In 1879 Puttkamer was appointed Prussian minister of education and public worship, the chosen instrument of the Clerical Conservative policy initiated by Bismarck when the Socialist peril made it expedient to conciliate the Catholic Centre. As Oberpräsident of Silesia he had already done much to mitigate the rigour of the application of the May Laws, and as minister of education and public worship, he continued this policy. He took measures against the undenominational schools, and made concessions to the orthodox Evangelicals. In 1881 Puttkamer was appointed Prussian minister of the interior. His reactionaryconservative temper was in complete harmony with the views of Bismarck and the Emperor William, and with their powerful support he attempted, in defiance of modern democratic principles and even of the spirit of the constitution, to re-establish the old Prussian system of rigid discipline from above. He was above all concerned to nip in the bud any tendencies in the civil service to revolt, and it was on his initiative that on 4 January 1882 a royal ordinance laid it down as the duty of all officials to give the government their unconditional support at political elections. In a vain effort to combat social democracy, he seriously interfered with the freedom to hold public meetings and attempted the forcible suppression of strike movements. However, he did carry out many useful administrative reforms. Puttkamer's administration was intensely unpopular: it was attacked in the Reichstag, not only by Radicals like Richter and Rickert, but also by National Liberals like Bennigsen. When the new Emperor Frederick III, whose liberal tendencies were notorious, succeeded to the throne, it was clear that it could not last. In spite of Bismarck's support, Puttkamer was forced to resign on 8 June 1888.
Late career
The reign of Frederick III lasted barely three months, and he was succeeded by his son William II, whose principles were those of his grandfather, and Puttkamer was largely rehabilitated. On 1 January 1889 he received the Order of the Black Eagle. He was appointed a secular canon of Merseburg, and in 1891 became Oberpräsident of the Province of Pomerania. In this office, which he held till 1899, he did useful work in collaboration with the provincial estates. He died in 1900 on his estate at Karzin in Pomerania.
Reformer of German orthography
Puttkamer is also remembered as the author of the ordinance of the 21 January 1880 on the simplification of German orthography. This was at first vigorously opposed, not least by Bismarck, himself; but its convenience soon became evident, it was increasingly put into practice, and was so well based that later reformers needed only to follow the lines laid down by Puttkamer.
