This book is a biography of Clemens Prince of Metternich-Winneburg und Beilstein, who was imperial courtier, ambassador and Chancellor of the State from the time of Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars, the Congress of Vienna, the nationalist emergence until the middle of the 19th century. It is expressly a critical answer of the character studies drawn in previous works and incorporates a whole body of previously disregarded original sources.