monument In 1830, Auersperg succeeded to his ancestral property, and in 1832 appeared as a member at the
Estates of Carniola in the Lords' Bench of the
diet in Laibach. Here he distinguished himself by his outspoken criticism of the Austrian government, leading the opposition of the duchy to the exactions of the central power. In 1832 the title of Imperial Chamberlain was conferred upon him. After the
Revolution of 1848 in Vienna he represented the district of Laibach in the German
Frankfurt Parliament, to which he tried in vain to persuade his
Slovene compatriots to send representatives. After a few months, however, disgusted with the violent development of the revolution, he resigned his seat, and again retired into private life. In 1860 he was summoned to the remodelled
Reichsrat by the emperor, and next year nominated him a life member of the Austrian upper house (
Herrenhaus), where, while remaining a keen upholder of the German centralized empire, as against the federalism the
Slavs and
Magyars, he greatly distinguished himself as one of the most intrepid and influential supporters of the cause of
Realism, in both political and religious matters. He also served in the
Diet of Carniola, where he was among the leaders of the Austrian Constitutionalists in Carniola, together with
Karl Deschmann.
Literary work commemorative medal for Auersperg's 70th birthday 1876 in Vienna.
Medallist Carl Radnitzky. (Obverse) In Count Auersperg's first publication, a collection of lyrics,
Blätter der Liebe (1830), showed little originality; but his second production,
Der letzte Ritter (1830), brought his genius to light. It celebrates the deeds and adventures of Emperor
Maximillian I (1499–1519) in a cycle of poems written in the strophic rhyme of the
Nibelungenlied. But Auersperg's fame rests almost exclusively on his political poetry; two collections entitled
Spaziergänge eines Wiener Poeten (1831), an attack upon the
Metternich regime, and
Schutt (1835) created a sensation in Germany by their originality and bold Realism. These two books, which are remarkable not merely for their outspoken opinions, but also for their easy versification and powerful imagery, were the forerunners of the German political poetry of 1840–1848. His
Gedichte (1837), if anything, increased his reputation; his epics,
Nibelungen im Frack (1843) and
Pfaff vom Kahlenberg (1850), are characterized by a fine ironic humour. He also produced masterly translations of the popular Slovene songs from Carniola (
Volkslieder aus Krain, 1850), and of the English poems relating to
Robin Hood (1864). He also translated several poems by
France Prešeren into German. Anastasius Grün's
Sämtliche Werke (Collected works) were published by L. A. Frankl in 5 vols. (Berlin, 1877); the
Briefwechsel zwischen A. G. und Ludwig Frankl (Correspondence between A. G. and Ludwig Frankl) was published in Berlin in 1897. A selection of his
Politische Reden und Schriften was published by S. Hock (Vienna, 1906). ==Personal life==