Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky

Count Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky (Czech: František Antonín Kolovrat-Libštejnský) (31 January 1778 – 4 April 1861) was a Bohemian nobleman and an Austrian statesman.

Born in Prague the son of a Bohemian noble family, whose ancestors had already served under Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg, Franz Anton finished his studies in 1799. During the Napoleonic Wars he achieved the office of a stadtholder of Austrian emperor Francis I of Habsburg at Prague and in 1810 became Oberstburggraf of the whole Bohemian kingdom. Contrary to Minister of State Klemens Wenzel von Metternich he encouraged Czech cultural and civic-national movements, exemplified by the founding of the Prague National Museum in 1818.

Kolowrat's rivalry with Metternich intensified when in 1826 the emperor called him to Vienna, where he was elevated to a member of the Austrian State Council responsible for the Interior and Finances; while Metternich favored a strong army, Kolowrat reduced the miitary budget.^[1] After the accession of Francis' incapable son Ferdinand I to the throne in 1836, Kolowrat together with Metternich led the Secret State Conference, the de facto government of the Empire. However the continuous disagreement between the two leaders palsied the Austrian politics and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the Revolutions of 1848. When Metternich had to resign, Kolowrat assumed the newly created office of an Austrian Minister-President, which he nevertheless laid down after only one month between 3-5 April, officially for health reasons.

Kolowrat died in Vienna.

Decoration

• Order of the Golden Fleece
• Order of Leopold
• Order of St. Andrew
• Order of St. Anna
• Order of St. Vladimir
• Order of the White Eagle
• Order of Alexander Nevsky
• Venerable Order of Saint John

References