Ernst von Bodelschwingh-Velmede

Who was Ernst von Bodelschwingh-Velmede?

Ernst von Bodelschwingh-Velmede was a Prussian statesman and politician.

Von Bodelschwingh-Velmede was born in Velmede near Hamm in the County of Mark. He studied Law and Cameralism at the University of Berlin and the University of Göttingen. He participated in the Freiheitskriege, and at Leipzig earned the Iron Cross first class; he was heavily wounded at Freiburg on October 21, 1813. He subsequently completed his studies at the University of Berlin, and in 1817 entered government service. From 1822 he was an administrator of Kreis Tecklenburg in Westphalia, from 1831 president of the Regierungsbezirk of Trier, and from November 1834 Oberpräsident of the Rhine Province, in which he served during a turbulent time.

In 1842, von Bodelschwingh-Velmede became Finance Minister of Prussia, and Interior Minister in 1845. In 1847, he attempted to lead the United Diet, but failed. He did not sympathize with the Revolutions of 1848, and on March 19 resigned to enter the Prussian Abgeordnetenhaus, first in January 1849 and again after a new electoral law was imposed in 1849. He was later elected to the Erfurt city council as well.