German Press and Fatherland Association

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The German Fatherland Association for the support of the Free Press , shortly German press and Vaterlandsverein (PVV), was during the Restoration period and the beginning of the pre-March period in 1832 founded club German journalists , intellectuals and politicians . The aim of the association was to support the free press by gaining freedom of the press and unifying all states in the German-speaking area . With the association, the members strived for "Germany's rebirth in a free Europe ". Of contemporary history historians of the German press and Vaterlandsverein is in the German democratic history as a preform of a political party seen.

history

Map of Europe after the Congress of Vienna:              Border of the German Confederation (1815)
  • Russia
  • France
  • United Kingdom
  • Prussia
  • Austria and Habsburg possession

    • In 1793 France annexed the areas on the left bank of the Rhine. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte , the political reorganization of Europe was decided at the Congress of Vienna . In the Treaty of Munich in 1816 , the Austrian Empire ceded the Rhine District to the Kingdom of Bavaria . This part of the left bank of the Rhine was slammed into Austria during the Congress of Vienna. The constitutional rights introduced in the Confederation of Rhine during the Napoleonic era could not be completely repealed by the new authorities of Bavaria. The law shaped by the civil code was retained in parts. The regulations valid in "Old Bavaria" could not be easily enforced in the Palatinate due to the validity of French regulations. According to the legal opinion of the Bavarian authorities, however, legal provisions from the Napoleonic period were valid in the “Rhine District”. Liberal opposition members questioned the validity, since, contrary to French legislation of the revolutionary era, this had come about without the participation and support of representatives of the people.

    Under the influence of the July Revolution of 1830 in France and the November uprising in Congress Poland , there was popular rebellion in Europe. At the beginning of the March , the people in the German states of the German Confederation also got enthusiastic . Part of the people felt connected to liberalism . Opposition writers , journalists and printers pushed for reform ; some also advocated the revolution . The strivings for freedom suppressed the ruling princes with suppressive measures. The so-called “ revolutionary activities ” of the “ ultra-liberals ” saw the monarchs as dangerous and acted against them with censorship and surveillance .

    After the Bavarian Reichsrat under von Wrede dissolved the fifth Bavarian state parliament, whose session lasted from February 20 to December 29, 1831, the opposition was drawn to the region near the Rhine “like a center of gravity”. The 6th Landtag followed three years later in 1834. The suspended 'Royal Bavarian Land Commissary' Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer , who published the Westbote , moved from Homburg to Zweibrücken in 1831 . At the turn of the year 1831/32 Johann Georg August Wirth , editor of the newspaper Deutsche Tribüne , moved from Munich to Homburg because of repressive measures . Even Friedrich Philipp Deil (1804-1853) supported with its " Pirmasenser weekly paper " the motion. Other opposition members of the Palatinate (Bavaria) such as the Bavarian state parliament member Friedrich Schüler , who lives in Zweibrücken, were connected to the movement in advance.

    founding

    Friedrich Schüler, lawyer
    Johann Georg August Wirth, publicist

    Trigger "First Schoolchildren Festival"

    Johann Georg August Wirth and his circle of friends wanted to see the freedom of the press realized. At the end of 1831, Wirth suggested a press association. In this context, there is the “ First Student Festival ” in honor of the Bavarian Second Chamber Representative Friedrich Schüler. The opposition members who met at the banquet saw themselves as patriots . Their demand was that any legitimation must derive from popular sovereignty . In his speech, Schüler adopted the idea of ​​the opposition, which said that the free press was the most important instrument for achieving radical political reform - with or without a prince , is an open question. Schüler's speech gave the impetus to found the German Press and Fatherland Association.

    As a continuation of the idea, those present founded the German Fatherland Association to support the Free Press . The two lawyers Joseph Savoye and Ferdinand Geib together with Friedrich Schüler took the provisional chairmanship on February 21 . According to the German historian Eike Wolgast , Wirth planned the basic features of the German Press and Fatherland Association in the wake of the feast. He had in mind a support and coordination body for the free press. He formulated foreign and domestic political goals, some of which pointed the way for the political content of the Hambach Festival . In the opinion of the media scientist Edda Ziegler, the lawyers Friedrich Schüler and Joseph Savoye from Zweibrücken should also be involved in the formulation of the appeal. The call for non-material as well as material participation in the association was described in the article " Germany's obligations ", which appeared as a " leading article " in issue number 29 of February 3, 1832 in the newspaper Deutsche Tribüne .

    "Germany's obligations"

    The obligations to be assumed by the members for the German Press and Fatherland Association, which were already discussed at the "Student Festival", were:

    1. to make a regular monthly cash contribution according to their income and assets;
    2. to contribute with all his might to the distribution of the journals of the association;
    3. as far as it is in their ability to help ensure that public advertisements and notices by private individuals and authorities are indented in the journals of the association;
    4. as far as time and ability permit, support these journals by means of essays and correspondence articles and
    5. to contribute with all their might to the expedition of the Blätter des Volks by express messengers.

    Eike Wolgast and the German historian Otto Dann establish that Wirth had a European society in mind that would replace the Holy Alliance . A “loyal alliance of the French , German and Polish people” formed the basic framework for the deliberations; In order to suppress the influence of the Russian Empire , a “democratic Poland” should oppose it. The preponderance of the major German states Austria and Prussia would end with the creation of an empire with a “democratic constitution”. The historian Julia A. Schmidt-Funke goes further with the reference to the Hambach Festival and believes that she sees understanding in the speech given by Wirth: that the “united free states of Germany” are actually a condition for the “ confederated republican Europe”.

    The association has the task of participating in the "resurrection of the German nation through the formation of public opinion". The free press serves here the "reunification in the spirit". The article calls for ideal as well as material support. In the service of the cause, Wirth said that "the entrepreneurs of the German tribune [...] cede the property of this newspaper to the association for the support of the free press". They even wanted to forego income except for that which is necessary for the “necessity of life”.

    Meaning of the article "Germany's obligations"

    On February 16, 1832, the Deutsche Tribüne announced that the article would lead to confiscation, but that it had already been distributed 12,000 times and that the same number would be reissued. The issues with the article should also be sent under envelope in order to bypass official access. At the time, the leaflet “ Germany's Obligations ” generated a high level of circulation of supposedly 50,000 copies in comparison with other products. The article was copied from other liberal newspapers. In the aftermath, the authorities partially confiscated this edition of the Deutsche Tribüne , the leaflet and journals that printed the article. Joachim Lelewel thanked Wirth for the article in a letter, as it was part of the enthusiasm for Poland .

    The text is currently used for exercises in interpreting historical text sources in schools.

    Bond between the German tribune and the club

    The Deutsche Tribüne published subscription lists, club news, letters to the editor and lists of members. Since the newspaper accompanied the development of the association, it is regarded as an association and, in a broader sense, as a party newspaper.

    The Union

    According to Hüls and Schmidt's opinion, the article “ Germany’s duties ” could roughly be assigned the function of a statute for the association. The aim of the association was to guarantee the independence of writers and journalists . To this end, the association strived for freedom of the press and supported those who felt committed to the same goal. In addition, the association wanted to achieve the unification of all states in the German-speaking area . With the association, the members strived for " Germany's rebirth in a free Europe ".

    The activities of the association consisted mainly in collecting money, organizing meetings, sending out protest notes and supporting writers and magazines. The association paid money to opposition writers who turned against the ruling regime in their works.

    Ban of the association

    The association should not have existed since March 1, 1832 due to a general association ban. Scholars, Geib and Savoye appealed the ban in vain. In response to the government's request to sign a declaration of non-affiliation with “ secret connections ”, as requested by public servants, Schüler protested in an article in the German Tribune . The German Tribune and the Westbote were also banned at the beginning of March by federal decree; Wirth and Siebenpfeiffer were banned from working for five years . Leaflets were printed to replace the German tribune .

    Justification of the association via detours

    Contrary to the prohibitions at the state and federal level, an edition of the German Tribune, produced by the Zweibrücken printer Georg Ritter (1795-1854), was published again on March 13, 1832 . The Bavarian government then had Wirth arrested. On April 14, 1832, the judges at the Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) in Zweibrücken Wirth acquitted in connection with the allegations at the beginning of March. They interpreted the Bavarian censorship paragraphs in such a way that no criminal acts were recognizable by Wirth and the court emphasized the freedom of the press. As early as April 16, the press reportedly distributed sixty thousand leaflets and announced the acquittal. As a result, the German Press and Fatherland Association was also very popular, which seemed justified by this detour.

    Invitation to the "National Festival of Germans in Hambach"

    Philipp Jakob Siebenpfeiffer, publicist

    In April Wirth and Siebenpfeiffer published their invitation to the "National Festival of Germans in Hambach" ( Hambach Festival ) on May 27, 1832 on the Hambacher Schlossberg , the concept of which Siebenpfeiffer had already presented in January at the First Schoolchildren Festival . Apparently it should be a folk festival. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people followed the call: men and women - foreigners: French, Poles and English - citizens: farmers (especially vintners), craftsmen, members of parliament and students. They all went up to the castle ruins, singing, their flags waving. Once there, speeches were made and a banquet was held, which circumvented the existing ban on gatherings.

    structure

    The association spread rapidly, first in the south-west and south of Germany, then to central Germany. Its activities were supported by pamphlets . Hard arguments with the censorship authorities were the result. But within a very short time the association had over 5,000 members in 116 local groups (committees). A committee of the association was even set up in Paris on the initiative of the Zweibrücken Central Committee. Joseph Savoye traveled to Paris for this purpose in mid-February and secured the collaboration of German authors such as Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne , who were already living in exile in France because of political persecution. The managers of the Paris branch of the association were the businessman Hermann Wolfrum (* 1812) and the journalist Joseph Heinrich Garnier (* 1800), whom Savoye knew from his student days. The association there later became the German People's Association before it split into the League of Outlaws and the League of the Just .

    Club members

    This is only a small selection of the most prominent members from the Palatinate (Bavaria) . In total, the association had around 5000 members at its wedding.

    Non-exhaustive list in alphabetical order:

    meaning

    The German historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler as well as the German legal scholar Michael Kotulla and other contemporary historians who examine modern history see the association “as a relatively well-developed pre-form of a modern political party” with regard to the history of German democracy . For the German historian Christian Jansen , the Press and Fatherland Association is probably the first political “ mass organization in Germany ”.

    Commemoration

    To commemorate the banquet for the establishment of the "Preßverein" on January 29, 1832, the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation still organizes a similar banquet with political lectures every year alternately in Homburg, Siebenpfeiffer's professional location, and Zweibrücken, where the association was founded.

    In addition, the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation awards the Siebenpfeiffer Prize . The memory of Wirth is honored by the Academy for New Media in Kulmbach with the Johann Georg August Wirth Prize .

    swell

    • Indictment Act against Dr. Wirth, Dr. Siebenpfeiffer, Hochdörfer, Scharpff, Becker, Dr. Grosse, Dr. Pistor, Rost, and Baumann all made the direct, but unsuccessful, request to overthrow the state government, and also against Schuelers, Savoye, Geib and Eifler, the first three of a formal plot to overthrow the state government, and the latter of complicity charged with this crime; referred before the Extraordinary Assize Court in Landau, which began on July 29, 1833 Zweibrücken, 1833. Printed by Georg Ritter, 1833
    • Johann Georg August Wirth : "Germany's Obligations" in Deutsche Tribüne, number 29, printed by G. Ritter, Zweibrücken, February 3, 1832, ( limited preview in Google book search)

    literature

    • Johann Georg August Wirth: German Tribune (1831-1832). Newly edited by Wolfram Siemann and Christof Müller-Wirth. Two volumes in three sub-volumes (new version of the original with extensive commentary volume). KG Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-11543-1 . Volume 1: German grandstand. Edited by Elisabeth Hüls and Hedwig Herold-Schmidt. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. By Elisabeth Hüls and Hedwig Herold-Schmidt.
    • Gustav Heinrich Schneider : Der Preß- und Vaterlandsverein 1832/33, A contribution to the history of the Frankfurt assassination , Issue 4, page 183f., Archive for the German Burschenschaft (ed.), Berlin 1896/1897.
    • Cornelia Foerster: The Press and Fatherland Association of 1832/33. Social structure and forms of organization of the bourgeois movement in the time of the Hambach Festival. Dissertation at Trier University, Trier Historical Research Publishing House, Trier 1981, ISBN 3-923087-02-0 .
    • Cornelia Foerster: The German press and fatherland association in the context of early political associations. In: Helmut Reinalter (Ed.): The beginnings of liberalism and democracy in Germany and Austria 1830–1848 / 49. Frankfurt (Main) 2002, pp. 213f.
    • Cornelia Foerster: Association against censorship !. Johann Georg August Wirth and the German Press and Fatherland Association from 1832/33 , in: Axel Herrmann (Ed.): Johann Georg August Wirth (1798–1848). A revolutionary from Hof. His person, his time, his effects, p. 71 f., Hof 1999.
    • Martin Baus: Der Festbote , one-time special edition for the 175th anniversary of the founding of the "German Fatherland Association of the Free Press" on January 29, 2007, with portraits of the spokesmen and contemporary reports, 16 pages, St. Ingbert 2007.

    Web links

    Remarks

    1. ↑ "The fact that one stood up for liberal and democratic demands with public naming, proved civil courage, but also the high degree of politicization that has now been achieved. Political associations were also formed. By far the most important of all was the 'German Fatherland Association for the Support of the Free Press', founded on January 29, 1832, which demanded general freedom of the press in order to openly advocate the democratic-republican constitution of a future all-German nation-state. Its clearly political goals gave it the character of a crypto party; it can be regarded as the 'first example of a constitutionally organized union of opposition subjects.' ”In Hans-Ulrich Wehler: Deutsche Gesellschaftgeschichte 1815–1845 / 49 , edition: IV, Beck, Munich, 2005 , P. 364.
    2. ↑ “In most of the cities in which there were Polish associations , press associations emerged - spurred on by the courageous example of the Polish uprising - which supported the support of a free German press. At the beginning of February 1832, the 'Preß- und Vaterlandsverein' founded in the Bavarian Palatinate, which may be regarded as the first political party organized as a club, demanded the establishment of German national unity. [...] These activities were in turn triggered by official actions against liberal newspapers in the Rhine Palatinate, where the bourgeoisie had won a decidedly defended special position through long membership of France and now, from the latent state of tension, an opposition movement supported by educated citizens, merchants and traders emerged ”. In: Michael Kotulla: German Constitutional History - From the Old Empire to Weimar (1495-1934). Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, p. 410.

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Dieter Langewiesche : On the survival of the Old Empire in the 19th century . The composite state tradition. In: Andreas Klinger, Hans-Werner Hahn, Georg Schmidt (eds.): The year 1806 in a European context . Balance, hegemony and political cultures. Böhlau, Cologne • Weimar • Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-19206-8 , pp.  126-128 .
    2. ^ Wiener Congreß-Acte, Paris Peace Treaties: Definitive tract between His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Highest Allies on the one hand, then, His Majesty the King of France and Navarre on the other. Retrieved March 14, 2013 .
    3. ↑ Dr GM Kletke (Ed.): The State Treaties of the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1806 to 1858 inclusive . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1860, p. 310 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    4. ^ A b Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society 1815-1845 / 49 . IV edition. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-32262-X , p. 363 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    5. ↑ Cornelia Foerster: The Press and Fatherland Association from 1832-33 . Social structure and forms of organization of the bourgeois movement in the time of the Hambach Festival. Trier historical research, 1982, p. 59 (see note 232. Doll, p43. The government justified its action with a decree of 1810, which stipulated the granting of a license, and only to politically reliable printers. The Liberals did not recognize this decree because, contrary to French legislation, the Revolutionary era was enacted without the participation and consent of the parliament. See J. Ph. Siebenpfeiffer, Die Institutions Rheinbayerns, in Rheinbyern I, 1830, p. 29.197.).
    6. ↑ a b House of Bavarian History (Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research and Art): 5th Landtag: 1831 (3rd electoral period 1831–1836) - session: 02/20/1831-29/12/1831. Retrieved on March 16, 2013 ( 6th state parliament: 1834 (3rd electoral period 1831–1836) - session: 04.03.1834-03.07.1834 ).
    7. ↑ a b c d e f g Eike Wolgast : Festivals as an expression of national and democratic opposition - Wartburg Festival 1817 and Hambach Festival 1832 . (PDF; 139 kB) (No longer available online.) P. 8 ff. , Archived from the original on February 4, 2014 ; Retrieved on March 18, 2013 (annual edition of the Society for Fraternity Facial Research 1980/81/1982, edited by Horst Bernhardi and Ernst Wilhelm Wreden , o. O./o. J., pp. 41-71).
    8. ^ Johann Georg August Wirth: The national festival of the Germans in Hambach . Neustadt 1832, p. 4 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    9. ↑ a b Wilhelm Kreutz: Hambach 1832 . German freedom festival and harbinger of the European springtime. Ed .: State Center for Political Education Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 2007, p. 19th f . ( political-bildung-rlp.de [PDF; accessed on January 12, 2013]).
    10. ↑ Hans-Werner Hahn , Helmut Berding : Handbook of German History / Reforms, Restoration and Revolution 1806–1848 / 49 . tape  14 . Klett-Cotta, 2009, ISBN 978-3-608-60014-8 , pp. 446 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    11. ^ A b Edda Ziegler: Literary censorship in Germany 1819-1848 . Ed .: Allitera Verlag. II edition. Allitera Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-86520-200-4 , p. 77 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    12. ↑ a b c d e Johann Georg August Wirth: Deutsche Tribüne (1831-1832). newly published by Wolfram Siemann and Christof Müller-Wirth. 2 volumes in 3 sub-volumes (new version of the original with extensive commentary volume). KG Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-11543-1 . Volume 1: German grandstand. edited by Elisabeth Hüls and Hedwig Herold-Schmidt. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. by Elisabeth Hüls and Hedwig Herold-Schmidt, p. 49 f. (Section on the interlinking of the Deutsche Tribüne and PVV from pages 47 to 52)
    13. ↑ a b Johann Georg Krünitz : economic-technological encyclopedia . tape  195 . Paulische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1848, p. 78 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    14. ^ A b Julia A. Schmidt-Funke: Revolution as a European event. The reception of the revolution and the conception of Europe in the wake of the July revolution in 1830 . In: Hein Duchhardt (Hrsg.): Yearbook for European history . tape 10 . Oldenbourgh, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-58928-3 , pp. 256 ff . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    15. ↑ Otto Dann: Nation and Nationalism in Germany . 1770-1990. 3rd expanded edition. Beck'sche Reihe, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-34086-5 , p. 107 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    16. ↑ a b Elisabeth Hüls, Hedwig Herold Schmidt: Deutsche Tribüne. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. P. 128.
    17. ^ Elisabeth Hüls, Hedwig Herold Schmidt: German tribune. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. P. 94 (see note 239)
    18. ↑ Heinz-Jürgen Trütken-Kirsch: Exercises for the interpretation of historical text sources . In: Analysis and Interpretation of Historical Text Sources & Historical Secondary Texts . Books on Demand, 2009, ISBN 978-3-8370-9042-0 , pp. 37 ( limited preview in the Google book search - see also the exam text as an example; p. 27 ff. (PDF; 1.6 MB)).
    19. ^ Elisabeth Hüls, Hedwig Herold Schmidt: German tribune. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. P. 62 f.
    20. ^ Rudolf Stöber: German press history . II edition. UVK Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 2005, ISBN 3-8252-2716-2 , p. 230 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    21. ↑ a b Eike Wolgast : Festivals as an expression of national and democratic opposition - Wartburg Festival 1817 and Hambach Festival 1832 . (PDF; 139 kB) (No longer available online.) P. 7. , archived from the original on February 4, 2014 ; Retrieved on March 18, 2013 (annual edition of the Society for Fraternity Facial Research 1980/81/1982, edited by Horst Bernhardi and Ernst Wilhelm Wreden , o. O./o. J., pp. 41-71).
    22. ^ Elisabeth Hüls, Hedwig Herold Schmidt: German tribune. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. P. 56, p. 59 f.
    23. ^ Elisabeth Hüls, Hedwig Herold Schmidt: German tribune. Volume 2: Presentation, commentary, glossary, register, documents. P. 58.
    24. ^ Wolfgang Schieder : Beginnings of the German labor movement. The foreign associations in the decade after the July revolution of 1830 , Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1963, p. 14 ff.
    25. ^ Elisabeth Hüls: The German Tribune 1831/32 . Political press and censorship. In: Nils Freytag, Domini Petzold (Ed.): The ›long‹ 19th century . Old questions and new perspectives. Münchner Universitätsschriften Volume X. Herbert Utze Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8316-0725-9 , pp. 34 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    26. ^ Michael Kotulla : German constitutional history . From the Old Reich to Weimar (1495-1934). Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-48707-4 , p.  410 .
    27. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: German history of society 1815–1845 / 49 . IV edition. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-32262-X , p. 364 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
    28. ^ Christian Jansen : Historical magazine. Volume 296, Issue 1 (February 2013), Münster, pp. 222-223r
    29. ↑ Martin Baus: Siebenpfeiffer Prize. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 4, 2013 ; Retrieved November 29, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.siebenpfeiffer-stiftung.de
    30. ^ Thomas Nagel: Johann Georg August Wirth Prize. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 10, 2013 ; Retrieved November 29, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bayerische-medienakademien.de
    31. ^ Indictment Act against Dr. Wirth .
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