Principality of Paderborn

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The Principality of Paderborn (also Hereditary Principality of Paderborn ) was a Prussian-owned principality that existed between 1803 and 1806/07. It was created through the secularization of the Paderborn Monastery .

location

The Principality of Paderborn lay west of the Prussian heartland in the east of Westphalia ; south of the Principality of Lippe , on both sides of the Egge Mountains and west of the Weser . In the south the principality bordered Waldeck and Kurhessen . The main town was Paderborn. Other larger cities were Warburg and Brakel .

The former territory of the principality lies in what is now southern East Westphalia in the districts of Paderborn and Höxter . It largely corresponds to the region known today as the Paderborn Monastery. The principality of Corvey with the city of Höxter, bordering the northeast, did not belong to the Principality of Paderborn .

history

After Prussia occupied the Minden bishopric in 1802, the Paderborn bishopric was awarded to Prussia in 1803 as compensation country on the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss Prussia. Paragraph 3 of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss reads: “To the King of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg, for the Duchy of Geldern, and the part of the Duchy of Cleve on the left bank of the Rhine, for the Duchy of Moeurs, the districts of Sevenaer, Huissen and Malburg, and for the Rhine and Maas tariffs: the dioceses of Hildesheim and Paderborn; .... ". The ruler was therefore the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. , who assumed the title of Prince of Paderborn in 1803 and whose dynasty held this title until the end of the monarchy. The Prussian kings now also had the Paderborn monastery coat of arms in their coat of arms.

The last prince-bishop of Paderborn, Franz Egon von Fürstenberg , had to give up secular rule over the monasteries of Paderborn and Hildesheim, but he retained the spiritual jurisdiction over his dioceses until his death in 1825 and was allowed to continue to use his spiritual and princely titles. Prince-Bishop Franz Egon von Fürstenberg resided mainly in Hildesheim and was buried there in the cathedral.

The Principality of Paderborn was often referred to as the “Hereditary Principality” because, in contrast to the Prince-Bishop elected by the Cathedral Chapter and confirmed by the Emperor and Pope , the King of Prussia now became Prince of Paderborn in the capacity of Elector of Brandenburg .

The designation (hereditary) principality was suspended between 1806 and 1813 during the surcharge of the area under the rule of the Napoleonic King of Westphalia ( Department of Fulda ) and then only symbolically restituted. After the area fell back to Prussia, the area became part of the Province of Westphalia, following an administrative reform carried out in 1816 . The term Principality of Paderborn then only played a role in the dynastic succession for the King of Prussia and was no longer an administrative unit.

Administrative division

Soon after the Prussian occupation, rural districts were set up in which district administrators were appointed. Historically, the territory was divided into the Oberwald and Unterwald districts ; the Prussian authorities set up three circles:

After the French period and the renewed occupation by Prussia, the territory of the principality was added to the five new districts of Höxter , Warburg , Paderborn , Büren and Brakel in 1816 . The territory of the Principality of Corvey was added to the new district of Höxter .

Personalities

Within the Prussian administrative structure, the principality was subordinated to the Munster War and Domain Chamber and initially had no top authority of its own. It was not until 1806 that August von Reimann was appointed permanent commissioner of the Munster War and Domain Chamber in Paderborn. The three district administrators appointed in 1803 were Wilhelm Friedrich von Bocholtz in the Oberwald region, Maximilian von Elverfeldt in the Unterwald region, and Philipp von Wolff in the Warburg district. Wilhelm Friedrich von Bocholtz was replaced in 1806 by Karl Moritz von Haxthausen as district administrator in the Oberwald district.

literature

  • Theodor Kraayvanger: The organization of the Prussian justice and administration in the principality of Paderborn . In: Münster contributions to historical research . Schöningh, Paderborn 1905, chap. The appointment of the district administrators , p. 44 ff . ( Digitized version ).
  • Wilhelm Grabe (Ed.): New Gentlemen - New Times? Sources for the transition period 1802 to 1816 in the Paderborn and Corveyer Land . Paderborn 2006 (studies and sources on Westphalian history; 52).
  • Friedrich Keinemann: The Paderborn Monastery at the end of the 18th century . 1996, ISBN 3-8196-0405-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Josef Nowak: More than a thousand years - life pictures from the history of the Church of Hildesheim. Chapter Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg - The Last Prince Bishop , pp. 81–84. Hildesheim 1974.
  2. Thomas Reich: Erbfürstentum Paderborn, circles. Finding aid G111. Landesarchiv NRW Westphalia department, 2013, accessed on November 1, 2017 .
  3. ^ Rolf Straubel : Biographical manual of the Prussian administrative and judicial officials 1740–1806 / 15 . In: Historical Commission to Berlin (Ed.): Individual publications . 85. KG Saur Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-23229-9 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 43 ′ 2.3 "  N , 8 ° 45 ′ 11.2"  E