Büsinger trade

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As Büsingen trading (also: Büsingen-Handel or Büsingen War ), a border violation in the Swiss enclave Büsingen by Hessian troops during the Baden revolution described by the 1849th

Starting position

Location of the Swiss enclave of Büsingen. The area of ​​today's Federal Republic of Germany belonged to the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1849 .
General Guillaume-Henri Dufour

In April 1848, the first uprising of the Baden Revolution broke out in the Grand Duchy of Baden . In order to protect the Swiss national borders, troops had to do active service for the first time in the young federal state . The border guards were placed under Colonel Dominik Gmür , who had proven himself in the Sonderbund War . In the years 1848 and 1849, thousands of revolutionaries sought protection and asylum in Switzerland. The Baden government in Karlsruhe received help from other German states, including the Grand Duchy of Hesse, to suppress the revolution.

The Baden insurgents also had sympathizers in Büsingen. However, there was never an actual uprising in Büsingen. After the suppression of the revolution, however, it was maliciously claimed in Baden that there were revolutionary terrorists in Büsingen. A punitive expedition to Büsingen was to take place.

Hessian troops cross the border

On Saturday, July 21, 1849, the Baden steamship Helvetia with the 170-strong Hessian company "Stockhausen", which belonged to the Hessian division under Major General von Schäffer-Bernstein , came down the Rhine from Lake Constance. The troops reached the Baden exclave of Büsingen unhindered at 7 a.m. , occupied the village and disarmed the citizens. Three men were arrested, the community calculator Walter, the doctor from Ow and the veterinarian Güntert. Walter and von Ow had to be released soon as nothing incriminating could be proven. Güntert, on the other hand, was brought onto the ship as a prisoner and guarded. At 1 p.m. the steamer should have cast off again.

The headquarters of the federal divisions in Schaffhausen learned of the invasion of the troops and immediately initiated the first measures to prevent the Hessian troops from withdrawing through Swiss territory. The Hessian troops were informed of the measures by a member of the federal border troops. A request for free withdrawal was rejected with reference to the violation of the border. In the course of the morning the enclave had been surrounded by a Zurich battalion, another battalion had occupied the Schaarenwald opposite , and measures had been taken at the bridges of Diessenhofen and Stein am Rhein to prevent the ship from passing. Only two envoys were allowed to return to Konstanz to report in the evening. It turned out that the trip to Büsingen had been ordered by civil authorities. The troops were unaware of the border violation.

The next days

On the following day, Switzerland did not comply with another request to withdraw the blocked company by steamship. The command of the Reichsarmee then increased the troops around the canton of Schaffhausen to over 10,000 soldiers and spread the threat that the troops would be freed by force if no agreement was found to withdraw by July 28th. The Swiss troops were outnumbered. Therefore, on July 24th, the Federal Council raised three divisions for reinforcement. The United Federal Assembly was convened on August 1st to approve this measure . The assembly temporarily transferred command of the troops to General Guillaume-Henri Dufour , who had experience of the Sonderbund War . Over 24,000 men were mobilized from several cantons.

Negotiations on July 28, 1849

On the occasion of negotiations on July 28, 1849 in Schaffhausen , the staff major of the headquarters of the Reich troops (Major Ferdinand du Hall), authorized by Eduard von Peucker, apologized in writing for the border violation and gave reassuring information about the intentions of the Reich troops. The Federal Commissioner (Colonel Stehelin), authorized by the Federal Council, was satisfied with the apology. On the same day an agreement on the withdrawal of the Hessian troops was signed, while preserving Swiss security and territorial rights and without violating the Germans' sense of military honor.

Print from July 30, 1849

The withdrawal of the armed Hessian troops from Büsingen to Gailingen was planned with a ten-minute march across Swiss territory and was to begin on July 30, 1849, at 1 p.m. Two and a half companies of infantry and one company of cavalry were planned from the Swiss side to accompany them. The Hessian troops, not knowing the way, marched on the road towards Randegg . At the border they were stopped by reserve troops. After the Swiss troops had arrived there, the march could be continued. The Hessian troops marched through Dörflingen and finally reached Gailingen. The steamship Helvetia finally left Gailingen for Constance under federal escort .

The Hessians took the Büsingen veterinarian Güntert on a cart as a prisoner. Switzerland should have objected to this on the basis of asylum law. Güntert was able to return home after being detained for 50 days.

Thanks to negotiations, the Büsinger trade could be ended without bloodshed. Troops were soon greatly reduced on both sides of the border.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ this division was in turn part of the so-called "Neckar Corps" under Eduard von Peucker