{{Short description|Danish nobleman and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[His Grace]] | name = Adam Wilhelm Moltke | honorific_suffix = {{small|[[Knight of the Elephant|R.E.]]}}. | image = Adam Wilhelm Moltke.jpg | caption = Early 1830s painting of Adam Wilhelm Moltke | office = 1st [[Prime Minister of Denmark]] | term_start = 22 March 1848 | term_end = 27 January 1852 | monarch = [[Frederick VII of Denmark|Frederick VII]] | predecessor = ''Position established'' | successor = [[Christian Albrecht Bluhme]] | office2 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Denmark)|2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark]] | term_start2 = 16 November 1848 | term_end2 = 6 August 1850 | predecessor2 = [[Frederik Marcus Knuth (1813–1856)|Frederik Marcus Knuth, Count of Knuthenborg]] | successor2 = [[Holger Christian Reedtz]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1785|8|25|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Einsidelsborg]], [[Denmark]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1864|2|15|1785|8|25|df=y}} | death_place = [[Copenhagen]], Denmark | resting_place = [[Karice Church]], [[Karise]], Denmark | party = | parents = [[Joachim Godske Moltke]]<br/>Georgine von Buchwald | spouse = Frederikke Louise Knuth<br>Marie Elisabeth Knuth | children = Frederik Moltke<br>Christian Moltke | relatives = [[Adam Gottlob Moltke]] (grandfather) }}
'''Adam Wilhelm Moltke, 3rd Count of Bregentved''' (25 August 1785{{snd}}15 February 1864) was a Danish [[nobleman]], [[landowner]], [[civil servant]] and [[politician]], who in 1848–1852 was the first [[Prime Minister of Denmark]] under the new [[Constitution of Denmark|constitutional monarchy]] outlined in 1848 and signed as the [[Danish Constitution]] on 5 June 1849 by [[Frederick VII of Denmark]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite web|title=Adam Wilhelm, Greve (count) Moltke: prime minister of Denmark|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Wilhelm-Greve-Moltke|website=britannica.com|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=18 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==Early life and education== A member of the [[Denmark|Danish]] and [[Germany|German]] [[noble family]] [[Moltke (noble family)|Moltke]], Adam Wilhelm Moltke was born on 25 August 1785 at the [[Einsiedelsborg]] [[manor house]] on the island of [[Funen]], the son of Privy Counsellor [[Joachim Godske Moltke]].<ref name="Dana1861">{{cite book|last1=Dana|first1=C.A.|last2=Ripley|first2=G.|title=The new American cyclopædia|date=1861|publisher=American Cyclopaedia|page=636|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGQIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA636|access-date=18 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> His paternal grandfather was [[Adam Gottlob Moltke]], the influential [[Lord Steward]] and [[royal favourite]] of [[Frederick V of Denmark|King Frederick V of Denmark and Norway]].<ref name="britannica"/><ref name="Palsson2016">{{cite book|last1=Palsson|first1=Gisli|title=The Man Who Stole Himself: The Slave Odyssey of Hans Jonathan|date=2016|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=9780226313283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2asDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69|access-date=18 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
As a child, Moltke was tutored by [[Jacob Peter Mynster]], who later became the bishop of [[Zealand]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jessen|first=Olaf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7Tj98HeL9wC|title=Die Moltkes: Biographie einer Familie|publisher=C.H.Beck|year=2010|isbn=9783406604997|location=Germany|pages=50|language=de}}</ref>
==Career== [[File:Coronation of Christian VIII of Denmark.jpg|thumb|left|Moltke attending the coronation of [[Christian VIII of Denmark|Christian VIII]] in 1840.]] He was known as a humane and patriarchal squire but was no outstanding political figure. From 1845, he was Minister of [[Financial Affairs]]. At the fall of the last absolute government, he too was dismissed but, a few days later, he was persuaded to form the new national government as the most suitable leader both as for his social position and as for his moderate views.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}
===Prime minister of Denmark=== The cabinet created on 22 March 1848 was called the ''[[Cabinet of Moltke I|March Cabinet]]''. On 16 November 1848 it was replaced by the ''[[Cabinet of Moltke II|November Cabinet]]'', which in turn was replaced by the ''[[Cabinet of Moltke III|July Cabinet]]'' on 13 July 1851, which again was replaced by the ''[[Cabinet of Moltke IV|October Cabinet]]'' on 18 October 1851. The cabinet, originally a Conservative-Liberal one, gradually became more and more openly conservative both because of the general liberal withdrawal and because of foreign pressure.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}
On 27 January 1852, [[Christian Albrecht Bluhme]] replaced Moltke as Prime Minister.{{sfn|Bain|1911}}
==Personal life== Moltke succeeded his father as Count of [[Bregentved]] in 1818. He was also the owner of [[Merløsegaard]] north of [[Ringsted]] and [[Sofiedal]].
Molke was married twice. His first wife, Frederikke Louise Knuth (1797–1819), died in 1819. After Frederikke's death, he married Marie Elisabeth Knuth (1791–1851), her sister. Marie Elisabeth and Adam had two children:
* [[Frederik Georg Julius Moltke]] (1825–1875) * Christian Moltke (1833–1918), who married Caroline Amalie of [[Danneskiold-Samsøe]] (1843–1876) in 1865.
Adam Wilhelm Moltke died on 15 February 1864 in Copenhagen and is buried in the Moltke burial chapel in [[Karise]] Church in Faxe Municipality.<ref name="Thomas2016">{{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Alastair H.|title=Historical Dictionary of Denmark|date=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442264656|page=355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPq6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA355|access-date=18 July 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Cape Moltke]] in [[Greenland]] was named after him in 1829 by Lieutenant [[Wilhelm August Graah]] (1793–1863).<ref>W. A. Graah, ''Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland, London, 1837'', p. 89</ref>
==See also== *[[Bregentved]]
==References== {{EB1911|wstitle=Moltke, Adam Wilhelm, Count|last=Bain|first=Robert Nisbet|authorlink=Robert Nisbet Bain|volume=18|page=677}} {{reflist}}
; {{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box| title=[[List of Prime Ministers of Denmark|Prime Minister of Denmark]]| before=New office| years=22 March 1848{{snd}}27 January 1852| after=[[Christian Albrecht Bluhme]] }} {{succession box| title=[[List of Finance Ministers of Denmark|Finance Minister of Denmark]]| before=New office ?| years=22 March 1848{{snd}}16 November 1848| after=[[Wilhelm Sponneck]]| }} {{succession box| title=[[List of Navy Ministers (Denmark)|Navy Minister of Denmark]]| before=New office ?| years=22 March 1848{{snd}}6 April 1848| after=[[Christian Christopher Zahrtmann]]| }} {{succession box| title=[[List of Danish Foreign Ministers|Foreign Minister of Denmark]]| before=[[Frederik Marcus Knuth (1813–1856)|Frederik Marcus Knuth]]| years=16 November 1848{{snd}}6 August 1850| after=[[Holger Christian Reedtz]]| }} {{s-end}} {{DanishPrimeMinisters}}
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[[Category:1785 births]] [[Category:1864 deaths]] [[Category:Moltke family|Adam Wilhelm]] [[Category:People from Nordfyn Municipality]] [[Category:Danish counts]] [[Category:Ministers of defence of Denmark]] [[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Denmark]] [[Category:Ministers for finance of Denmark]] [[Category:Prime ministers of Denmark]] [[Category:Danish civil servants]] [[Category:Members of the Landsting (Denmark)]] [[Category:18th-century Danish landowners]] [[Category:19th-century Danish landowners]] [[Category:19th-century Danish politicians]] [[Category:19th-century Danish nobility]]