A person can be as important as he wants. That doesn’t guarantee that his name will stand the test of time. Only the course of history and attitudes decide who is remembered. Let’s just take the Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi, who was extremely popular in the 19th century and who today only the insiders know.
Bavarian history also lists comparable fates, with the name of Carl Ernst von Gravenreuth leading the way. Who remembers that more than 200 years ago he was the great adversary of the Bavarian state hero Maximilian von Montgelas? While Montgelas is enthroned in the temple of fame, the name Gravenreuth has been erased from collective memory.
In addition, there is a grandiose biography about Montgelas. The historian Eberhard Weis wrote it a good 20 years ago and sacrificed a large part of his life, his learning and his diligence for this two-volume work. Weis’ achievement stands out not only because of her salary, but also because Montgelas had a dirty claw and the researchers capitulated row after row because of the illegibility of his estate.
The south side of Schloss Affing with the moat and bridge in front.
(Photo: Paul Eschbach)
Gravenreuth’s certificate of appointment as general commissioner of Swabia with the signatures of Max Joseph and Montgelas, Munich, March 25, 1807.
(Photo: Paul Eschbach)
But now Gravenreuth is also getting the recognition it deserves. Two current publications are dedicated to his exciting life. On the one hand, an article in the new annual publication of the Association of Bavarian History Associations, on the other hand, an opulent book by the historian Marcus Junkelmann has been published, which sheds light on the vast cosmos of this man.
By including the political and family context, Junkelmann delves deeply into the Age of Enlightenment, Revolutions and Napoleonic Wars. The depiction also includes the castle in Swabian Affing, which Gravenreuth acquired in 1816 and where his descendants still live today. Like Weis, Junkelmann also dug through the wealth of files and documents with immense diligence.
The times when Gravenreuth and Montgelas were active were even more turbulent than today. The existence of the Electorate of Bavaria, which became a kingdom in 1806, was extremely threatened in the first decades of the 19th century. On one side stood the Habsburgs, plagued by the desire to annex, on the other revolutionary France was bloated.
In 1799, the old Elector Karl Theodor was struck while playing cards. When his successor Max Joseph took over the government, the spirit of enlightenment finally swept through the offices and residences. Together with his superminister Montgelas, Max Joseph completely transformed the state. The state that was groaning under an oppressive financial crisis, while the outdated administrative apparatus craved reforms. And all this in a time of permanent wars.
At first Bavaria fought on the side of Austria, after the Battle of Hohenlinden in 1800 there followed a rapprochement with France, from whose clutches the Bavarians only freed themselves again in 1813. The Privy Councilor Gravenreuth, who had fled from revolutionary Lorraine and then rose to become an important advisor and diplomat at the Bavarian court and became Montgelas’ closest collaborator in the foreign ministry, was also involved in that bloody period.
Monument to Maximilian von Montgelas by Karin Sander on Promenadeplatz in Munich.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Gravenreuth’s personal example: star with ribbon of the Grand Cross of the Civil Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown.
(Photo: Paul Eschbach)
A marble bust of Eleonore von Gravenreuth, 1858. The original is now in the stairwell of Affing Castle.
(Photo: Paul Eschbach)
Marian Freiherr von Gravenreuth says that his ancestor intervened in the history of Bavaria with farsightedness, courage and strategic skill and helped to establish his adopted homeland in the borders in which we still live today.
“You alone can save Bavaria!” In 1805, even the wife of the opponent Montgelas conjured up the young diplomat. This happened at the height of the crisis, when Bavaria broke away from Austria and formed an alliance with Napoleon. Gravenreuth’s hour had now come. After the Battle of Austerlitz he negotiated with the most powerful man in Europe in his camp in Brno. There, in bold speeches, he wrested more territory from Napoleon than his minister Talleyrand wished to reveal. He thus enlarged Bavaria’s territory to where it is today.
His family’s desire to free Gravenreuth from Montgelas’ shadow and to increase his fame as a politician was all the greater. Based on Junkelmann’s brilliantly presented insights, Gravenreuth’s role in Bavarian historiography has actually been given far too little credit.
Gravenreuth did not consider Montgelas to be the most able statesman
As his 1824 memoir testifies, Gravenreuth considered his superior Montgelas to be anything but the most able statesman. In her essay, Christine Schmid-Mägele quotes from a letter from December 1805, which does not necessarily indicate harmonious cooperation. Gravenreuth writes: “The end of your letter brought tears to my eyes. How could I fall out of favor with our king because I want to help him with all my might to acquire thousands of new subjects and thousands of additional incomes… You were so brave when the Austrian armies threatened us; now that we are supported by French might, tremble.”
Gravenreuth was later transferred to the administration, but this did not end his powerful work. As General Commissioner, he ended the “women’s uprising” against conscription in Vorarlberg with a combination of firm action and understanding leniency. After Ulm had been ceded to Württemberg, he pushed through the founding of Neu-Ulm against great resistance.
As advocates of reason and education, he and his wife Eleonore founded the first school in Affing. In 1825, King Max I elevated him to the rank of count and appointed him to the Chamber of Imperial Councillors. Shortly thereafter, on September 29, 1826, he died at the age of 55. The marble busts of Carl Ernst and Eleonore Gravenreuth are emblazoned in the stairwell of Affing Castle.
Marcus Junkelmann: “You alone can save Bayern!” Carl Ernst von Gravenreuth. Pustet Verlag, 733 pages. Christine Schmid-Mägele: Karl Ernst von Gravenreuth, in: Announcements from the Association of Bavarian History Associations 29, 2022.