Principality of Lichtenberg

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Principality of Lichtenberg

The Principality of Lichtenberg had been a remote exclave of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1816 and of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1834 , which was eventually ceded to Prussia . Located on the right bank of the Nahe , its area is now part of the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate .

history

After Napoleon's defeat in the Wars of Liberation , the areas on the left bank of the Rhine became part of Bavaria , Hesse and Prussia after the Congress of Vienna (1815) . The Duke of Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld Ernst I received a large estate of 8.25 square miles and around 22,000 inhabitants around St. Wendel and Baumholder , initially as a reward for his services as general and corps commander in the battles against Napoleon in 1816 under the name "Herrschaft Baumholder". On September 11, 1816 the formal occupation took place.

By decree of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld on March 6, 1819, the area was renamed the Principality of Lichtenberg, after Lichtenberg Castle located between Baumholder and Kusel .

St. Wendel was the seat of government and residence of Luise von Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg (Duchess of Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) from 1824 until her death in 1831. She was divorced from 1826 and mother of Hereditary Prince Ernst II and Prince Albert , later consort of the British Queen Victoria and resided in St. Wendel during this time.

Due to political unrest in St. Wendel in 1831/1832 and the great distance to the main part of the duchy, the duke sold the principality to Prussia with a state treaty of May 31, 1834 for an annual pension of 80,000 thalers. Hereditary homage to the Prussian king took place on September 22nd of the same year . Large parts of the proceeds were used to expand the private property of the dukes in Grein (Upper Austria). Prussia incorporated the land into the district of St. Wendel in the Trier administrative district of the Rhine province .

Government, administration and judicial organization

After taking possession, a state commission was initially set up as the highest authority of the Principality of Lichtenberg. By decree of May 12, 1821, the "Ducal Saxon Government of the Principality of Lichtenberg" was set up instead. This consisted of two departments. The first department was the "government as state sovereignty and administrative college" and the second the "government as a court of appeal".

As early as 1817, the territory was divided into three cantons and 15 mayor's offices for administrative purposes, which were subordinate to the first department of the government.

The judicial organization was taken over from the French judicial organization on the Left Bank of the Rhine . For civil matters, each canton had a tribunal as the entrance court. These were the peace court Sankt Wendel , the Magistrates' Court Baumholder and the peace court Grumbach . The district court of Sankt Wendel , which was also the criminal court of the first instance, was superior to these. It consisted of a district court director, two judges and a state procurator. An appeal against his judgments was possible before the second department of the government. Prussia took over the entrance courts in 1834 and assigned them initially to the Trier district court , but in 1835 to the more conveniently located Saarbrücken district court (see also courts in the Rhine province ).

By ordinance of April 27, 1821, the regional council was set up as a representative of the state . This consisted of 7 members, of which the canton of Sankt Wendel elected three and the other two cantons two members each. The Provincial Council had the task of advising and assessing laws and the budget. Additional expenditure required the approval of the state committee.

Data

  • Area: 537 km²
  • Population: approximately 25,000
  • Communities: Almost a hundred communities belonged to the principality.

According to the current territorial status, the territory includes:

government

  • Christoph Arzberger (1772–1822), astronomer, high school professor in Coburg, Privy Councilor and President of the Government of the Principality of Lichtenberg 1821–1822 and President of the Chamber of Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld 1821–1822

literature

  • Gerhard Köbler : Historical lexicon of the German countries: the German territories from the Middle Ages to the present . C. H. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54986-1 , p. 375 .
  • Friedrich August Lottner: Collection of the ducal Saxony-Coburg-Gothaic ordinances issued for the Principality of Lichtenberg from 1816 to 1834 , Sander, 1836 ( Google Books )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ordinance concerning the organization of a supreme state authority for the Principality of Lichtenberg, dated May 12, 1821, printed in: Friedrich August Lottner: Collection of the ducal Saxe-Coburg-Gothaic ordinances issued for the Principality of Lichtenberg from 1816 to 1834, 1836, p . 192 ff.
  2. ^ Ordinance concerning the establishment of a supreme judicial authority for the Principality of Lichtenberg, dated May 22, 1821, printed in: Friedrich August Lottner: Collection of the ducal Saxon-Coburg-Gothaic ordinances issued for the Principality of Lichtenberg from 1816 to 1834, 1836, P. 195 ff.
  3. ↑ Max Bär: The Authorities Constitution of the Rhine Province, 1919, reprint 1965, pp. 103-107
  4. ↑ Municipal directory Germany 1900 - Kingdom of Prussia - Rhine province - Trier district - Sankt Wendel district. on: gemeindeververzeichnis.de , map display in: Planning Atlas Rhineland-Palatinate (German Planning Atlas Volume VII), published by the Academy for Spatial Research and Land Care, Hanover, in cooperation with the State Chancellery Rhineland-Palatinate, Hanover 1965; Map IX-2