Baron Franz von Pillersdorf

Baron Franz von Pillersdorf (1 March 1786 –22 February 1862) was an Austrian statesman.

Born in Brno the son of a judge, Pillersdorf after a legal education in Vienna in 1805 started his public service career in Galicia. In 1807, he returned to Vienna as assistant to the court councillor Baron von Baldacci. This put him in the centre of the action when the war with Napoleon broke out. In the disadvantageous peace according to the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn that followed, the Austrian foreign minister Johann Philipp Stadion had to resign and a new ministry was formed, with Prince Metternich at its head. Baldacci moved to the periphery of power, but Pillersdorff advanced to court secretary and then became a court councillor. Here Pillersdorff had ample opportunity to acquaint himself with the great disarray in the operation of the Austrian state, and how necessary reform was, but uncommonly difficult to implement.