Department of the Fulda

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Department of the Fulda
Fuldadepartement
Department de la Fulde
Department of Fulda 1809
Basic data (December 31, 1810)
Consist: 1807-1813
Kingdom : Westphalen
Prefecture : Cassel
Residents: 308,867 (Dec. 31, 1810)
Structure: 4 districts
Prefects : August Wilhelm Karl von Hardenberg (until September 1808)
August von Reiman (until June 1812)
Friedrich von Reineck (July 1812 – May 1813)
Joseph Maria Piautatz (from May 1813)
Location of the department in the Kingdom of Westphalia
Location of the department in the Kingdom of Westphalia

The department of the Fulda (French: Département de la Fulde , short Fulda department or Fuldadepartement ) was a department of the Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813 . Cassel was the prefecture of the department and at the same time the royal seat .

location

The department was in the west of the Kingdom of Westphalia. Small exclaves were Bodenwerder and Lügde , which were near the core area downstream of the Weser and in the Lippe region . Grevenhagen was a small Lippe exclave in the department (Höxter district) .

The department was located in the region known today as southern East Westphalia (the area of ​​the former Hochstift Paderborn ), as well as in what is now northern Hesse and, from 1811, in southern Ravensberger Land . In its greatest extent, it essentially comprised the present-day North Rhine-Westphalian districts of Herford , Gütersloh , Paderborn , Höxter and the city of Bielefeld . Furthermore, it had a smaller share in today's area of ​​the Lower Saxony districts of Holzminden and Göttingen . The southern part, in today's northern Hesse, consisted of the larger part of today's Hessian district of Kassel and smaller parts of the Schwalm-Eder district and the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg (excluding the Principality of Waldeck at that time).

The department initially bordered (from 1807) in the north on the Westphalian department of the Weser and the Principality of Lippe , in the east on the Westphalian department of the Leine , in the south on the Westphalian department of the Werra , in the southwest on the Principality of Waldeck , in the east the Grand Duchy of Hesse and in the northwest to the Grand Duchy of Berg . From 1811 onwards, after the reorganization of the Rhine Confederation, it bordered in the north on the Hanseatic Ober-Ems department , which was part of the French Empire , but no longer on the department of the Weser, and in the northeast on the Westphalian department of the Leine. The Lügde exclave bordered the Principality of Lippe to the west, the County of Pyrmont , which belonged to the Principality of Waldeck, to the east and the Westphalian exclave Bodenwerder to the east. Both exclaves, Lügde and Bodenwerder, were also surrounded by Kurhannover and when this was incorporated into the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1811, by the Department of the Leine.

The largest cities were Cassel , Bielefeld (from 1811), Paderborn and Herford (from 1811). In the east of the area, the Weser flowed through the department from south to north and formed the border with the department of the Leine for long stretches. The eponymous Fulda flowed through the Cassel district in the south of the department. Other large rivers were: the Werre , the Aa (the latter two border rivers to France from 1811 and part of the department only from 1811), the Ems , the Lippe , the Alme , the Nethe , the Diemel and the Eder . The department was shaped by the low mountain ranges. It had a share in the Upper and Lower Weserbergland (especially Eggegebirge , from 1811 also Teutoburg Forest ) as well as the Hessian Bergland (especially Reinhardswald , Kaufunger Wald , Kellerwald , Meißner and Habichtswald ).

history

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Westphalia , which was de facto under French rule , its territory was divided into several departments, including the Department of the Fulda (called the Department of the Fulde in the founding decree ), which, alongside the Department of the Weser, was the only department that was now and then Definition really included Westphalian areas. It was formed from:

As of December 1807, the area comprised 334,965 inhabitants.

With a few minor exceptions, the district division was roughly based on the old territories:

  • The Kassel district consisted mainly of the northern Hessian areas plus the Münden office.
  • The Paderborn district roughly corresponded to the Unterwald district of the Principality of Paderborn plus the smaller Reckenberg and Rietberg territories.
  • The Höxter district essentially corresponded to the Oberwald district of the Principality of Paderborn plus Corvey.

When the territorial layout of the kingdom was changed from 1811, parts of the department of the Weser - namely the areas west of the Weser and south of the Werre , the Johannisbach and the Schwarzbach - fell to the department of Fulda as the Bielefeld district with effect from January 1, 1811 . Most of the areas beyond these rivers formed the southeastern part of the new department of the Upper Ems, which was part of the French Empire . The areas beyond the Weser ( Rinteln district plus cantons Windheim and Hausberge) formed the north-western part of the Leine department. The cities of Herford and Bielefeld became part of the Fulda department in the course of this reorganization. Historically, these areas belonged to the Prussian territories of Ravensberg (mostly) and Minden (smaller parts).

In 1813 the Kingdom of Westphalia was smashed and, after brief interim solutions (e.g. civil government between the Weser and Rhine ), fell back to the restored territories. The department was essentially divided as follows:

  • Prussia received the former territories of Paderborn, Reckenberg, Corvey and Rietberg and, from 1816 onwards, combined them in the administrative district of Minden .
  • Kurhannover became a kingdom and got Münden and the exclave around Bodenwerder back.
  • Hessen-Kassel received back most of the canton of Cassel.

structure

Structure from 1811
District Population
(Dec. 1807)
Cantons
Cassel 122.992 Kassel 1 , Felsberg , Fritzlar , Gensungen , Grebenstein , Gudensberg , Hofgeismar , Hoof , Karlshafen , Kaufungen , Körle , Melsungen , Münden , Naumburg , Niedenstein , Niedermeiser , Ober-Vellmar , Veckerhagen , Volkmarsen , Wabern , Waldau , Wolfhagen , Zierenberg , Zwehren
Höxter 65,793 Albaxen , Beverungen , Bodenwerder , Borgentreich , Brackel , Driburg , Dringenberg , Gerden , Höxter , Lügde , Nieheim , Peckelsheim , Rösebeck , Steinheim , Trendelburg , Vörden , Warburg
Paderborn 65,810 Atteln , Büren , Delbrück , Kirchborchen , Lichtenau , Lipspring , Neuenkirchen , Neuhaus , Paderborn , Ringborchen , Rittberg , Salzkotten , Wiedenbrück , Winnenberg
from 1811
Bielefeld
(December 31, 1810)
47,733 Bielefeld , Brackwede , Brockhagen , Heepen , Herford , Schildesche , Vlotho

1 on March 16, 1808 divided into the cantons of Upper Town and Lower Town

prefecture

Seat of the prefecture of the Fuldadepartement, the Kassel Palace in the Wilhelmshöhe Park (mid-19th century)

The department of Fulda with its seat in Cassel was subordinate to Count A. von Hardenberg (around 1808), from 1810 (almanac) Rittmeister Georg Johann Gerhard August von Rheimann with his secretary Baron de Stralenheim (member of the budget committee), from 1811 secretary von Nordenflycht, from 1813 Prefect Friedrich Freiherr von Reineck , from May 1813 Joseph Marie Piautaz.

Members of the council were Rittmeister von Manger, Hass, Murhard and Wittich.

In 1810, the administrative council of the Cassel subdistrict included Messrs. Von Buttlar (President), Bernstein, Büchling, Fabra, Flachsbar, Gottsched, Gerhard, Gundelach and Harnier. 1811 Beermann (president), Rinteln (secretary), from 1813 Messrs. Bachmann, Rittmeister Baehr, Bauermeister, Becker, von Borch, Brenken, Götz, Habicht, von Hartmann, Henrici, Klingender, Ludwig, Rüde, Ruhl, von Sieghardt, von Spiegel, Vach and Wahnschaffe.

There were other sub-prefects in

  • Höxter: Prefect Baron de Metternich with his secretary Wedemeyer
  • Paderborn: Prefect of Elverfeld with his secretary Kuhfuss, from 1811 Brandelis
  • (1811) Bielefeld: Prefect of Bermuth with his secretary Schröder

Individual evidence

  1. Friedrich Justin Bertuch: General geographical ephemeris
  2. ^ Regional Association Westphalia-Lippe (ed.); Project Westphalian History: "Royal Decree, whereby the division of the kingdom into eight departments is ordered", with: "Directory of the departments, districts, cantons and communes of the kingdom" (PDF; 5.1 MB)

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 30.4 "  N , 9 ° 29 ′ 58.6"  E