Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell

Eduard Heinrich Flottwell (23 July 1786 – 28 May 1865; after 1861 von Flottwell) was a Prussian Staatsminister. He served as Oberpräsident (governor) of the Grand Duchy of Posen (from 1830) and of the Saxony (from 1841), Westphalia (from 1846) and Brandenburg (from 1850) Provinces. He was also Prussian Minister of Finance (1844-1846) and Minister of Interior (1858-1859).

Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell
With Order of the Black Eagle, c. 1861
Oberpräsident of the Grand Duchy of Posen
In office December 1830 – May 1841
Preceded by	Theodor von Baumann Antoni Radziwiłł (as Duke-Governor)
Succeeded by	Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg
Oberpräsident of the Province of Saxony
In office May 1841 – 1844
Preceded by	Anton of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Succeeded by	Wilhelm von Wedell
Oberpräsident of the Province of Westphalia
In office 1846 – July 1850
Preceded by	Justus Wilhelm Eduard von Schaper
Succeeded by	Franz von Duesberg
Oberpräsident of the East Prussia
In office 1849–1850
Preceded by	Rudolf von Auerswald
Succeeded by	Franz August Eichmann
Oberpräsident of the Province of Brandenburg
In office 1850–1862
Preceded by	Klemens von Wolff-Metternich
Succeeded by	Werner von Selchow
Personal details
Born	(1786-07-23)23 July 1786 Insterburg, East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	28 May 1865(1865-05-28) (aged 78) Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia
Citizenship	Prussian
Children	Julius Adalbert Flottwell

Early life

Flottwell was born in Insterburg in the Province of East Prussia (present-day Chernyakhovsk in Russian Kaliningrad Oblast), studied law at the University of Königsberg and entered the civil service at the Insterburg court in 1805.

Career

From 1812 he was a member of the East Prussian Regierungspräsidium of Gumbinnen. After the Napoleonic Wars he together with Oberpräsident Theodor von Schön re-organised the administration of the West Prussian province at Danzig. In 1825 he was appointed Regierungspräsident of Marienwerder.

When in 1830 the Polish November Uprising led by Michał Gedeon Radziwiłł broke out at Warsaw in Russian Congress Poland, his brother Antoni Radziwiłł was dismissed as Duke-Governor of the Prussian Grand Duchy of Posen by King Frederick William III and the sole rule passed to Flottwell as the new Oberpräsident. He was a strong supporter of Germanisation and standardised schooling policies, which by some was seen as directed against ethnic Polish Prussians in the region. In 1843 in "Anerkennung der Hilfe nach dem großen Hamburger Brand" (acknowledgment of the assistance after the great Hamburg fire), he was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg.

References

• F.Paprocki, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie w okresie rządów Flottwella (1830-1842), Poznań 1970
• Witold Jakóbczyk, Przetrwać na Wartą 1815-1914, Dzieje narodu i państwa polskiego, vol. III-55, Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa 1989