Olmützer Punktation

Olmützer Punktation, a settlement between Austria and Prussia arranged at a meeting of the Austrian minister F. zu Schwarzenberg and the Prussian minister O. von Manteuffel (1805-82) at Olmütz in November 1850. Prussia, under Friedrich Wilhelm IV, had to agree to the restoration of the German Confederation (see Deutscher Bund), which had ceased to function upon the opening of the Frankfurt Parliament (see Frankfurter Nationalversammlung), and not to interfere with the restoration of the Elector of Hesse by the Federal Diet (Bundestag). The Punktation marks the height of Austrian prestige in Germany and a humiliating diplomatic defeat for Prussia, which was forced to dissolve its Union (see Dreikönigsbündnis) in order to avoid an armed conflict with Austria. Prussia had already suffered a setback through the Vierkönigsbündnis which had been created under Schwarzenberg's auspices. Prussia did not fully recover her prestige in Germany until the War of 1866 (see Deutscher Krieg).