Rhenish Mercury (Koblenz)

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First edition of Rheinschen Merkur from January 23, 1814

The Rheinische Merkur was a liberal newspaper published in Koblenz from 1814 to 1816 . The publisher was the supporter of the French Revolution and Catholic publicist Joseph Görres . It was the most important political paper of its time in Germany. Görres is considered to be the creator of the modern political newspaper, which both propagated the establishment of a German Empire and supported the revolutionary movements.

history

After the alliance of Prussians, Austrians and Russians had recaptured the left bank of the Rhine from the French in the Sixth Coalition War in 1814 , Görres took over the editing of the bilingual French newspaper "Mercure de Rhin" in Koblenz. The first edition of the newspaper, now called Rheinischer Merkur, appeared on January 23, 1814. Görres waged a fight against Napoléon with it and at the same time campaigned for a free constitution of a federal and democratic Germany. Among other things, the paper offered a forum for Freiherr vom Stein and Blücher's general staff, and Napoléon referred to it as the “fifth major enemy power”. The Rheinische Merkur was the first German newspaper to attract attention in Europe. On November 20, 1814, Görres drew the attention of the German public again to the need for further construction of the previously unfinished Cologne Cathedral with an article in his newspaper .

The demand for Napoleon's deposition was quickly followed by criticism of the policies of the German kings and princes. After the restoration began , the Rheinische Merkur propagated liberal demands and the Greater German solution . While Görres had previously had a powerful advocate for Rhenish Mercury in Justus von Gruner , soon after Johann August Sack replaced it, the censorship authorities increasingly focused on the criticism of Prussia . When Görres finally disregarded Breuning's censor, who was responsible for him, and also published deleted passages , the measure was full. A ban on the newspaper was now inevitable. On January 3, 1816, Friedrich Wilhelm III banned . by AKO , which State Chancellor Hardenberg had designed, the further publication of the Rheinischer Merkurs. Görres published the last edition of the paper on January 10, 1816, another from January 12, which was already in print at that time, was withdrawn from circulation.

From 1946 to 2010, a new newspaper called Rheinischer Merkur was initially published in Koblenz and later in Bonn , which saw itself in the tradition of Görres' newspaper.

literature

  • Energieversorgung Mittelrhein GmbH (ed.): History of the city of Koblenz . Overall editing: Ingrid Bátori in conjunction with Dieter Kerber and Hans Josef Schmidt,
    • Vol. 1: From the beginning to the end of the electoral era . Theiss, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0876-X ,
    • Vol. 2: From the French city to the present . Theiss, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8062-1036-5 .
  • Uwe Hence: Joseph Görres' view of the state and society in the context of revolution and restoration . Grin, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-73528-5 .
  • E. Langner, H.-J. Schmidt: Görres and Koblenz. A catalog for the exhibition organized by the city library on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Görres on January 25, 1976. With two contributions by H.-J. Schmidt and a contribution by Udo Liessem. Koblenz City Library, Koblenz 1976 ( Education, Information, Documentation 8, ZDB -ID 613312-5 ).
  • H. Trapp (Ed.): Joseph von Görres. 1776-1848. Life and work. From the holdings of the Koblenz City Library. Franz Grosse on his 60th birthday. Koblenz City Library, Koblenz 1970 ( Publications of the Koblenz City Library 8, ISSN  0931-0894 ).
  • Helmut Kampmann: Koblenz press chronicle. 80 newspapers from three centuries. Koblenz 1988, pp. 87-91. ISBN 3-925180-01-X .

Web links

Commons : Rheinischer Merkur  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Kampmann, p. 89. In a study on Görres, Reinhard Hagmann notes that this saying is as often as incorrect as it is attributed to Napoléon .
  2. ↑ Kampmann, p. 91.