THUN UND HOHENSTEIN, FRIEDRICH, COUNT (GRAF) VON

born May 8, 1810, Tetschen, Bohemia, Austrian Empire [now Decn, Czech Republic] died Sept. 24, 1881, Tetschen Austrian diplomat and administrator who served as president of the German federal diet at Frankfurt in 1850, where he repeatedly clashed with Prussia's representative Otto von Bismarck. After the suppression of the 184849 revolutions in Germany and Austria, Thun, an astute politician, headed the Austrian delegation to the reestablished German diet at Frankfurt. As president of that body and spokesman for the conservative Austrian faction, he opposed Prussia's proposalsforcefully presented by Bismarckfor a more tightly centralized German confederation led by Prussia. Thun served as minister to Prussia (185254) and as minister to Russia (185963). After retiring from the diplomatic service he was active in Bohemian and Austrian internal politics.