Background
He was born in Seitenstetten, Lower Austria, the son of notary Heinrich Lammasch sen. (1823–1865) and his wife Anna née Schauenstein (1829–1891). Soon after his birth, the family moved to Wiener Neustadt and from there to Vienna.
He was born in Seitenstetten, Lower Austria, the son of notary Heinrich Lammasch sen. (1823–1865) and his wife Anna née Schauenstein (1829–1891). Soon after his birth, the family moved to Wiener Neustadt and from there to Vienna.
Upon the early death of his father, Lammasch attended the Schottengymnasium and studied law at the University of Vienna, obtaining his doctorate in 1876.
He became a member of the Austrian Upper House in 1899 and was legal adviser to the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague in 1899 and 1907; Lammasch was a member of the Cour internationale d'arbitrage since 1899. At home he was a Conservative and opposed to the introduction of universal suffrage.
Lammasch retired from his law practice early in 1914 and, as a well-known pacifist, escaped arrest in August only through the last-minute intervention of Emperor Francis Joseph. Lammasch hoped to end the war on the basis of ideals espoused by Woodrow Wilson, and to this end he gave a number of speeches in the Upper House calling for a negotiated peace. Lammasch especially disliked the German ally and had in the past worked to reorient the Dual Monarchy's foreign policy towards a shift to the West (Britain and France). His sincere and courageous personality appealed to the new Emperor Charles and, after twice rejecting offers to head the government, Lammasch accepted the minister-presidency on October 25, 1918. Charles hoped to use Lammasch's publicized stand in behalf of peace, but the chance for a negotiated end to the war had long since evaporated. When Charles announced his withdrawal from participating in the government of Austria-Germany on November 11,1918, Lammasch took the opportunity to resign as head of the last imperial cabinet.
Heinrich Lammasch was the first politician to suggest that Austria in the future should chart a course of strict neutrality. He represented Austria at the Treaty of St. Germain, where he had to accept the humiliating clauses pertaining to war reparations and loss of South Tyrol. Lammasch died shortly thereafter in Salzburg on January 6, 1920.