For the diplomat Hugo Phillip Graf von Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg, see here

Hugo Phillip Graf von Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg

Hugo Phillip Graf von Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg was the representative of the Kingdom of Bavaria in Berlin from 1880 to 1918....

Hugo Max Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld auf Köfering und Schönberg (21 August 1871 in Köfering

Köfering

Köfering is a municipality in the district of Regensburg in Bavaria in Germany....

— 13 April 1944 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

) , known as Graf von Lerchenfeld-Köfering for short, was a conservative politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and the Prime Minister of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

 from 1921 to 1922. He belonged to the Bavarian People's Party

Bavarian People's Party

The Bavarian People's Party was the Bavarian branch of the Centre Party, which broke off from the rest of the party in 1919 to pursue a more conservative, more Catholic, more Bavarian particularist course...

, a conservative, separatist party in Bavaria, formed after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

Life

Hugo Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld was born 1871 in Köfering as the son of Ludwig Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld and Clara von Bray-Steinburg. He was married to Ethel Wyman.

He originally studied law, graduating in 1893. He was employed as a Bavarian government official from 1897 to 1914, later changing to the Imperial government, working as a civil administrator from 1915 to 1918 in the formerly Russian part of Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, after this in the German foreign department. After the first world war, he became the federal representative of the German government in the state of Hessen.

Hugo Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld was elected Bavarian prime minister on 21 September 1921, succeeding Gustav Ritter von Kahr

Gustav Ritter von Kahr

Gustav Ritter von Kahr was a German right-wing conservative politician, active in the state of Bavaria...

 who had resigned earlier. He was elected by a coalition of conservative parties. He was not a high ranking party official at this stage but rather a respected civil administrator, with a good relationship to the SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 too. He managed during his time in office to largely defuse the crisis caused through Bavarian attempts to break free of the German republic and the federal governments attempts to gain more control over state politics. He also additionally held the post of Minister of Justice.

He faced a coalition crisis in July 1922 due to renewed disputes with the federal government, losing much of his support in his own party but managed to solve the crisis once more. Eventually, for this reason, he had to resign from office on 2 November 1922, being accused of not having archived enough for Bavaria in the negotiations.

He continued to serve as a civil servant in the German administration after this, as German ambassador to Austria from 1926 to 1931 and then being involved in legal negotiations with Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 in 1931.

Graf

Graf

Graf is a historical German noble title equal in rank to a count or a British earl...

, as in the name of Hugo Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld , is not a name but a noble title, equal in rank to a count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

.

Sources

• Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (in German)
• Universitätsbibliothek Regensburg - Bosls bayrische Biographie - Hugo Graf von und zu Lerchenfeld (in German), author: Karl Bosl, publisher: Pustet, page 476