Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835)

Raised at Tegel Palace, the Humboldt family property, the Humboldt brothers register at the University of Frankfurt (Oder) in 1787. They move to Göttingen one year later. The two go their separate ways in 1790.

Wilhelm von Humboldt marries Caroline von Dacheröden, daughter of a Prussian councillor of the Supreme Court, in 1791.

Humboldt works on various periodicals and writes his aesthetic essays on Hermann und Dorothea. He creates Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Staates zu bestimmen (Ideas for an attempt to determine the limits of state effectiveness).

In 1792, Humboldt moves to Paris, where he wishes to continue his studies and observe social development in France.

Humboldt represents Prussia at the Holy See in Rome between 1802 and 1808.

In February 1809, he is appointed head of the department of education and arts at the Home Office in Berlin. A newly structured education system intended to guarantee all social classes better access to education is developed during his term of office. However, Humboldt is not in Berlin to see the opening of the university in October 1810. He resigned his office the previous summer as a result of disagreements and moved to Vienna and later London as a Prussian envoy. He resigns from civil service in 1819.

Wilhelm von Humboldt subsequently devotes himself to his scientific studies in the quiet atmosphere of the family manor in Tegel until his death on April 8th 1835.