Friedrich von Lindau

Count Friedrich von Lindau (1813-1908) was a Braslander nobleman. He was the son of Count Ludwig II von Lindau. He was one of the most important figures of the XIXth century in Brasland.

Public career

He was said to be so ambitious that he secretly murdered his twin brother Klaus at the age of six so that nothing could be between him and the inheritance of the family fortune. This, of course, is an exaggeration, but it helps to show how his enemies thought of him.

Friedrich received an excellent education at the very cultured household of the Count and Countess von Lindau. Afterwards he studied Law at the University of Markund and served for a couple of years in the Army.

After his father's death he embarked on a political career. Unlike him, Friedrich was a liberal and believed that a weaker monarchy and a stronger parliament was good for the country. He won a seat and quickly rose within the Liberal Party's ranks, becoming its leader in 1853. He managed to pass several laws strenghtening Parliament's prerrogatives and creating an extense network for liberal ideas across Brasland. He was also fiercely protective of his position and kept all potential rivals at bay, using his fortune to pay his agents to find dirty information about his enemies, which he used with no remorse.

Under Friedrich's tenure, the liberals became the largest political force in Brasland and remained so for more than two decades. It was he who decided which laws were approved and which were not, keeping King George II in an almost powerless position that was viewed with rage by the weak Conservatives. However, Friedrich's authoritarian manners and his cruelty to attack those he viewed as threats to his power caused wide discontentment within the Liberal Party. In 1875 he was removed from the leadership, although he continued as member of parliament until the dissolution of the institution in 1891. King Frederick IV, resentful of Friedrich's attitude towards his father and grandfather, stripped him his honour as Knight of the Order of St Nicholas, the only time this has happened in the Order's history.

Friedrich retired to his estates, bitter and sad. He had sacrificed everything for a cause, but in the end he had become too attached to power and paid the consequences of this.

He died in 1908.

Family

In 1837 he married Baroness Eugenia von Arbahn. They had three children: Ferdinand (born 1838), Alexandra (born 1840) and Eugenie (born 1843).

He and Eugenia initially had a loving relationship, but Friedrich's obsession with politics caused a lot of damage to his marriage. She was a quiet person who liked the countryside, while he loved the city. When she died in 1878, they had been estranged for almost fifteen years.