Klemens von Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein, KOGF (; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859) was an Austrian diplomat who was at the center of European affairs for four decades as the Austrian Empire's foreign minister from 1809 and Chancellor from 1821 until the liberal Revolutions of 1848 forced his resignation.
Klemens von Metternich
In England he met the King on several occasions and dined with a number of influential British politicians, including William Pitt, Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. Metternich was nominated the new Minister Plenipotentiary to the Austrian Netherlands and left England in September 1794. On arrival, he found an exiled and powerless government in headlong retreat from the latest French advance. In October a revitalised French army swept into Germany and annexed all of the Metternich estates except Königswart. Disappointed, and affected by strong criticism of his father's policies, he joined his parents in Vienna in November. On 27 September 1795 he married Countess Eleonore von Kaunitz, a granddaughter of former Austrian chancellor Wenzel Kaunitz. The marriage was arranged by Metternich's mother and introduced him to Viennese society. This was undoubtedly part of the motivation for Metternich, who demonstrated less affection for her than she for him. Two conditions were imposed by the father of the bride, Prince Kaunitz: first, the still youthful Eleonore was to continue to live at home; and second, Metternich was forbidden from serving as a diplomat as long as the Prince was still alive. Their daughter Maria was born in January 1797.