Karl von Birnbaum

Karl von Birnbaum (1816 - 1884) was a German Chancellor, politician and industrialist. He is the brother of German Chancellor Ruprecht Birnbaum. From 1862 until 1880, von Birnbaum was a member of the Nationalliberale Partei. As Chancellor, Karl von Birnbaum is most known for leading a reformist government.

Early life
Karl was born in 1816 in Cologne (Köln) as brother of Ruprecht Birnbaum. His father ran a successful imports business, which heavily profited from importing luxury foodstuffs for the High Command of the French occupation forces. When the French left and the Prussians came, Ruprecht’s father continued his successful business of imports.

Professional life
In 1840, Ruprecht’s father died and his business was inherited by his two sons. Karl and his brother Ruprecht now imported goods like cacao, sugar and tea from the New World and Africa. That same year, his brother Ruprecht was elected as a member of the Prussian Landtag. In 1850, Karl and his brother were finally able to finance the construction of a chocolate factory on the outskirts of Köln. While his brother was Minister of Commerce and Trade from 1855 to 1862, Karl ran their shared company, Rubiko. In 1862, Ruprecht Birnbaum was voted in as Chancellor after the former Chancellor, Wilhelm von Hoth, passed away. His term was of short duration, as he passed away in 1864 as a result of a health risk. Since then, Karl has taken up Ruprecht’s duties in the Reichstag as member of the NLP and has adopted Ruprecht’s son Rudolph to prepare him for a future in his father’s chocolate factory. In 1870, Karl von Birnbaum became tutor to Crown Prince Wilhelm to teach him about mathematics and economics.

In 1875, Karl Birnbaum was elected as Chancellor by the Reichstag on a platform of reform. To be able to govern without interference, Karl sold Rubiko to one of his cousins. Many criticized Birnbaum for allying with the PVP to achieve this reform. His calls for non-partisan politics characterized his Chancellorship and often led to a lack of touch with the reality of internal party politics. Because whereas Karl Birnbaum competently led a reformist government, his control over his own ranks was very much lacking, examplified by the Berlin Riots of '75. Nonetheless, during his tenure, the German economy further grew under the Free Trade Consensus. Successful wars were being concluded against Austria-Hungary and Finland, although Germany had little to benefit from those wars as they pointed out how far behind German military tactics had fallen behind in comparison to its rivals. Under Karl Birnbaum, many new scientific innovations were made that further helped developing Germany into what it is today.

In 1877, Kaiser Friedrich III enobled Karl Birnbaum for his family’s services to the Fatherland. Birnbaum was given an estate in the Bavarian town of Pyrbaum and a coat of arms to represent his nobility. In 1880, Karl von Birnbaum pushed for another coalition between the NLP and the DkP to prevent further antagonization between the two parties. In a meeting with the Kaiser, he suggested having a third party lead the coalition in order to prevent Heinrich Hartmann from becoming Chancellor. As a result, the Kaiser suggested Friederich von Coesfeld of the LPG as Chancellor. Karl von Birnbaum obtained a post in this new government as Minister of the Treasury, but he stepped down and retired from politics after the 1880 Reichstag session as a result of continued antagonization by Hartmann and the DkP. During his brief retirement, von Birnbaum spend a considerable amount of time managing his estate in Bavaria. After a New Chartist protest, Heinrich Hartmann was sacked by the Kaiser as Minister of the Interior and Karl von Birnbaum was called out of retirement to fill the gap. In 1882, Karl von Birnbaum was among those who were invited by Chancellor von Coesfeld to discuss a plan against the Kaiser's supposedly increasing authoritarian habits, known as the von Coesfeld Incident. Karl was the first to leave the meeting, unwilling to get himself involved in high treason and not believing von Coesfeld's insinuations that the Kaiser was about to end democracy in Germany. Together with Ernst Krüger and Konstantin Brenner, Karl met with the Kaiser to reveal von Coesfeld's treachery. Karl von Birnbaum continued to serve as Minister of the Interior under Chancellor Krüger until his death in 1884.

Personal life
When Karl's brother Ruprecht died in 1862, Karl adopted his nephew, Rudolph. Ruprecht's wife, Emilia Bluhm, also moved in with Karl and started a relationship with her brother-in-law. Rudolph, wanting to get away from the weird situation at home, opted to become a priest and enrolled into a Catholic seminar in 1870. Emilia and Karl did not have any children together. It is believed that Karl was infertile. In 1875, Karl von Birnbaum paid for the education of the late Jakob Leibl's children, as he felt somewhat responsible for Jakob's death in 1875.

Political views
Just like his brother, Karl von Birnbaum was a prominent proponent of the Free Trade Consensus. Unlike his brother, he did not shy away from more interventionist actions during his time as Chancellor. Karl von Birnbaum was not a fan of partisan politics as he believed that such things only led to conflicts based on personal gain. As a result, he often had a lack of control over his fellow party members. Karl von Birnbaum also differed from his brother because of the fact that he pushed for social reform. Karl realized that the Church did not have the means to provide care for everyone and so the State should take up the burden. He often made fiery speeches in the Reichstag to defend social welfare against reactionary voices.