Christian Friedrich Baz

Christian Friedrich Baz (born October 28, 1762 in Stuttgart , Duchy of Württemberg ; † May 26, 1808 in Waiblingen , Kingdom of Württemberg ) was a legal scholar , member of the Württemberg state parliament and mayor of Ludwigsburg from 1796 to 1805 .

Christian Friedrich Baz was a representative of the Enlightenment . He was open to the ideas of the French Revolution and campaigned in the Duchy of Württemberg for freedom and participation of citizens in the state. In the Württemberg state parliament, the landscape at that time, he was one of the reformers, was soon considered a radical and became an opponent of the Duke and later King Friedrich I. Christian Friedrich Baz was arrested twice and spent a total of almost two years in prison on Hohenasperg , Stuttgart Solitude Castle and on a fortress in Bohemia .

Life

Study and approach to the court

His father was a lawyer in Stuttgart, the grandfather pastor in Großbottwar near Marbach am Neckar . Christian Friedrich Baz came over the monastery school Bebenhausen the Tubingen seminary . From 1780 he first studied Protestant theology in Tübingen . The study of theology was followed by the study of law in 1782. He may have wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who had recently died. The mother was much younger than the father. After his release from his second detention, she lived with her critically ill son. Christian Friedrich Baz was not married.

After completing his studies, Christian Friedrich Baz first worked as a lawyer in Stuttgart like his father from 1787. In 1791 he stayed outside of Württemberg in the Principality of Constance . In 1795 he returned to Stuttgart as a “real government councilor ”. As this honorary title shows, he had made contact with the court of Friedrich Eugen and seemed on the way to an important position in the ducal service.

Commitment to the landscape and the constitution of Württemberg

The political events of 1795/96 caused him to change his plans. When it became clear that there had to be a general parliament in the near future, he put himself at the service of the countryside. The estates had on August 7, 1796 signed a separate peace with France. The Duchy of Württemberg thus no longer took part in the First Coalition War against the French Republic . After the peace treaty, however, the French demanded an enormous amount of money from the country as war compensation. The claims only had to be settled through a further tax, which according to the state statutes had to be approved by the estates. The Duke was therefore forced to convene a general parliament after 27 years.

Up until this point in time, only magistrates could be sent to the state parliament as deputies. In order to be eligible for the state parliament, Christian Friedrich Baz was first elected as mayor in the magistrate of Ludwigsburg. Traditionally, he was also a member of the select committee that was supposed to represent the interests of the countryside between the general parliaments towards the duke. As mayor of one of the three capitals, he was also entitled to a seat at the Tübingen court . The official corporation Stadt und Land Ludwigsburg sent him as a deputy to the state assembly as requested. His profound knowledge of constitutional law was valued and he was seen as an outstanding lawyer who stood up for the interests of the countryside with reliability and great zeal.

On March 17, 1797, the state parliament, which had been postponed again and again because of military events, was opened. The representatives of the countryside agreed that this state parliament could not only be about distributing the war costs. All over the country there were grievances that needed to be remedied. In addition, the ideas of the French Revolution had found enthusiastic supporters at the universities in Württemberg and left their mark on the educated classes. There was talk of a “fine democratism” that ruled the country. The citizens demanded their right to have a say, which they were already entitled to according to the state statutes, for example with regard to tax permits and questions of war and peace. With the Nagold Cahier , the Duke had a list of complaints a few days after the state parliament announced it in September 1796, which also contained suggestions for improving conditions in the country. Christian Friedrich Baz may have already worked on the drafting of this notice of appeal. His pamphlet was also printed at the opening of the Landtag : “On the right of petition for the Wirtemberg estates; readable for everyone and at all times, 1797 ”. It had appeared anonymously, but was immediately assigned to him from the large number of publications that were in circulation in anticipation of the state parliament.

With his writing he wanted to enlighten his fellow citizens, "the people", to whom he felt obliged, about the rights which the Württemberg people had wrested from their dukes over the centuries and which were documented in the state statutes. The Duke was also to be reminded of the constitution of the country and of his duties. Although every duke had to assure himself to adhere to the treaties between “landscape” and “rulership” when taking office, the regents in the age of absolutism were less and less willing to respect the rights of the estates. It was a special concern of Christian Friedrich Baz to restore the "good old law". The Württemberg constitution, which was unique in Europe and had grown over the centuries, was supposed to be preserved and only adapted to general progress.

He and other reformers saw their first task in restoring the existing bodies of the estates to their constitutional purpose. The select committee should again be to represent the interests of the estates vis-à-vis the duke for the good of the whole country. For years it had been in the hands of a bourgeois oligarchy that could be bought , and which "fought" with the Duke for their own benefit. Together with his reform-minded colleagues, Baz reached new elections for the select committee. He himself was re-elected, the corrupt members could be replaced by reliable representatives of the estates. In the state parliament he was a member of the commission responsible for distributing the war costs. However, he always kept an eye on the state parliament as a whole and, together with others, advocated that the citizens were informed about the progress by publishing minutes.

Confrontation with the Duke

On December 23, 1797 a change of government took place. Duke Friedrich II succeeded his father Friedrich Eugen. In the new election, Baz remained in office as mayor and was confirmed in his function as landscape assessor on January 16, 1798. In the state parliament, a collaboration between the state estates and the new duke initially seemed possible. The ruler showed a certain concession in resolving the national complaints. However, the reform party's constitutional plans went too far for him. However, the duke was not solely responsible for the failure of the Reform Landtag of 1797 and the failure of Christian Friedrich Baz's attempt to save the Württemberg constitution. Herzog and Landstands got caught up in the turmoil of European politics.

The estates feared that the duke would again form a coalition with the feudal power Austria . The danger of war was not averted, although the Rastatt Congress was in session and peace negotiations were taking place. In order to maintain the peace and for their own support, the estates and not least Christian Friedrich Baz turned outwards, as they had done earlier, and pursued their own politics. Baz was sent to Paris to initially represent the position of the landscape together with the envoy confirmed by the duke. However, the cooperation between the two did not work. The duke was dissatisfied and withdrew his ambassador. Baz stayed in Paris and continued on his mission to the country. He presented his "vues politiques" to the board of directors , praised the progressive Württemberg constitution and campaigned against the Duke's interest, but in the interests of the landscape for the incorporation of the compensation to be expected for the ceded areas on the left bank of the Rhine.

From Paris, Baz traveled to Rastatt to attend the peace congress when it became apparent that the work of the envoy to the landscape was being hindered there by secret agreements made by the duke. In Rastatt he met Isaac von Sinclair , with whom he remained on friendly terms in the following years. At the congress in 1799, Baz penetrated as far as Metternich at the New Year's reception and also made suggestions for redesigning the state territories. Neither in Paris nor in Rastatt was he accredited as the Duke's envoy . For the duke he had exceeded his powers. At the same time, rumors were circulating in the country of a French-supported revolution and the creation of a southern German republic. Baz was at times acted as its president. In any case, he was in contact with the French agent Théremin , who was in Stuttgart from October to November 1798. However, shortly afterwards, Baz and his colleagues gave up hope of a revolution in the country when they realized that the French were no longer interested in helping neighboring peoples to freedom.

On November 29, 1799, the Duke sued his estates at the Imperial Court of Justice in Vienna for "refusing to obey imperial orders and improperly interfering with the sovereign rights of government" . After the beginning of the second coalition war in March 1799, the estates had denied the duke further troops for his participation in the war on the side of Austria, some of which Archduke Karl had already promised. The landscape sent Baz and another representative to Vienna with their defense. He was still able to hand this over on February 17, 1800, then he was arrested and brought back to Württemberg, where he arrived on the Hohenasperg in early March .

On January 6, 1800, the Archduke Baz and others denounced for revolutionary activities in Württemberg. Already on December 30, 1799 Duke Frederick had by decree the absent Landscape Assessor Baz about the Oberamt Ludwigsburg to forbid to continue the title Regierungsrat. At the end of February he had Baz's room broken into in the landscape house and all files, private ones as well as those of the landscape, confiscated. Concrete offenses could not be proven to the landscape representative.

When the Duke fled the country in the early summer of 1800 after the French occupied the country, he had Baz carried in chains and imprisoned in a fortress in Bohemia. In his exile in safe Erlangen , the Duke did not respond to inputs and inquiries from the landscape regarding Assessor Baz and his arrest until April 1801.

After the Peace of Lunéville , the Duke, who had returned to the country, was forced to pronounce an amnesty for his political prisoners under pressure from the French . At the end of May Baz, who had meanwhile been arrested again on the Hohenasperg, was released after 15 months in prison. The expulsion from the country associated with the release was lifted after the intervention of the French. However, Baz could not return to his offices. On July 21, 1801 he asked in a letter to be reinstated "in all official circumstances" and repeated his request in November. Even after the French ambassador had interceded and requested the landscape with references to the constitutional rights of the members of the state parliament, the duke was not prepared to do so. Baz only retained his seat at the Tübingen court . At the end of August 1802 he took part in the court court in Tübingen, after visiting his friend Isaac von Sinclair in Frankfurt. Another had taken his place on the select committee.

By receiving his electoral dignity , the duke was able to consolidate his power in 1803. Nevertheless, the landscape stuck to Christian Friedrich Baz. When the new committees were elected on the occasion of the Landtag, which was reconvened by the Duke in March 1804, the plenary unanimously demanded the reinstatement of Landscape Assessor Baz. The rift between Elector Friedrich and his son Wilhelm had a decisive influence on the further dispute between the duke and the landscape, and not least Baz's renewed arrest .

The electoral prince had a love affair with the daughter of a representative of the landscape, which his father disapproved of. That is why Friedrich Wilhelm and his chosen one fled to Paris in October 1803. The father blamed the former prince tutor for the improper behavior of his son . The landscape had meanwhile appointed him to be its consultant . Baz joined this renowned legal philosopher. Together they headed the opposition faction in the state parliament and called themselves "the patriots". From Paris, the prince took the side of the landscape. A secret commission from the countryside had given him a considerable sum of money. Baz was not on the commission. However, a member of the commission informed the father about the donation of money to the son. In addition, the member also reported to the Duke of "indecent" and "awe-inspiring" statements made by MP Baz in plenary. The former prince tutor, Christian Friedrich Baz, was arrested first on March 7, 1805 in Vienna. On March 17th, he was brought to Stuttgart on the Solitude.

After the duke's violent measures against parliament , the region had brought a lawsuit against the regent in October 1804 for violation of their constitutional rights at the Imperial Court of Justice in Vienna. Baz and another MP were supposed to represent the landscape cause. In order to finally get hold of him, he was eventually accused of a planned capital crime. This also meant that the protection promised by the Reichshofrat in Vienna no longer existed for him . Even contemporaries doubted the testimony of a well-bought witness, according to which an attack on the life of the elector had been planned during a dinner in Baz's apartment in June 1804. They saw in the "high treason trial", in which Isaac von Sinclair and other friends were also involved, a destruction attack by the elector against Baz. The commission of inquiry established could not find any evidence of a planned crime. Nevertheless, the accused remained in custody. Baz was the last to be released in November 1805. At a meeting with Napoleon in October 1805, the elector was promised the royal dignity, which enabled him to rule without his estates. On December 30, 1805 he accepted it and abolished the estates representation. With the obligatory congratulations on the royal dignity, the Waiblingen official assembly asked for the state constitution to be retained.

Christian Friedrich Baz spent the last two years of his life in Waiblingen. After his second imprisonment and the prohibition not to live in Stuttgart, Cannstatt or Ludwigsburg and not to practice his profession anywhere in the country, he had been released there.

Death and legacy

On April 17, 1806, the city of Ludwigsburg granted the "very sickly man" an annual pension of 700 guilders.

Christian Friedrich Baz died on May 26, 1808 at the age of 45. Since his first imprisonment, he had suffered severe stomach and chest problems due to the inhumane conditions enforced by the Duke. In the death register of the Waiblingen church register, "creeping nerve fever" is given as the cause of death. According to his will, his extensive library went to the Latin School in Ludwigsburg. It later formed the basis of the school library of the Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium. He bequeathed his natural history collection to the University of Tübingen. From there it was handed over to the ducal collection of natural objects founded in 1791 and placed in the Old Palace in Stuttgart. The collection was the property of the regent and until 1817 only accessible to selected people.

Sources and literature

• About the right of petition of the Wirtemberg estates; readable for everyone and at all times. 1797, in: Jacobin pamphlets from the German south at the end of the 18th century. Edited by Heinrich Scheel , 2nd edition. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1980, pp. 188–204.
• Barbara Vopelius-Holtzendorff: The right of the people to revolution? Christian Friedrich Baz and the politics of the Württemberg estates from 1797-1800 taking into account Hegel's Frankfurt paper from 1798. in: “Frankfurt is the center of this earth”. The fate of a generation in Goethe's time. Edited by Christoph Jamme and Otto Pöggeler, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-608-91227-4 , pp. 104-134.
• Heinrich Scheel: South German Jacobins. Class struggles and republican aspirations in the German south at the end of the 18th century. Berlin 1962.
• Erwin Hölzle: The old law and the revolution. Munich / Berlin 1931.
• Helmut Reinalter , Axel Kuhn, Alain Ruiz: Biographical lexicon on the history of the democratic and liberal movements in Central Europe. Vol. 1 (1770-1800), Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 10.
• Walter Grube: The Stuttgart State Parliament 1457–1957. From the estates to the democratic parliament. Stuttgart 1957
• Michael Franz : Hölderlin and the “political misery” II. The prehistory of the “High Treason Trial” of 1805. Lecture, given on February 3, 2010 in the Hölderlin Tower in Tübingen
• Heike Harsch: A fighter for the good old law: Christian Friedrich Baz (1762–1808). In: Hie good Württemberg. Supplement to the Ludwigsburg newspaper about the people, history and landscape of our homeland. December 21, 2013, No. 4., pp. 30-32.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ KB 758 Bd. 41 FR Waiblingen
2. ^ Quotation from Johann Christoph Schwab, former professor at the Hohen Karlsschule and secret councilor to Duke Ludwig Eugen
3. ↑ Vopelius-Holtzendorf, p. 126
4. ↑ Main State Archives Stuttgart E 31 Bü 21
5. ↑ HSA Stuttgart L6 Bü 121
6. ↑ HSA Stuttgart L6 Bü 121
7. ↑ Grube, p. 486
8. ↑ KB 756 Vol. 16 TR Waiblingen