Klemens von Metternich

Austrian diplomat, foreign minister and Chancellor (1773–1859)

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Lived 1773–1859, aged 86Germany

Germany PoliticiansPublic Official

Wikipedia
80 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1773–1859
Aged 86
Awards
16
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He held Europe together through congresses and careful balancing for three decades, the architect of the post-Napoleonic order that turned Austria into the diplomatic center of the continent — until 1848's revolutions swept him out.

Biography

About

Born in 1773 to the House of Metternich, son of a diplomat, he studied at Strasbourg and Mainz before climbing through ambassadorial posts in Saxony, Prussia, and Napoleonic France. As Austria's foreign minister from 1809, he arranged Napoleon's marriage to Marie Louise, then flipped sides to engineer Austria's entry into the Sixth Coalition, signed the treaty that exiled Napoleon, and led the Austrian delegation at the Congress of Vienna that carved up post-war Europe — work that earned him the title of Prince in 1813. His "Metternich system" of international congresses kept Austria aligned w…

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In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Klemens von Metternich

Klemens von Metternich

said1849

I shall die as I have lived, not as a politician but as a socialist.

— Statement (1849), quoted in Peter Viereck, Conservatism Revisited (1950), p. 106

Klemens von Metternich

said15 Jun 1847

The true character of our time is that of an era of transition. Fate imposed on me the duty of coming between the phases of this era...

— Letter to François Guizot (15 June 1847), quoted in Peter Viereck, Conservatism Revisited (1950), p. 106

Klemens von Metternich

said1750

There is a wide sweep about my mind. I am always above and beyond the preoccupation of most public men; I cover a ground much vaster than they can see.

— Landes, David, The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present.

Klemens von Metternich

saidundated