Karl Schädler
President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein
In office
January 1862 – December 1870
MonarchJohann II
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWilhelm Schlegel
Personal details
Born23 October 1804
Eschen, Liechtenstein
Died30 January 1872 (aged 67)
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Spouse
Katharina Walser
​
(m. 1872)​
Children9, including Albert Schädler
Parent(s)Gebhard Schädler
Maria Katharina Hasler
Military service
Allegiance  Switzerland
Years of service1833–1838
RankSurgeon general

Karl Schädler (/ʃˈɛdlər/, German: [kˈaɾl ʃˈɛdlɜ]; 23 October 1804 – 30 January 1872) was a physician and political figure from Liechtenstein who served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1862 to 1870.

A member of the prominent 19th-century Schädler family, he was a leading figure in the 1848 Liechtenstein revolution and represented the country in the National Assembly in Frankfurt, which led to the liberalization of the country and the introduction of the 1862 Constitution of Liechtenstein.

Early life

Schädler was born on 23 October 1804 in Eschen to the son of physician Gebhard Schädler and his mother Maria Katharina Hasler as one of nine children.[1] From 1818 to 1824 he attended high school in Feldkirch, then from 1822 to 1824 he conducted a Philosophicum and from 1824 to 1829 he studied medicine in the University of Vienna. After a year of internship in his father's practice in Vaduz, he received a doctorate in medicine in the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg.[2]

Medical career

From 1830 to 1837 ran a medical practice in Bad Ems and from 1833 to 1838 he was a military doctor for a Graubünden battalion. At military courses in Thun, he met Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor of the French. In 1838 he returned to Vaduz in order to relive his sick father's medical practice. After his death in 1842, he took over the practice, which he ran until 1869 when it was taken over by his sons Albert and Rudolf.[2]

In 1844 he was appointed state physicist. During this time he pioneered increased training for midwives and forensic medical examinations of the Liechtenstein military. His practice conducted internal medicine and surgery. In 1848 Schädler conducted the first chloroform anaesthesia surgery in Liechtenstein, a year after it's introduction by James Young Simpson. He also owned vineyards and agricultural sites within the country.[2]

Political career

Schädler entered politics as a supporter of Peter Kaiser, having been influenced by his years in Switzerland. He supported the liberal ideas against the absolute monarchy of Aloys II, which led to the 1848 Liechtenstein revolution led around Kaiser.[2][3] On 22 March 1848, the people's committee appointed a three-person committee to lead the Liechtenstein revolutionary movement, which included Kaiser, Schädler and Ludwig Grass. Together, they managed to maintain order in Liechtenstein.[3]

Frankfurt National assembly's meeting in St. Paul's Church, of which Schädler was a member.

He was elected president of the constitutional council on 27 July 1848, tasked with creating the draft for a new Liechtenstein constitution, of which the main work was carried out by him and Michael Menzinger. After Peter Kaiser's withdrawal from politics in November, Schädler was the de facto leader of the Liechtenstein revolutionary movement. On 27 December, he was elected as Kaiser's successor as Liechtenstein's representative in the National Assembly in Frankfurt, where he served until April 1849 and took part in the creation of an imperial German constitution. He supported Pan-Germanism under Austrian leadership, due to the formation of a German without them would have isolated Liechtenstein and threatened it's independence. Notably, Schädler was pessimistic about the future of Liechtenstein, believing that with the rise of Pan-Germanism the country was better to join Austria.[2]

In the National Assembly, he was a member of the Württemberger Hof, a centre-left faction. On 28 March 1849 the Assembly elected Frederick William IV of Prussia as Emperor of the Germans. Schädler, like many other Greater Germans, abstained from the vote in protest. He made several personal propositions in the Assembly, though with little success. Regarding the law in German elections, he campaigned for Liechtenstein to be its own constituency, rather than under the Austrian one. In addition, he also campaigned for the reduction of the country's financial and military obligations, which he succeeded in by having a demand that Liechtenstein contribute an additional 60 soldiers dropped.[2]

After constitutional council drafted a provisional constitution, Schädler was elected District Administrator on 7 March 1849 - the first democratic people's representation in Liechtenstein.[4] The election was led by him and took place along a provisional electoral system designed by him. A major concern for Schädler was the legal anchoring of community autonomy; However, the new municipal regulations he developed were not approved by Aloys II.[2] He had already raised the question of opening the customs borders between Liechtenstein and Austria with the Austrian representative in Frankfurt and in 1850 asked Aloys II to propose the idea to Franz Joseph I, which led to a customs union being formed between the two countries in 1852.[2][5]

After the failure of the revolution in Germany, Aloys II suspended the constitutional council and disbanded the office of District Administrator on 20 July 1852. Although he no longer held a political office, Schädler remained the leader of the democratic movement in Liechtenstein. Calls for a new constitution once again appeared early in the reign of Johann II and the constitutional council was reformed again led by Schädler, once again tasked with drafting a new constitution, of which, similarly to 1848, he did most of the work.[2] The draft was reviewed by an unknown German legal expert and formed the basis of the 1862 Constitution of Liechtenstein, which was ratified on 26 September.[6][7] It was heavily inspired by the constitution of Vorarlberg and largely addressed the demands of the revolutionaries in Liechtenstein.[2][7]

Under the new constitution, Schädler was the first President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1862 to 1870.[8] He was also chairman of the state committee and finance commission. Upon the opening of the Landtag of Liechtenstein on 29 December 1862, he declared that it's intention was to facilitate economic and cultural improvement as well as making ordinary citizens aware of their freedom and political rights. During this time, together with Governor of Liechtenstein Karl Freiherr Haus von Hausen they wrote many legislative laws and co-founded with first Liechtenstein newspaper Liechtensteinischen Landeszeitung, which he edited from 1863 to 1868.[2][9] He resigned from the Landtag in 1871 due to his illness and died the next year on 30 January 1872, aged 67 years old.[2]

Personal life and family

Schädler married Katharina Walser (3 January 1819 – 19 January 1886) in 1844 and they had nine children together.[2] His son Albert Schädler and Rudolf Schädler took over his medical practice in 1869. In addition to them and his other son Karl Schädler they served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein, with Albert being the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein, from 1882 to 1885 and again from 1890 to 1918.[8][10][11][12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rheinberger, Rudolf (31 December 2011). "Schädler, Gebhard". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rheinberger, Rudolf (31 December 2011). "Schädler, Karl (1804–1872)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  3. 1 2 Quaderer, Rupert (31 December 2011). "Revolution 1848". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Frommelt, Fabian (31 December 2011). "Landrat". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Biedermann, Klaus; Leipold-Schneider, Gerda (31 December 2011). "Zollwesen". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Wille, Herbert (31 December 2011). "Verfassung". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. 1 2 Beattie, David (2004-09-04). Liechtenstein: A Modern History. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-85043-459-7.
  8. 1 2 "Mitglieder - Präsidenten" (in German). March 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27.
  9. ↑ Geiger, Märten; Ospelt-Geiger, Barbara (31 December 2011). "Liechtensteinische Landeszeitung". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Rheinberger, Rudolf (31 December 2011). "Schädler, Albert". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  11. ↑ Rheinberger, Rudolf (31 December 2011). "Schädler, Rudolf (1845–1930)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Editorial (31 December 2011). "Schädler, Karl (1850–1907)". Historisches Lexikon des Fürstentums Liechtenstein (in German). Retrieved 24 December 2023.
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