Karl, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin ; was an Austrian chancellor, Government President and school reformer of Bohemia and honorary citizen of Innsbruck and Prague.
In 1818, he came a Privy Councillor and Vice President for Tyrol, where he was governor of Tyrol and Vorarlberg in 1819. Together with the mayor of the city of Innsbruck, Felix Adam of Riccabona, in 1822 he initiated the founding of the "Sparkasse Innsbruck" as the second bank in Austria. In memory of its co-founder, the Tiroler Sparkasse awards the "Count Chotek University Award", awarded for a very good degree and master's thesis. As state governor, he founded in Innsbruck a committee to establish a "Patriotic Museum for Tyrol", which later became the Tyrolean State Museum also known as the Ferdinandeum. As early as 1800, Archduke John had had the idea of this epochal project - as a "collection of all provincial products, which should serve as a model for the rest of the hereditary states". As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, it was not established until 1823, a decade after the Universalmuseum Joanneum was opened in Styria. Already the first statutes of the new institution had advanced content, "the progressive formation of the nation in general and in detail, especially the awakening and revival of interest, the products of nature, art and antiquity... " and the publication of a science-based journal. This purpose definition went beyond the romantic-historical notions of the Biedermeier period and far beyond, all conditions of the Tyrolean crown land collected, organized, and made for the future. Social policy was significant with the introduction of fire insurance, which under Emperor Joseph II had not caused it to prevail. Karl supported the efforts of Baron Josef of Giovanelli to establish a nonprofit institute, which took place in February 1825. For this he was made the first honorary citizen of Innsbruck in 1825.
Governor of Bohemia
Karl's achievements in cultural policy led him being called to Vienna in 1825 as Chancellor and President of the Collegial Body for Academic Affairs. In October 1826 he was elected Senior Viscount and Imperial Government President of the Kingdom of Bohemia in Prague. He held this office until 1843 and gained recognition for the promotion of education, road construction and the establishment of institutions to help and care for poor people. In Prague, Karl learned history and politics from František Palacký, with whom he had a close friendship until his death. Palacký taught Karl Czech language which he mastered. Count Karl worked energetically and purposefully in Prague Castle as Colonel Count. He worked on the improvement of infrastructure, especially in the construction of good roads and bridges. He also advocated for the first horsecar in Prague and the steamboat trip on the River Elbe, and for the expansion of Prague's sewage system and street lighting. He supported the development of industry, education and the arts. In 1827 he wrote an important decree which stated that the export of historically-valuable art objects needed the approval of the provincial administration. One of the most popular destinations for walkers - the popular garden between the rear part of Prague Castle and Malá Strana - was named after Viscount Chotek in 1840. In 1842, in Prague, Karl was made an honorary citizen for his services. Through intrigue and sometimes criticism of his expensive projects, he was later forced to resign. At the end of July 1843 he was relieved at his request, living at Březno Castle in northern Bohemia. He died on 28 December 1868 in Vienna, but was buried in Waltire at Litoměřice. In 1836, he was awarded with the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Marriage and family
Karl was married on 9 June 1817 in Vienna to Countess Marie Berchtold, Baroness of Ungarschitz, elder daughter of Count Anton Berchtold, and his wife, Marie Anna Franziska Huszár de Szent-Baráth. They had two sons:
Count Anton Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin, married Olga von Moltke in 1851; had issue.
Bohuslav, Count Chotek of Chotkow and Wognin, married Countess Wilhelmine Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau in 1859; had issue.
