Quick Facts
Biography
Count Adam Wilhelm Moltke (25 August 1785 – 15 February 1864) was Prime Minister of Denmark from 1848 to 1852. He was the first Danish Prime Minister in the Danish constitutional monarchy outlined in 1848 and signed as the Danish Constitution on 5 June 1849 by Frederik VII of Denmark.
Life
Adam Wilhelm Moltke was born at Einsiedelsborg on the island of Funen on 25 August 1785, the son of Prime Minister Joachim Godske Moltke. His paternal grandfather was Adam Gottlob Moltke, the influential Lord Steward and companion of Frederik V of Denmark.
Career
He was known as a humane and patriarchal squire but was no outstanding political figure. From 1845, he was Minister of Financial Affairs. At the fall of the last absolute government, he too was dismissed but, a few days later, he was persuaded to form the new national government as the most suitable leader both as for his social position and as for his moderate views.
Prime minister of Denmark
The cabinet created on 22 March 1848 was called the March Cabinet. On 16 November 1848 it was replaced by the November Cabinet, which in turn was replaced by the July Cabinet on 13 July 1851, which again was replaced by the October Cabinet on 18 October 1851. The cabinet, originally a Conservative-Liberal one, gradually became more and more openly conservative both because of the general liberal withdrawal and because of foreign pressure.
On 27 January 1852, Christian Albrecht Bluhme replaced Moltke as Prime Minister.
Personal life
Molke was married twice. First to Frederikke Louise Knuth (1797-1819).
After the death of his first wife, he married Marie Elisabeth Knuth (1791-1851), the sister of the first wife. They were the parents of:
- Frederik Moltke (1825–1875)
- Christian Moltke (1833–1918), who married Caroline Amalie komtesse Danneskiold (1843–1876) in 1865.
Adam Wilhelm Moltke died on 15 February 1864 in Copenhagen and is buried in the Moltke burial chapel in Karise Church in the town Karise, located in Faxe Municipality.