Editing Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (section)

=== District administrator and provincial governor ===

Bethmann Hollweg began his career as a royal government assessor in December 1884.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 September 2014 |title=Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg 1856–1921 |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/biografie/theobald-von-bethmann-hollweg.html |website=Deutsches historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref> The next year, after his father expressed the wish to give up his post as district administrator ({{Lang|de|Landrat}}), Theobald took over the office on an interim basis and in January 1886 secured it by official appointment. At the age of 29, he became the youngest district administrator in the province of Brandenburg.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lerman |first=Katharine Anne |date=28 September 2016 |title=Bethmann Hollweg, Theobald von |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/bethmann_hollweg_theobald_von |website=1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War |publisher=Freie Universität Berlin}}</ref>

While Bethmann Hollweg's father had conducted his office in the more autocratic style of the Prussian landed [[Junker (Prussia)|Junkers]], Theobald drove to the villages and spoke with both landlords and workers. His work was based on the principle of voluntary participation by the bourgeoisie rather than on authoritarian instructions. The approach made him one of the most progressive district administrators of his time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Vietsch  |first=Eberhard |title=Bethmann Hollweg. Staatsmann zwischen Macht und Ethos  |publisher=Boldt |year=1969 |location=Boppard |pages=52 ff |language=de |trans-title=Bethmann Hollweg. Statesman Between Power and Ethos}}</ref>

A coalition of three parties put Bethmann Hollweg forward as a joint candidate for the [[1890 German federal election|1890 Reichstag election]]. He won by a majority of one vote, but protests by opposing candidates over alleged irregularities led to a new election in which Bethmann Hollweg did not participate. It was the end of his brief career both as a member of the Reichstag for the [[Free Conservative Party]] and as a party politician. For the remainder of his life he was an independent and unsympathetic to the party system.

In 1896, after ten years as a district administrator, he received two rapid promotions and then in 1899, at the age of 43, became the youngest provincial governor ({{Lang|de|Oberpräsident}}) in Prussia as the head the province of Brandenburg. His rapid professional success had been made possible by his talent for statesmanship, his grandfather's prestige, and by the intercession of Reich Chancellor [[Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst]], who had been watching his rise for some time.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Denkwürdigkeiten des Fürsten Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst   |publisher=Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt |year=1907 |editor-last=Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst |editor-first=A. |volume=2 |location=Munich |pages=264 |language=de |trans-title=Memorabilia of Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst  |editor-last2=Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst |editor-first2=C. K. V. |editor-last3=Curtius |editor-first3=F.}}</ref>