Heinrich Hartmann

Heinrich Hartmann (1837 - 1912) was a German conservative politician and military officer. In 1875, he joined the Reichstag as a member of the Nationalliberale Partei, but switched to the Deutschkonservative Partei and became its leader that same year. He remained as party leader until 1882, when he retired from politics as the result of the New Chartist Protest of '82. During his career, he held several positions, including as Minister of Labour (1875) and Minister of the Interior (1875-1882). Heinrich Hartmann was the son of Alexander Hartmann.

Biography
Heinrich was born in 1837 to Alexander Hartmann and a daughter of a rich factory owner's daughter. He was the third member of the famous Hartmann political dynasty, populist Catholics who have held the affections of the working class for nearly 30 years. Hartmann lived in the shadow of his elder brother, Charles, and father, he joined the military. In 1872, he was assigned to the VI. Korps, stationed in Siegmaringen and served under Generalfeldmarschall Heinrich Berg. In 1875, he was promoted to the position of Generalmajor and assumed command over the IV. Korps stationed in Straßburg. He entered politics that same year. Resolved to become a politician he threw his hat into the arena. A compulsive womanizer like the rest of his family he was bold and handsome. When joining the NLP in 1875, his goal was to further social reform and become Chancellor, completing a family ambition held since Alexander Hartmann was rejected by the king for the Minister Presidency. During inspections conducted by Abteilung V, Hartmann was confronted by agents in a bar while he was drinking. Nonetheless, he passed the investigation and was promoted to Generalleutnant.

In 1875, he was briefly Minister of Labour before being appointed to the Ministry of the Interior in the aftermath of the Berlin Riots of '75. During the riots, he attended a General Staff meeting which had been called by Alexander von Hoth, but without the authorization of either the Kaiser or the Minister of War, Heinrich Berg. During that meeting, Heinrich was given orders by von Hoth to keep his troops in Straßburg on alert. For following unauthorized orders, Hartmann was officially reprimanded and von Hoth was forced into retirement. As a result of Alexander von Hoth's retirement from politics, a power vacuum was left in the DkP. Smelling an opportunity, Heinrich left the NLP and joined the DkP to become its leader. After being elected as the new DkP leader, Hartmann's ideology completely turned around. Whereas social reform had been his driving force when he had joined the Reichstag in '75, it now became synonymous to the Anti-Christ in Hartmann's mind. This complete change in ethics can only be described from a pragmatism on Hartmann's side. After all, becoming Chancellor was far more important to him than policy or social reform. It paid off when the Kaiser re-assigned him to lead the I. Korps in Berlin, a position often associated with Chancellors or the Kaiser's favorites. In 1880, Heinrich was promoted to Generaloberst.

Running up to the 1880 elections, Hartmann campaigned for higher tariffs on foreign wheat, meat and other imported food. After the elections, Heinrich was in a good position to finally become Reichskanzler, but his ambitions were blocked when Karl von Birnbaum suggested a coalition between the NLP and the DkP led by a neutral third party who would supply the Chancellor. As a result, Friederich von Coesfeld of the LPG was chosen by the Kaiser to lead this government, leaving Heinrich Hartmann to remain at his post as Minister of the Interior. In the 1880 Reichstag, Heinrich Hartmann would often clash with members of the NLP and the opposition. As a result, the relationship between the NLP and the DkP became further strained, even endangering the coalition itself. Hartmann's behavior led to Karl von Birnbaum's retirement from politics, as shown in a letter von Birnbaum wrote to the Kaiser in which he urged him to get rid of Hartmann before Hartmann could further damage the government.

In 1882, the Kaiser would get his reason after the New Chartist Protest of '82. Recognizing Heinrich Hartmann as one of the reasons why tensions between the left and the right were running high, he sacked him as Minister of the Interior and recalled Karl von Birnbaum from retirement to replace him. In addition, he was sacked from the army for not being able to differentiate between military orders and politics. Heinrich's career was essentially over and he chose to retire to his farm in Brandenburg an der Havel, where he would eventually pass away from old age in 1912.

Personal life
In his personal life, Heinrich was known for having a lot of children with a lot of different women. In addition, he developped a strong addiction to opium. Hartmann had several connections to other people, including Konstantin Brenner, through his sister Charlotte, Friedrich von Leiningen-Dagsburg (son of Wilhelm von Leiningen-Dagsburg) through his niece, Chloe, and to Hans Friedrich von Röhm through the marriage of Hartmann's son to von Röhm's daughter.