Wilhelm von Kardorff

Wilhelm von Kardorff (8 January 1828 in Neustrelitz – 21 July 1907) was a German landowner and politician who supported the Free Conservative Party.

[2] He joined the Prussian civil service in the late 1840s and during the next decade purchased large estates in Silesia.

[1][3] Following the Panic of 1873 and the consequent economic depression, Kardorff campaigned for the restoration of protectionism, founding the Central Association of German Industrialists in 1876.

[3] His economic ideas were influenced by Henry Charles Carey and he fought unsuccessfully for the adoption of bimetallism, persuading the Reichstag but not the British, who favoured gold.

[2][3] He also opposed Leo von Caprivi's commercial treaties that led to freer trade and campaigned for higher tariff rates, succeeding in 1902.