Ibell, Karl (also Carl) Friedrich Justus Emil von (ennobled 1830)

Government President

born: 29.10.1780 in Wehen

died: 06.10.1834 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe

Ibell studied law in Göttingen. After passing the state examination in 1801, he became private secretary to Karl Friedrich Freiherr von Kruse, whom he accompanied to the Imperial Deputation in Regensburg. From 1803, he worked as a government official in Wiesbaden under government president Ernst Marschall von Bieberstein. Both initiated important liberal constitutional and administrative reforms such as the abolition of serfdom and patrimonial jurisdiction. From 1815-20, Ibell was President of the Government of the Duchy of Nassau and was responsible for Nassau's reform legislation during this time. This included the implementation of the Nassau school reform in 1817 and the introduction of the simultaneous school, for whose organization pastor Karl Adolf Gottlob Schellenberg rendered outstanding services.

In 1819, Ibell escaped an assassination attempt by the pharmacist Karl Löning (1791-1819), who was close to the "Blacks", the radical, national-democratic branch of the fraternities. This assassination was an occasion for the restoration initiated by the Carlsbad Decrees, which Ibell rejected. He also came into conflict with Duke Wilhelm zu Nassau over the question of whether the estate assets and his income should be counted as state income or as part of the duke's personal assets. This led to his leave of absence in 1820 and his removal from office in 1821. Between 1828 and 1832, he was President of the Government of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and campaigned for the German Customs Union, for which the Prussian King Frederick William IV ennobled him in 1830.