Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg

Johan Ludvig Carl Christian Tido Holstein (10 June 1839 – 1 March 1912), was a Danish politician who was Minister of State of Denmark. He was Council President of Denmark for two months, from 16 August to 28 October 1909. He also served as Defence Minister of Denmark from 18 October to 28 October 1909.[1]

Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg
Council President of Denmark
In office 16 August 1909 – 28 October 1909
Monarch	Frederick VIII
Preceded by	Niels Neergaard
Succeeded by	Carl Theodor Zahle
Defence Minister of Denmark
In office 18 October 1909 – 28 October 1909
Preceded by	Jens Christian Christensen
Succeeded by	Christopher Krabbe
Personal details
Born	10 June 1839 Hochberg (now Remseck am Neckar), Kingdom of Württemberg
Died	1 March 1912 (aged 72) Ledreborg
Political party	Moderate Venstre
Alma mater	University of Copenhagen

Ledreborg on Zealand

Biography

Holstein was the son of Count Christian Edzard Moritz (1809-1895) and Caroline Louise Lefeubre de Marpalu (1810-1903). He was a descendant of Danish Minister of state Johan Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg (1694–1763). He became a student from Roskilde Cathedral School in 1859 and became a Cand.polit. from the University of Copenhagen in 1866. He took over the Ledreborg estate after his father's death in 1895. He rebuilt the chapel at Ledreborg and also had the buildings and the garden restored.[2][3] [4][5]

Prime Minister

Following the lack of a majority in the 1909 Folketing election, Klaus Berntsen suggested to Frederick VIII that Holstein may be able to gain the support of the three major liberal parties.[6] The three Liberal groups settled on him as a prime minister, creating the first coalition after the establishment of the parliamentary system in Denmark. As prime minister, he formed a liberal cabinet with Jens Christian Christensen as defence minister, Niels Neergaard as finance minister, and Klaus Berntsen as minister of justice, and managed to form a compromise in the question of defence that satisfied the liberal parties, while still being acceptable to Højre.

As one of the few members of the Venstre Reform Party, the Danish Liberal party belonging to the nobility, Holstein was isolated by his colleagues and at the same time took a special position within Venstre. He was considered an outstanding and varied speaker and as one of "the five leaders of Venstre" but already 1890 he gave up his political life devoting himself to his life as a squire on Zealand. Around two months into Holstein's term, conservative members of the Folketing called for a vote of no confidence in him, which failed. Shortly after, the Radical Democrats called for a vote of no confidence for his cabinet. This vote succeeded, marking the first time that a Danish cabinet was ousted by a vote of no confidence from the Folketing.[6] He called upon the Radical Democrats to form a new cabinet because they instigated the vote to oust the old cabinet, and proceeded to resign.

Personal life

In 1867 he married Ingeborg de Løvenørn (1842-1915). Holstein converted to Catholicism that same year which made him Denmark's first and, so far, only Roman Catholic Prime Minister.[7]

References

1. Thomas, Alastair (May 10, 2010). The A to Z of Denmark (1st ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-4616-7184-8. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
2. "- Holstein, Johan Ludvig Carl Christian". Salmonsens konversationsleksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
3. Magne Njåstad. "Johan Ludvig Holstein". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
4. Lulu Salto Stephensen. "Ledreborg". Den Store Danske, Gyldendal. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
5. "Ledreborg". danskeherregaarde.dk. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
6. Miller, Kenneth E. (1996). Friends and rivals : coalition politics in Denmark, 1901-1995. Lanham [u.a.]: Univ. Press of America. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-7618-0187-1.
7. Harvard, Jonas; Werner, Yvonne Maria (August 1, 2013). European Anti-Catholicism in a Comparative and Transnational Perspective. Amsterdam: Rodopi. p. 182. ISBN 9789401209632. Retrieved 25 August 2014.