Prince-Bishop's Army in Würzburg

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Troop flag of the Roth-Würzburg Infantry Regiment at the time of the Seven Years' War

The Prince-Bishop's Army, or after secularization from 1805 the Grand Ducal-Würzburg Army, was the standing army of the Prince-Diocese of Würzburg until it was incorporated into the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803 and again from 1806 as the army of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg until its incorporation into the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1814.

history

The prince-bishopric of Würzburg belonged to the Frankish imperial circle . Even before the time as a standing army, Würzburg had temporarily set up armed contingents if necessary. In 1553 it had set up 12 “ flags on foot ” and 1476 “horses” during the Markgräflerkrieg . As part of the Catholic League , it provided an infantry regiment in 1610 and again an infantry regiment in 1619.

As a result of the Peace of Westphalia , all imperial estates , including the prince-bishops, were given the right to maintain a standing army. At the same time, many of the imperial estates no longer completely disarmed their military contingents, even in peacetime, but maintained army units even in peacetime.

In the 18th century, the prince-bishops regularly rented out their own troops to the emperor and other powers, who temporarily integrated the Würzburg troops into the foreign armies and withdrew them from direct access by the prince-bishop during this period. The hiring of auxiliary troops in the 17th and 18th century general military practice in Europe. The sovereign was able to significantly reduce maintenance costs and consolidate the state budget.

Balthasar Neumann

In 1715, the later famous architect Balthasar Neumann entered the army service as ensign of the princely personal company of the Prince-Bishop's Army .

On March 19, 1747 a subsidy treaty was concluded with the Republic of the Seven United Provinces for the provision of two regiments of infantry for a period of two years. After the contract expired, the regiments were ordered to return to Würzburg . On April 23, 1749, the two Würzburg regiments returned to German soil. Their strength had dropped to a total of only 1,140 men.

During the Seven Years' War , the prince-bishop rented the two regiments of Rot-Würzburg and Blau-Würzburg to the emperor . The infantry regiments "Roth-Würzburg" stood by the Imperial Army, "Blue Würzburg" in the Imperial Army . The Prince General of Würzburg Field Sergeant Maximilian Wilhelm Siegmund von Stetten led both regiments in the Seven Years' War. The Blue Würzburg Regiment took part in the Battle of Roßbach and was able to hold the lines and retreat in an orderly manner, with a loss of 32 dead and 259 missing. In 1789, the army consisted of almost 3,000 line troops. Due to the reorganization of Europe and Germany, the prince-bishopric was added to the electorate of Bavaria for the first time in 1803 . This was followed by a brief phase as the secularized Grand Duchy of Würzburg within the Confederation of the Rhine and the renewed formation of state-owned troops as the Grand Ducal Württemberg Army. Like all other states of the Rhine Confederation, Würzburg also had to provide a federal contingent. As part of the alliance with Napoleon , military operations followed in the Fourth Coalition War . In 1809 the house regiment marched to Spain, where it suffered significant losses, especially during the siege of Gerona . Likewise, battles in Catalonia resulted in such heavy losses among the teams that only one battalion of once two remained. This battalion stayed in Spain until it was disarmed with the troops of the other Rhine Confederation states in 1813 after the Battle of Leipzig . Würzburg provided a three battalion strong regiment for the Russian campaign . The remnants of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions returned from Russia and were re-established for the spring campaign of 1813 . The battalions fought near Großgörschen , Bautzen , Weißenberg, Görlitz, Großbeeren , Dennewitz and Leipzig. During the armistice, a fifth battalion was formed and joined the Torgau garrison . After changing sides, the Würzburg troops continued to fight on the side of the Allies. They besieged the (own) fortress Marienberg and took part in the campaign to France.

In 1814, the state was again incorporated into the Kingdom of Bavaria . The Wurzburg troops were now part of the Royal Bavarian Army . The 12th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment was composed of the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the Grand Ducal Würzburg House Regiment. On September 15, 1814, the Würzburg House Regiment handed over the Würzburg flags to the armory in Würzburg.

  • Uniforms of the Grand Ducal Würzburg Army after Richard Knötel

  • Grand Duke. Würzburg troops. 1812

  • Grand Duke. Würzburg Infantry (House Regiment) 1812

  • Grand Duke. Würzburg volunteer hunter corps. 1814

List of subsidy contracts with the emperor

  • November 4, 1675: A contingent of 4,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry was placed in the service of the emperor.
  • December 15, 1688: Convention between Emperor Leopold I and Prince-Bishop Johann Gottfried on the provision of troops against subsidies , concluded in Vienna , confirmed by the Emperor on May 3, 1689 and legally concluded on April 12, 1693 in Vienna
  • July 27, 1701: Conclusion of a treaty in Vienna between Emperor Leopold I and Prince-Bishop Philip II ; he provided 4,000 men (in two infantry regiments of 1,600 men and a dragoon regiment of 800 men) for three years in imperial service and paid 380,000 Reichstaler subsidies. The contract was extended for another three years in 1704
  • November 1, 1706: Conclusion of a subsidy convention with the emperor for one year, ratified on December 24, 1707 and renewed on July 20, 1707
  • Further subsidy contracts between the emperor and the Würzburg monastery followed on October 29, 1712 and January 21, 1730.
  • December 1, 1733: new troop provision contract with the emperor for two infantry regiments with a total of 4600 men
  • December 16, 1757: Troop provision contract at Werneck , agreement between Austria and Würzburg for the free provision of two infantry regiments for the Imperial Army .
  • June 3, 1790: Treaty between Austria and Würzburg for the provision of an infantry regiment of 2068 men for three years, another agreement followed in August 1790 and was renewed on May 28, 1793.

List of campaigns up to 1803

Army barracks

Old barracks
  • Old infantry barracks (from 1724) at Kaserngasse 6, on today's Willy-Brandt-Kai, destroyed in 1945
  • Karthaus barracks (guards building) in Kapuzinergasse (or Kapuzinerstraße) 8 (from 1777), ruins removed in 1958
  • Old barracks , built by Antonio Petrini at the end of the 17th century, artillery barracks in the Kingdom of Bavaria and later the location of a supply unit until 1919.
  • Kitzingen barracks in today's Landwehrstrasse 18, 20, 22, built by Balthasar Neumann between 1733 and 1735, only used as barracks during the Seven Years' War

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archive of the Historical Association of Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, Third Volume, Würzburg 1835, p. 19
  2. ↑ Claus Reuter: The Battle of Roßbach, the Reichsarmee, Thuringia and the Office Rossla in the Seven Years War, Lulu.com , ISBN 138791717X , p. 93
  3. ^ Knötel, Volume II, Plate 34: Würzburg. Grand Duke. Würzburg Infantry (House Regiment) 1812
  4. ↑ Joseph Ehmel: The Austrian historical researcher: Volume 1, Vienna 1838, p. 165
  5. ↑ a b c d e Winfried Romberg: GERMANIA SACRA : DRITTE FOLGE, 8 THE BISTUM WÜRZBURG PDF Gruyter 2014 ISBN 978-3-11-030537-1 . P. 216 to p. 217