He subsequently managed the property of his uncle, the Landgrave of
Hesse-Rotenburg,
Victor Amadeus. These included the former monastery of Corvey in
Westphalia, Ratibor in
Upper Silesia. This area was 34,000 hectares in size and consisted mainly of forest areas. Victor was created
Duke of Ratibor and Prince of
Corvey on 15 October 1840 by
King Frederick William IV of Prussia.
Military career During his military service, made at an early age in the cavalry. In the 1850s he commanded in repeated exercises the 2nd -
Landwehr Regiment. During the
Austro-Prussian War and the
Franco-Prussian War, he organized as Chairman of the Silesian Association Knights Voluntary Health Care. Since 1872, he led the honorary title of General of Cavalry
à la suite. In 1893, he was elected as the first president of the
German Experimental Institute for Small Arms.
Political career In 1847 Ratibor was a member of the Prussian United Diet. Between 1856 and 1893 he was a member of provincial parliament for
Silesia Province. At first he was Marshal of the Assembly. After the introduction of the new provincial order, he was repeatedly chairman. He was also from 1849 to 1852 on the second chamber of the
Prussian State Parliament. In 1850 Ratibor was a member of the Erfurt Union Parliament. From 1867 to 1870 he was a member of the
North German Reichstag, and from 1872 to 1890 of the
German Reichstag. He was also member from 1854 to 1893 of the
Prussian House of Lords. In the latter, he was co-founder of the New Group in 1870/72, from 1877 to 1893 President of the House. Ratibor was one of the liberal-conservative Aristocracy, political reformants, he was a supporter of
Otto von Bismarck. He was also one of the founders of the
Free Conservative Party. ==Personal life==