Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach

Who was Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach?

Ernst Ludwig von Gerlach was a conservative Prussian judge, politician, and editor. He was the son of Carl Friedrich Leopold von Gerlach and the brother of Ludwig Friedrich Leopold von Gerlach.

Gerlach was born in Berlin, Brandenburg. From 1813–15, he fought in the War of the Sixth Coalition, and later pursued a judicial career. Gerlach became Judge of the High Court, or Oberlandesgerichtsrat, in the city of Naumburg in 1823. In 1829, he became Agricultural and Municipal Court Director in Halle. By 1835, Gerlach was the Vice President of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt.

During the revolutions of 1848, Gerlach was involved in the founding of the Neue Preussische Zeitung, a conservative newspaper. The paper became the main artery for the Prussian Conservative Party's ideas and opposed Otto von Bismarck's plans for German unification during the 1860s and 1870s.