Principality of Moers

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Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806) .svg
Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
Principality of Moers
coat of arms
Coat of arms Moers
map
Map of the Principality of Moers
Map of the Principality of Moers
Alternative names Mörß, Mors, Murs
Arose from County of Moers
Form of rule principality
Ruler / government Prince
Today's region / s DE-NW
Parliament 1 virile vote
Reich register 3 horsemen, 12 foot soldiers, 45 guilders (1522)
Reichskreis Lower Rhine-Westphalian
Capitals / residences Moers
Dynasties from 1702 Brandenburg-Prussia
Denomination / Religions Protestant
Language / n Kleverlandisch
surface 180 km² (around 1800)
Residents 38,000 (around 1800)
Incorporated into France, Département de la Roer (1798–1813)


The Principality of Moers was a historical territory on the left Lower Rhine belonging to Prussia , which had previously represented the County of Moers and comprised the cities of Moers and Krefeld as well as surrounding villages and areas. It existed from 1707 (Prussian rule from 1702) and was dissolved in 1794 during the French occupation.

Occupation by Prussia in 1702

After the death of the Orange William III. on March 19, 1702, who had no children, the Prussians sent Hymmen, the secret government councilor with two notaries, from Kleve to the county of Moers . They posted the Prussian coat of arms on the town hall and castle in Moers as a symbol of the takeover of power. The same took place in all the major towns in the county. This seizure of power was recognized by the Count's drosten , Baron von Kinsky. In contrast, the city ​​council and the citizens of Moers, including many pastors in the county, were not ready for this. You looked at the Wilhelm III. Johann Wilhelm Friso appointed his universal heir as his rightful successor. Because of his young age, however, his mother, Princess Amalie, took over the reign at this time.

Even the Dutch were unwilling to recognize the assumption of office by the Prussians. They therefore did not withdraw their troops from the county and insisted on their jurisdiction. However, with the death of Wilhelm III. the 2nd period without governor in the Netherlands, which facilitated the transition from the Orange to the Prussians. Nevertheless, the complete takeover of power by the Prussians was delayed by over 10 years.

Map section with the Prussian areas of Geldern and the Principality of Moers until 1795

Since Prussian troops fought against the French at the same time as the Dutch in the War of the Spanish Succession , the Prussians initially did not want to enforce their claim to possession by force and therefore tried diplomacy first. However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Dutch, this did not lead to any result. Only Krefeld could be occupied by a ruse on February 3, 1703 and recognized the Drosten Baron von Kinsky and thus the Prussians as their head. Until the final clarification of responsibilities in the county, Krefeld was therefore the administrative seat of Drosten von Kinsky and the seat of the main court. Another disadvantage for the Prussians was that in the first years from 1702 Prussian soldiers in the outskirts of the county confiscated food and money through violent raids and harassed the residents. This inevitably did not lead to a better reputation and encouraged the inclination in the county to oppose a change of authority.

Conversion to principality in 1707

The appeal to the Reich Chamber Court for a decision on the inheritance claim by the Prussians did not lead to a solution. Since Prussia could not achieve any clear success in clarifying the responsibility, an attempt was made to speed up the matter by converting the county into a principality. Despite resistance from the Landtag of Moers, this application was approved by the German Kaiser in 1706 and the Principality of Moers was created . At first nothing has changed. In addition to the city of Moers, many Protestant preachers in the parishes of the county continued to be stubborn opponents of the Prussians. On October 28, 1706, both the preacher Gerhard Pauw from the parish of Repelen and a few other preachers from other parishes were expelled from the county by Drosten von Kinsky.

From 1710 the widespread resistance against the Prussians among the citizens slowly began to crumble. On April 9, 1711 Neukirchen and Vluyn recognized the sovereignty of the Prussians. When Johann Wilhelm Friso died in July 1711 , this further strengthened the position of the Prussians. An attempt by the Prussian General von Horn on October 10, 1712 to bring the city of Moers to recognition only led to scorn and ridicule among the population and the Dutch troops. The experiment therefore had to be terminated without the desired result.

In order to finally end the matter, the Prussian army under General Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau was then instructed to occupy Moers fortress without a fight and to force the Prussians to be recognized as sovereign. On November 7th, 1712, the Prussians took the Dutch occupation by surprise in the city and were able to secretly cross the moats during the night and occupy the fortress walls. In view of the situation, which hardly allowed for a promising resistance, the Dutch allowed the Prussians to move into the city on November 8th and handed over the castle the next day. On November 10th, the city council and citizens paid homage to the Prussians, which formally recognized the change in power. However, the Dutch troops were still in the city. They weren't ready to leave. The stalemate ended on December 31, 1712. Late in the evening, all Dutch officers were secretly captured and expelled from the city. The other soldiers then left the city of Moers. From January 1, 1713, the Principality of Moers was part of Prussia without any restrictions.

Development from 1713 to 1794

After the transition from the Orange to the Prussians was completed, the administration, judiciary and school system were adapted and centralized according to the Berlin requirements. The previous local administration was largely abolished, mayors were no longer elected annually, and the local community representatives were abolished. The administration of justice was carried out by the Moersian government, as was the administration by state officials, and the subordinate regional courts in the larger municipalities were closed. The use of all tax money was also controlled centrally and had to be approved by the king.

Notable events during the first decades under the Prussians were the Rhine flood in February and March 1740 with great flood damage, especially in the areas near the Rhine. Even in the area of ​​the city of Moers, the water was meters high. There followed a bad harvest on the Lower Rhine in 1749, which, with the high prices for food, was particularly problematic for ordinary residents.

Campaign of 1760 with battle at Kloster Camp

The Seven Years' War , which broke out from 1756 , mainly led to major military conflicts outside of the Rhineland. Nevertheless, the Principality of Moers was also affected, as the French were one of the main opponents of the Prussians and their allies. As early as the spring of 1757, the French occupied Prussian territories up to the west of the Rhine and thus the entire principality including the Moers fortress. Prussian troops under Ferdinand von Braunschweig were able to drive the French out of the principality in mid-June and defeat them on June 23, 1757 in the battle of Krefeld . The reconquest, however, was short-lived, as the Prussian troops had already evacuated the entire left Lower Rhine in July 1758 and had to retreat to the right bank of the Rhine. During the campaign of 1760, the Prussians were able to briefly reach the area around Moers. In a military battle in the Kamp monastery area, the French suffered heavy losses at the beginning, but the Prussians had to retreat to the right bank of the Rhine afterwards because of the superior strength of the enemy. The principality remained occupied until the end of the war in 1763 and had to make large payments and contributions to the French.

After the peace agreement on February 15, 1763, the sign with the Prussian eagle was ceremoniously re-attached to the post office building on February 24 in Moers, which was still occupied. The French withdrew on March 6 and the Prussians re-entered on March 10. During a visit by King Frederick II to the principality in the same year, it was decided that the Moers fortifications should be largely dismantled, as they were no longer required for military purposes. The land that became free could be acquired by solvent citizens.

In the time of peace that followed until the end of the 18th century, there was a positive development in the principality as well as in the city of Moers. In 1788, the latter had 316 town houses in addition to 15 public buildings and churches. This was an increase of over 50% compared to the time of the Orange. The number of residents in the principality was around 20,000, and the focus of employment was largely on agriculture, in addition to a steadily growing textile industry. It is noteworthy in this context that in the district of Kleve, to which the principality also belonged, peasants were also represented in the meeting of the estates. In the whole of Prussia this only existed in East Frisia.

French rule from 1794 - 1814

Towards the end of the century, the French Revolution reached the left Lower Rhine. Prussia took part in the First Coalition War against France from April 1792. As early as December 1792, the French made their first brief invasion of the principality, and on December 18th the city of Moers was occupied. After the seizure of large sums of money and contributions in kind, the occupiers withdrew at the beginning of 1793, as the French troops were pushed back as far as France. Moers was reoccupied on October 17, 1794 by the French, who were on the advance again from spring 1794, this time for 20 years. In 1795, in the Treaty of Basel , Prussia renounced its areas on the left bank of the Rhine, including the Principality of Moers, and ceded them to France. An internal accounting of the costs by the Prussian administration showed that a total of 1.2 million thalers in contributions and requisitions had been collected from the French by the time the territories were ceded.

On November 4, 1797, the French department de la Roer was formed. The capital of the department was Aachen, and Moers as a canton belonged to the arrondissement of Krefeld. The territory of Grafschaft Moers , which had existed for more than five centuries and was known as the Principality of Moers since 1706 , was dissolved and now a thing of the past. After the end of the French period it did not revive and remained part of other and larger administrative units.

The entire administration was restructured according to modern French guidelines, the outdated feudal system and guilds were abolished and the civil code for the judiciary was introduced. The secularization of June 9, 1802 led to extensive confiscation of church property and many monasteries and churches were expropriated. Since the nobility largely lost their privileges, the French were not unpopular with the common people at the beginning. However, the taxes and duties to be paid became ever higher and more oppressive, as they were used to finance the maintenance of the French army and the many wars. By measuring the land ownership and introducing a real estate cadastre , it was possible to determine the property tax precisely . Furthermore, the introduction of conscription forced the young men to serve in the French army. During the Napoleonic Wars , the losses among German soldiers increased. As the period of occupation increased, the French became increasingly unpopular.

Renewed Prussian sovereignty from 1815

Napoleon's Russian campaign in 1812 failed with extremely high losses to the invading army. But it was not until the lost battle of the nations near Leipzig in October 1813 that the end of the empire was ushered in. From January 1814, the remnants of the French army withdrew from the areas of the left Lower Rhine, the higher administrative officials followed. On March 10, 1814, the liberated Lower Rhine Generalgouvernement was formed under the leadership of Freiherr vom Stein , to which the areas of the former Principality of Moers also belonged. This ended the French era and the Prussians took over government on the left Lower Rhine from June 15, 1814, first provisionally and finally, from June 8, 1815, after the Congress of Vienna ended .

The county or the principality of Moers as an administrative area were no longer newly established.

The area belonged to the administrative district of Kleve from 1816 to 1821 , from 1822 (until today) to the administrative district of Düsseldorf and thus from 1816 to 1822 to the Prussian province of Jülich-Cleve-Berg , from 1823 to the Rhine province (until 1947). Since the dissolution of Prussia by the Control Council Act No. 46 , the area forms part of the Rhineland within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia .

From April 30, 1815 to 1823, the area belonged to the Rheinberg district , then to the Geldern district and from 1857 together with the Friemersheim mayor, which was spun off from the Krefeld district, to the newly founded Moers district (until 1974). In contrast, the communities of Krefeld and Uerdingen have belonged to the Krefeld district since 1816 (from 1929 independent city of Krefeld-Uerdingen), from 1975 to the city of Krefeld .

literature

  • Irmgard Hentsche: Atlas for the history of the Lower Rhine. Series of publications by the Niederrheinische Akademie Volume 4 , p. 96 ff, Bottrop, 4th edition 2000, ISBN 3-89355-200-6
  • Karl Hirschberg: Historical journey through the county of Moers from Roman times to the turn of the century , Verlag Steiger, Moers 1975
  • Georg Mölich / Veit Veltzke / Bernd Walter: Rhineland, Westphalia and Prussia - a relationship story , Aschendorff-Verlag Münster, 2011, ISBN 978-3-402-12793-3

Individual evidence

  1. a b Gerhard Köbler : Historical Lexicon of the German Lands. The German territories and imperial immediate families from the Middle Ages to the present. 5th, completely revised edition. CH Beck, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-39858-8 , p. 390.
  2. Ernst von Schaumburg , in: King Friederich I and the Lower Rhine , 1879, p. [135] 185.
  3. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, p. [144] 138 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  4. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, p. [145] 139 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  5. a b Peter Caulmanns, in: Neukirchen-Vluyn: his story from the beginnings to the present. Michael Schiffer Verlag, 1968, pp. 58-59.
  6. Ernst von Schaumburg, in: King Friederich I and the Lower Rhine , 1879, p. [150] 200.
  7. ^ Margret Wensky, in: Moers. The history of the city from the early days to the present , 2000, Volume 2, Böhlau Verlag, p. 4.
  8. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, pp. [148] 142, [149] 143 ( digitized edition of the ULB Düsseldorf ).
  9. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, p. [150] 144 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  10. Peter Caulmanns, in: Neukirchen-Vluyn: his story from the beginnings to the present. Verlag Michael Schiffer, 1968, p. 59.
  11. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, p. [155] 149 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  12. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, pp. [155] 149– [158] 152 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  13. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, pp. [159] 153– [163] 157 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  14. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, pp. [165] 159– [167] 161 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  15. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, pp. [171] 165– [175] 169 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  16. ^ Carl Hirschberg, in: History of the County of Moers , 2nd edition. 1904, p. [175] 169 ( digitized edition of ULB Düsseldorf ).
  17. Wolfgang Schieder (Ed.): Secularization and Mediatization in the Four Rhenish Departments 1803-1813, Part V / 1 and V / II Roerdepartement
  18. FWA Schlickeysen, in: Repertory of laws and ordinances for the royal. Prussian Rhine provinces. Leistenschneider, Trier 1830, pp. [13], [14] X ( online edition at dilibri ).