Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg ( German Karl Schwarzenberg, born December 10, 1937 in Prague) was 2007-2009 and 2010-2013 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. During his first term he was due to the Czech EU Presidency in the first half of 2009 also President of the Council of the European Union. Black Mountain is the chairman of the newly formed party in 2009 TOP 09 In the presidential election in the Czech Republic in 2013, he was the second-placed candidate.
- 3.1 Activities in Vienna
- 3.2 Helsinki Federation
- 3.3 politician in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic
Name and nationality
After schwarzenberg shear family tradition the name Schwarzenberg Karl Johannes Nepomuk Josef Norbert Friedrich Antonius Wratislaw Mena Fürst zu Schwarzenberg, Duke of Krumlov, Princely Count of Sulz and Landgrave is Kleggau ( today's geographical term Unterklettgau ). In the Czech Republic Schwarzenberg medially in a mixture of distance and recognition often referred to as Kníže ze Schwarzenbergu ( = Prince of Schwarzenberg ), although the nobility on December 10, 1918 their national Schwarzenberg was when he was born in Czechoslovakia, was abolished and the keeping of appropriate title was officially prohibited. Schwarzenberg is as at the time of Czechoslovak and Czech citizen today therefore not entitled to bear the title of Prince or Prince in his current country of residence.
The members of the Schwarzenberg family have since the 16th century, the Zurich and civil rights since 1848, according to the Swiss civil law, the federal citizenship. Karl Schwarzenberg is therefore since his birth and Swiss. Under Swiss law, the guide of titles of nobility and predicates - with the exception of the particles of - not allowed. Austrian citizen was Schwarzenberg, though he lived a long time in Austria, at any time, so that the Austrian law, which prohibits completely the Anxiety or worry the former title of nobility and predicates in the name, on Black Mountain can not be applied and could.
Life
Family
Schwarzenberg in 1937 as the second of four children in the Catholic family of Karl ( until 1918: . VI Duke of ) Schwarzenberg ( 1911-1986 ) and Antonie Leontine Schwarzenberg, née Princess zu Fürstenberg ( 1905-1988 ), as Czechoslovak and Swiss citizen to the world. The Czechoslovak Republic had abolished titles of nobility on December 10th, 1918.
His siblings are Marie Eleonore von Bredow ( b. 1936, married to Leopold Bill von Bredow, a great-grandson of Otto von Bismarck ), Friedrich Schwarzenberg ( b. 1940 ) and Anna Maria Baroness von Haxthausen (* 1946). Schwarzenberg originates from the so-called Schwarzenberger Sekundogenitur from, ie the younger branch of the Schwarzenberg Orlik, but was ( the so-called primogeniture ) adopted by a member of the elder line Schwarzenberg - woman mountain by Austrian law and is privately since 1979 as head of the entire family Schwarzenberg, the I. in 1670 by Emperor Leopold the hereditary prince of the Empire title lent received. This track have lost Czechoslovak ( and Austrian ) nationals 1918/1919.
Schwarzenberg was from 1967 to 1988 and again since 2008, is married to Therese Hardegg (* 1940). During the marriage three children were born: John Nepomucenus (born 1967 ), Anna Carolina behaves. Morgan ( b. 1968 ) and Karl Philipp ( b. 1979 ). The latter was adopted in 1987 by his biological father, Thomas Prinzhorn, and now bears the name of Karl Philipp Prinzhorn.
Schwarzenberg's mother spoke fluent German and English and was also the Czech powerful, his father was a Czech national oriented. Schwarzenberg visited as a child, Czech -language schools, at home also Czech and German was spoken, saith the Black Mountain in a modern Czech ears something seemingly antiquated form.
Residences
Schwarzenberg is forestry and hotelier and has residences in Prague and at the castle Dřevíč and in the castle Orlik on the Vltava in Bohemia, in Switzerland, in the root of Schwarzenberg Palace in Scheinfeld in Middle Franconia, in the castle Obermurau in Styria and the Palais Schwarzenberg am Schwarzenberg Square in Vienna.
Castle Obermurau is owned by the princely Schwarzenberg family foundation based in Vaduz and is the administrative seat of the Schwarzenberg farms in Austria, museum and residence of the family Karl Schwarzenberg. ( The family preferred instead of the land affected by the Nazi era name > Obermurau < name > Castle Murau <. )
Central Europeans
Black Mountain bills itself as Central Europeans. His political career in the Czech Republic and the ownership provision after 1989 were possible because his parents known to the first Czechoslovak Republic and not opted as German as the German Empire in 1938 and 1939 the majority of the land occupied (excluding Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia ) and that of him to international law established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia incorporated. The commitment of both the Schwarzenberg family branches ( also known as primogeniture, the wife Berger line ) caused the Czechs that their possessions were confiscated during the Nazi rule, that the family members but the Czechoslovak citizenship in 1945 and then undoubtedly possessed; most other German citizens had 1938/1939 opted for the German Reich and therefore were considered in 1945, dispossessed and expelled as a foreigner.
Youth in Austria
In December 1948, about nine months after the funded by the Soviet Union communist coup of 25 February of the year, leaving the parents Black Mountain with her family to Czechoslovakia, where they claimed the ownership provision of the year 1945 to early 1948, several castles and several thousand acres of land possessed. The emigration of the family was facilitated by their second, federal citizenship. 1960 Charles was adopted by his distant relative Heinrich Schwarzenberg, the younger brother of the then head of the family of Schwarzenbergs, Joseph ( III.). This decision brought internal family inheritance benefits for Schwarzenberg.
Schwarzenberg in Vienna graduated high school and graduated in 1957 from Matura. He is since 1953 a member of the alumni association K.Ö.ML Tegetthoff to Vienna in MKV. After graduation he began studies of succession law and Forestry Sciences in Vienna, Graz and Munich, but did not complete them.
In 1979 he came to the legacy of his uncle Joseph, was an internal head of the Schwarzenberg family and united in his person the two lines ( primogeniture and Sekundogenitur ) of the family.
Property provision after 1989
After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, a restitution law was passed in the former Czechoslovakia. Schwarzenberg then got back significant parts of the former forest ownership and the agricultural land of his father, the Orlik castle on the Vltava River and other properties. But he refrained from calling for the return of the headquarters of the princes of Schwarzenberg. The woman mountain ( Hluboká ) Castle had previously been more than three centuries in the possession of the Schwarzenberg family.
According to the business magazine " balance " has Schwarzenberg in several countries over a fortune of about 200-300 million Swiss francs.
Policy
Activities in Vienna
In the 1960s, Schwarzenberg was politically active in Austria. He was Paul Lendvai According involved together with Hermann Josef Klaus Withalm and behind the scenes on the reform of the Austrian People's Party in the years before the national election in 1966, when the People's Party obtained an absolute majority. Lendvai also reported ultimately unsuccessful efforts in the ÖVP to transfer the Austrian Foreign Ministry or State Secretariat Schwarzenberg mid-1960s.
Schwarzenberg himself recalled in 2010 at this time with the words: At the time I heard about a group of young people who deliberately sought dialogue with the other side of [ ... ], whether it Heinzi Fischer was whether s Rupert Gmoser was [ ... ] it was understood that we are not glued to any dogma.
1969/1970 Schwarzenberg was involved as a lender to Oscar Bronner's founding of the Austrian business magazine "trend", which was released in January 1970 for the first time and the Bronner, the news magazine was "profil" followed a few months later. ( Both magazines exist to this day. )
Helsinki Federation
Schwarzenberg early supported the resistance against the Communist government in Czechoslovakia. After the suppression of the Prague Spring of 1968, he campaigned for the opposition and engaged on an international level for human rights. Among other things, he was from 1984 to 1991 on a proposal Kreisky President of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. In 1986 he founded the Schwarzenberg castle in Scheinfeld the "Documentation Centre for the Promotion of the independent Czechoslovak literature."
In 1989 he received simultaneously with Lech Wałęsa the Human Rights Award of the Council of Europe.
Politician in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic
After the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and the election of Vaclav Havel as president Schwarzenberg served from 10 July 1990 to 1992 as the office manager with the title chancellor and official residence at Prague Castle. ( In addition to this there is a Renaissance -Palais Schwarzenberg, which no longer is since 1948 owned by the family. )
In 1996 he acquired the appearing in Prague since 1990 liberal weekly magazine "respect". In November 2004, he was elected in the district of Prague 6 for six years in the Czech Senate, nominated by the US-DEU. He was until its dissolution in 2007, a member of the ODA.
January 9, 2007 Schwarzenberg was of President Klaus (the one with Austria previously expressed due to the closeness of Schwarzenberg objections to this appointment had ) as Foreign Minister ( nominated by the Czech Greens ) in the government of Mirek Topolánek II sworn. He has since become one of the most popular Czech politician.
With the inauguration of the transitional government of Jan Fischer on May 8, 2009, he was replaced as Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kohout. Schwarzenberg joined the then Minister of Finance of the Topolánek government, Miroslav Kalousek, initiated new party TOP 09, and was elected on 11 June 2009 as President of this party. In the parliamentary elections held in May 2010, he was elected to the House of Representatives, then he gave up his seat in the Senate on prematurely.
On 13 July 2010 Schwarzenberg moved to the center-right government of Prime Minister Petr Necas again as foreign minister of the Czech Republic in the Czernin Palace in. Necas resigned on June 17, 2013; his successor was Jiří Rusnok (up to early elections on 25-26 October 2013; ., the TOP 09 received 12.0% of votes and 26 of 200 seats).
He joined the presidential election in the Czech Republic in 2013 and received on the first ballot on 11 and 12 January 2013, the second highest share of the vote ( 23.4 %), with the difference to the vote share of the winners, the SPOZ honorary chairman and former Prime Minister Miloš Zeman, less was as one percentage point. Since none of the candidates obtained an absolute majority, a runoff between Zeman and Schwarzenberg took place two weeks after the first round of voting, the Schwarzenberg lost against Zeman.
Criticism
In connection with the privatization of the liqueur Becherovka manufacturer were allegations from the ranks of the political opposition in the Czech Republic that Schwarzenberg had procured through his work in Czech politics benefits in the privatization of the work. 1997 acquired the Pernod Ricard, one of whose shareholders Schwarzenberg, born Salb consortium 30% of the shares plus one voting rights for an additional 21 % of the Czech state. 59 % of the shares remained first in the state. In 2001, the sale of 89 % of the state share of the Value Bill GmbH, their shareholders in addition to the banking company Patria Finance and Pernod Ricard with 40 % also Schwarzenberg, who owns the remaining 20 % of the shares took place.
Honors, Awards and Memberships
- European Human Rights Award (1989 ), along with Lech Walesa
- Order of the Golden Fleece (1991 )
- Masaryk Medal 3rd class (2002)
- Grand Silver Medal with Ribbon for Services to the Republic of Austria (2005)
- Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2008)
- Member of the International Committee of the price Adalbert Foundation
- Was awarded the Grand Cross as well as honor and Devotionsritter of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Saxon Order of Merit (2012 )