He originally studied law, graduating in 1893. He was employed as a Bavarian government official from 1897 to 1914, later changing to the Imperial government, working as a civil administrator from 1915 to 1918 in the formerly Russian part of
Poland, after this in the German foreign department. After the First World War, he became the federal representative of the German government in the state of
Hessen. Hugo Lerchenfeld was appointed as
Bavarian prime minister on 21 September 1921, succeeding
Gustav Ritter von Kahr, who had resigned earlier. He was chosen by a coalition of conservative parties. He was not a high ranking party official at this stage but rather a respected civil administrator, with a good relationship to the
SPD too. He managed during his time in office to largely defuse the crisis caused through Bavarian attempts to break free of the German Republic and the federal government's attempts to gain more control over state politics. He also additionally held the post of minister of justice. He faced a coalition crisis in July 1922 due to renewed disputes with the federal government, losing much of his support in his own party, but he managed to solve the crisis once more. Eventually, for this reason, he had to resign from office on 2 November 1922, being accused of not having achieved enough for Bavaria in the negotiations. Lerchenfeld continued to serve as a civil servant in the German administration after this, as German ambassador to Austria from 1926 to 1931 and then being involved in legal negotiations with
Belgium in 1931. == Personal life ==