Karl von Abel

Karl von Abel (September 17, 1788 – September 3, 1859) was a Bavarian statesman.

Born in Wetzlar, Abel was the son of a at the superior Court of Justice. He studied law in Gießen from 1806-1809, and became a civil servant of Bavaria in 1810.

In 1817 he was appointed city and police commissar in Bamberg, in 1819, Governmental Councillor in Munich, and in 1827 promoted to Senior Legal Secretary. In the Diet of 1831 he gave a speech in favour of freedom of the press and against censorship.

In the following year, Abel was assigned by King Ludwig I to be a part of the delegation accompanying the young King Otto to Greece. He joined with Georg Ludwig von Maurer in opposing the head of the delegation, Count Josef Ludwig von Armansperg who he felt was too susceptible to the wishes of the English diplomats. However, the count was able to mobilise his supporters in Munich and have Abel and Maurer unseated from the delegation. Abel once again became Legal Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior. He married Friederike von Rinecker in 1836, a very religious woman who had much influence on him.

On 1 November 1837, Abel became Privy Councillor in place of Ludwig, Fürst von Wallerstein and began to lead the Ministry of the Interior. At this time, the Church Conflict of Colonia excited the masses on religious and political levels. Soon enough the Ministry under Abel proved to be strictly Catholic, following the traditions of Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria. The status of the clergy was raised and large sums were spent for religious issues. This was followed by several edicts, for example prescribing that Protestant soldiers must also genuflect during a Catholic service. The formation of Evangelic communities and the execution of their services was made complicated and restricted and strict censorship applied to all opposing movements.

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