Andreas Joseph Hofmann

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Andreas Joseph Hofmann (born July 14, 1752 in Zell am Main ; † September 6, 1849 in Winkel (Rheingau) ) was a German philosopher and revolutionary and one of the main actors of the Mainz Republic . As chairman of the Rhenish-German National Convention on March 18, 1793 , he proclaimed the first republic in Germany, the Rhenish-German Free State . He was a staunch supporter of the French Revolution, propagated the Rhine as a natural Franco-German border and was later under the Directory and theConsulate active in the administration of the Donnersberg department.

Life

Youth and education

After the early death of his parents, he was raised by his uncle Andreas Joseph Fahrmann (1742-1802), who was professor of moral theology at the University of Würzburg and in 1789 became auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Würzburg. a Hofmann completed the course in poetics and rhetoric at the Würzburg Jesuit College and then studied law in Mainz and Würzburg.

As a revolutionary in Mainz

The Deutschhaus in Mainz , from whose balcony Hofmann proclaimed the republic

After a few years at the Reichshofrat in Vienna , Hofmann had to leave the city because of various critical publications. He returned to Mainz in 1784, where he got a position at the University of Mainz during the progressive reforms of Elector Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal . Like the later Jacobins Mathias Metternich and Anton Joseph Dorsch , Hofmann (under the secret name Aulus Persius ) was a member of the Illuminati Order , which was banned in 1785. The Mainz Lodge was dissolved before February 1786. Hofmann taught the history of philosophy; In 1791 he was also given the chair of natural law. Hofmann was a liberal and progressive thinker. For example, he advocated that lectures and church services should be held in German. Dissatisfied with the slowness of the reforms in Kurmainz , he was a supporter of the French Revolution from the start and was spied on by the Kurmainz authorities. When the French army under General Adam-Philippe de Custine took Mainz on October 21, 1792 , the elector and his court had already fled.

Two days later, Hofmann was one of the founders of the Mainz Jacobin Club and became one of the most active members. In his many speeches, the popular and eloquent Hofmann criticized both the ancien regime of the elector and the policy of the French military government. He helped organize the elections to the Rhine-German National Convention, especially in rural areas, was elected to this first democratic German parliament and appointed its president. On March 18, 1793 , Hofmann proclaimed the first republic on German soil, the Rhenish-German Free State , from the balcony of the Deutschhaus .

In French service

Map of the Donnersberg department

After the end of the republic in the siege of Mainz , Hofmann was able to leave the city with the retreating French. He went into exile in Paris, where he was active in the Societé des Refugiés Mayençais , an association of exiled Mainz revolutionaries. After a short time in the army, he was sent to London as a spy, but was recognized there by his former student Klemens von Metternich , who had studied in Mainz, and had to flee. On his return to Paris he became head of the bureau des étrangers under the management board . After the areas on the left bank of the Rhine came under French control again, Hofmann became the chief tax officer of the Donnersberg department in 1797 and returned to Mainz.

After Napoleon's final defeat, Hofmann retired into private life and spent the rest of his life in Winkel (Rheingau) , where he died in September 1849.

Fonts

  • The aristocratic catechism. A wonderful little book , Mainz 1792

literature

Footnotes

aMany sources that quote Friedrich Otto give his name as “Franz Xaver Fahrmann” (with the life data of Andreas Joseph Fahrmann), but the professor for moral theology and later auxiliary bishop was called Andreas Joseph Fahrmann, see also list of auxiliary bishops in Würzburg . Otto himself quotes Franz Xaver von Wegele , History of the University of Würzburg I, p. 456, where Fahrmann's first name is not mentioned. Helmut Mathys article A new source on the youth history of Andreas Joseph Hofmann contains the curriculum vitae with which Hofmann applied for the position at the University of Mainz. Mathy identifies the "Uncle Fahrmann" mentioned by Hofmann as "Franz Xaver Fahrmann", but quotes the ADB article on Andreas Joseph Fahrmann for his life.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Schweigard, Jörg: A life for the republic . In: The time . No. 22 , 2002 ( online [accessed January 17, 2007]).
  2. ^ Bishop Andreas Joseph Fahrmann . Catholic hierarchy.
  3. ↑ Würzburg death note .
  4. ↑ Schweigard, Jörg: The love of freedom calls us to the Rhine . Casimir Katz Verlag, Gernsbach 2005, ISBN 3-925825-89-4 , p. 146-147 .
  5. ^ Wilhelm Kreutz: The Illuminati of the Rhenish-Palatinate area and other territories outside Bavaria. A ›rediscovered‹ source for the spread of the radically Enlightenment secret order in the years 1781 and 1782 . In: Francia . 18, No. 2, August, pp. 115-149. doi : 10.11588 / fr.1991.2.56842 .
  6. ↑ Schweigard, Die Liebe zur Freiheit , p. 87
  7. ↑ Schweigard, Die Liebe zur Freiheit , p. 151
  8. ^ Friedrich Otto: AJ Hofmann. President of the Rhenish-German National Convention in Mainz. His broadcast to England in 1793, 1794, 1795 along with some other news about his life . In: Annals of the Society for Nassau antiquity and historical research . 28/29, August, pp. 77-92.
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Andreas Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German philosopher and revolutionary
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Zell am Main
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1849
Place of death Winkel (Rheingau)