Adolf Pilar von Pilchau
Adolf Pilar von Pilchau | |
|---|---|
| President of Regency Council of the United Baltic Duchy | |
| In office 5 November 1918 – 28 November 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 May 1851 |
| Died | 17 June 1925 (aged 74) |
Adolf "Ulf" Konstantin Jakob Freiherr[a] Pilar von Pilchau (23 May 1851 – 17 June 1925) was a Baltic German politician and regent of the United Baltic Duchy (1918).
Early life
Adolf Konstantin Pilar von Pilchau was born on 23 May (11 May O.S.) 1851.[1][2] He came from the German-Baltic noble family Pilar von Pilchau, who were in the service of the Swedish and Russian crowns. His parents were Fredrik Adolf Woldemar Baron Pilar von Pilchau, Lord of Audern (1814–1870), and Berta Johann Caroline von Ungern-Sternberg from the House of Grossenhof (1826–1903).
Pilar von Pilchau became the owner of the Audern manor, his birthplace, after his father's death in 1870. In 1881, he rented Sauck manor. Both are situated in modern Pärnu County, Estonia.
Political career
He started his political and administrative career in 1876 as a judge in the first district of Pernau (Pärnu) and proceeded from there to the position of Pernau city councillor in 1879. Three years later he began working for the Livonian Noble Corporation, the local government. He filled in the position of the treasurer. In 1899 he was elected the land councillor of Livonia which was a high position in the local government of Baltic Germans.
From 1908 to 1918 von Pilchau served as the land marshal of Livonia, the leader of the noble corporation. From 1912 to 1917 he was also a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia as a representative of Livonia.
He was one of the persons behind the creation of the short-lived United Baltic Duchy and the only President of its Regency Council from 5 to 28 November 1918.
On 3 January 1919, Pilar von Pilchau went into exile and lived for several years in Weimar Germany. He returned to an independent Estonia in 1923 with his wife and settled in Pärnu where he died on 17 June 1925.
Notes
- ^ Regarding personal names: Freiherr was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Baron. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
References
- ^ "BBLD: Pilar v. Pilchau, Adolph* (Alf) Konstantin Jakob Bar. (1851-1925)". bbld.de. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
- ^ Pili︠a︡r, I︠U︡riĭ (1999). Семейный альбом (in Russian). Лилия ЛТД. p. 272. ISBN 978-5-89417-022-0. Retrieved 7 March 2026.