professor of philosophy in the University of Munich, and while professor he published books on Aristotle (1871) and on Albertus Magnus (1880). From 1875 to 1890, and again from 1893 to 1912, he was a member of the Reichstag, and after 1909 led for a time the Centre (Catholic) Party in that assembly. In 1891, the Regent of Bavaria made him a life member of the upper house of the Bavarian Landtag.

As leader of the largest party in the Bavarian Landtag , in 1912 Hertling was appointed Bavarian Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. King Ludwig III later elevated him to the rank of Count. Following the outbreak of World War I, Hertling supported the policy of Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg but declined to become his successor. However, in November 1917, he became German Chancellor and Prime Minister of Prussia only after the fall of Georg Michaelis in 1917. He was the first politician to hold either post; his predecessors had either been career civil servants or military men. However, due to his age and conservatism, he was unable to overcome the power of the military high command, led by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, despite having been a deputy to the Reichstag and a leader of the Centre Party. Like Michaelis before him, he was increasingly seen as a puppet of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who were for all intents and purposes the dictators of Germany for the last year of the war. He also presided over the last stage of the collapse of the German home front. When it became apparent that he was unable to meet the crisis, he was forced to resign in favour of Prince Maximilian of Baden.

He founded the important German Catholic fraternity Askania-Burgundia and was a member of K.St.V. Arminia at Bonn. His great-granddaughter is actress Gila von Weitershausen.

External links

Media related to Georg von Hertling at Wikimedia Commons

• Georg von Hertling in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• Erinnerungen aus meinen Leben "Recollections from my Life" Vol. I at archive.org. In German
• Erinnerungen aus meinen Leben "Recollections from my Life" Vol. II at archive.org. In German
• Georg Hertling, Graf von Georg Hertling (1893). Naturrecht und Socialpolitik. J. P. Bachem. http://books.google.com/books?id=fxsOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Georg+von+Hertling&as_brr=1#PPP5,M1. 

Political offices
Preceded by Clemens Graf von Podewils-Dürnitz	Prime Minister of Bavaria 1912 – 1917	Succeeded by Otto Ritter von Dandl
Preceded by Georg Michaelis	Chancellor of Germany 1917 – 1918	Succeeded by Prince Maximilian of Baden
	Prime Minister of Prussia 1917 – 1918