Prince Karl of Auersperg

Karl Wilhelm Philipp, 8th Prince of Auersperg, Duke of Gottschee (Karl Wilhelm Philipp Fürst von Auersperg, Herzog von Gottschee; 1 May 1814 in Prague – 4 January 1890 in Prague) was a Bohemian and an Austrian nobleman and statesman. He served as the first President of the Austrian House of Lords and as the first prime minister of the western part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Cisleithania).

Biography
The 8th Prince of Auersperg, Karl Wilhem, was heir to one of the most prominent princely families of the Holy Roman Empire, whose Imperial Estate was mediatized in the Austrian Empire following the German Mediatisation of the post-revolutionary era. He became head of the princely House at the age of thirteen on the death of his father, Wilhelm II of Auersperg (1782–1827). In 1851 he married Countess Ernestine Festetics de Tolna, daughter of Count Ernő János Vilmos. As he died without issue, he was succeeded by his nephew Karl, 9th Prince of Auersperg.

Political career
As a member of the German-Liberal Party, Karl represented the landed nobility in the Bohemian Landtag (provincial assembly) during the 1840s and took a conspicuous part in defending the constitutional system against Prince Metternich's Vormärz regime, which was becoming increasingly unpopluar throughout the Austrian Empire and ultimately culminated in the German revolutions of 1848–1849.

In the following decade, after the resignation of Metternich as first minister and the abdication of Emperor Ferdinand I in favour of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Karl remained largely abscent from public life.

On the advent of the new constitutional era in 1861, Franz Joseph I established a bicameral Imperial Council in the Austrian Empire and appointed Karl as the first President of the House of Lords. Karl became the longest serving President over his three terms in office (1861-1867, 1896-1870, 1871-1879). In 1861 Karl also rejoined the Bohemian Landtag where he served intermittently as Oberstlandmarschall (supreme provincial marshal) of Bohemia and as chairman of the Landesausschuss (state committee) until 1883.

After the constitutional changes that led to the creation the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867, the Emperor turned to the German-Liberals (who had supported the Austro-Hungarian Compromise) to form the new Austrian government and appointed Karl as the first Prime Minister. Karl's cabinet was referred to as the Citizens' Ministry as four out of its nine cabinet members were commoners (without noble titles) and another had only been enobled eleven years previously. After conflicts in the cabinet over concessions to various nationalities and ethnic groups through federalism, he resigned in protest on 4 September 1868. Although an advocate of centralism, he agreed to negotiations with the Czechs in order to win their participationin the Imperial Council. In his view, Viscount Taaffe and Foreign Minister Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust made excessive concessions to the Czech National Party.

After his retirement, Karl worked as a zealous supporter of the policies of his brother, Prince Adolf of Auersperg, who served as Prime Minister of Austria from 1871 to 1879.

Honours

 * [[Image:Order of the Golden Fleece ribbon bar.svg|50px]] Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1852 (Austrian Empire)
 * [[Image:Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary - Ribbon bar Grand-Cross.svg|50px]] Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1863 (Austrian Empire)