Parade of the Württemberg people

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Excerpt from the representation of the parade in the so-called small cycle , here as an old-colored chalk lithograph from Verlag R. Braun in Stuttgart: various delegations from shooting societies and virgins as well as representatives of Württemberg offices .

The pageant of the Württemberg people was held on September 28, 1841 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the throne of King Wilhelm I of Württemberg in Stuttgart . With around 10,000 participants and 200,000 spectators, it was the highlight of the anniversary celebrations. In addition to paying homage to the monarch, the pageant also highlighted the togetherness of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which was formed from different rulers at the beginning of the 19th century .

history

The Kingdom of Württemberg at the beginning of the 19th century with territorial increases from 1803

In 1803 the Duchy of Württemberg was elevated to an electorate . In 1806 it rose to become a kingdom under Napoleon Bonaparte . In addition to the original territory of Old Wuerttemberg , Upper Swabia , the western Allgäu , the county of Waldburg , Esslingen , Reutlingen and other imperial cities as well as monasteries and aristocratic lords were added. The new territories also included Catholic areas, which now received a Protestant sovereign - a challenge for integration. The change of rule was drastic; Princes and counts had to submit to their new king, Friedrich I , and some of the population had to get used to a new nationality. The citizens of the formerly free imperial cities were also affected; their councils were restricted in their decision-making powers.

In the autumn of 1816 Wilhelm I took over the government. If his father had still ruled absolutistically in his kingdom , the son introduced constitutional elements into the rule of the country. In 1819 a constitution was enacted in which divine right was combined with rights of the people. Local self-government, the separation of administration and justice as well as a reduction in bureaucracy led to an upswing in the economy and public life. The high national debt that arose under Frederick I was reduced, agriculture promoted and new social welfare institutions created. During the revolution of 1848/49 Wilhelm recognized the basic rights and a new imperial constitution. The king led his country with foresight, he was educated and humble. He was respected in the population. By paying homage to their king on the anniversary of the reign, the subjects also celebrated Württemberg as their fatherland .

anniversary

4 ducat piece from 1841, minted on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Wilhelm I.

Friedrich I died on October 30, 1816, the procession on September 28, 1841 paid homage to King Wilhelm on the occasion of his almost 25-year reign since he ascended the throne; On the same day, the 60th birthday of the king, who was born on September 27, 1781, was celebrated by one day.

The anniversary was accompanied by many measures and activities. Political prisoners were amnestied and charitable foundations were established. Memorial stones were set, trees were planted and commemorative coins were minted. There were fireworks and bonfires were burned all over the country. Numerous memorial writings paid homage to the king. The pageant in Stuttgart was the highlight of the celebrations.

There had been pageants on royal birthdays or government anniversaries before. The anniversary train of 1841 should surpass them. It was intended to illustrate the diversity of the kingdom, the boom in the economy and the unity of the population. The parade of homage was a display of bourgeois traditions and pride, a reflection of Württemberg society in the middle of the 19th century with all social and professional groups. In contrast to other tributes to the ruler, the parade did not contain any elements of a military parade (exception: veterans from the Napoleonic wars ) or medieval historical depictions. The organizers staged the image of frugal Biedermeier coziness.

Organization of the pageant

The first impetus for the anniversary celebrations came from the Landesgewerbeverein für Württemberg, founded in 1830, which was joined by representatives from the agricultural sector. On November 9, 1840, at a gathering of agricultural associations in Hohenheim, it was decided to form a festival committee to determine and coordinate various anniversary activities. This action committee included members of the Landtag chambers and the Princely House as well as other nobles. The Council of State Karl von Gärttner took over the chairmanship of the committee .

The fixation of the anniversary pageant on September 28th corresponded to the wishes of the king, the government and the estates. The pageant was mainly organized by the citizens and municipal colleges of Stuttgart. It was decided to set up a private security service, which should ensure the smooth running of the pageant and was provided by 360 citizens. The police and the military were not involved. The court architect Johann Michael Knapp and the artists Manfred and Carl Alexander Heideloff were responsible for the external design of the pageant.

Design of the train

View of a festival float accompanied by representatives of the Karchner Guild from Reutlingen and delegations from Besigheim , Marbach , Schorndorf , Waiblingen and Welzheim .
Car with the municipal administrative edict of 1818, which restored municipal self-government in Württemberg. The edict presented by the Stuttgart city council was accompanied by men in Roman togas with bundles of lictors and a vigilante department.

10,390 people took part in the anniversary parade. 23 floats and 716 animals were carried along. The train consisted of twelve departments that presented the country's economy. The order of the participants dressed in regional costumes corresponded to the sectoral distribution of the Württemberg economy around 1841. The various branches of agriculture presented themselves first. Trade, industry and trade followed. Representatives of all 64 senior offices were also involved.

The procession was led by the Stuttgart Civil Guard on horseback, who were accompanied by heralds and heraldic kings in black gold and black red and trumpeters. On the 23 floats, drawn by teams of four, six or eight horses, predominantly working environments were presented, such as making cheese , spinning or activities in a vineyard. The Agricultural Institute of Hohenheim was present on a float one painted in gold color Plow modern agricultural machines in the institution's own farm implements factory teachers and students to demonstrate development. The car from Esslingen was dedicated to the Hardtmann brothers' cloth factory from Maile and showed valuable textiles from their production. The city of Waiblingen presented the products of the then most important manufactory in the city, the clay tube factory of the brothers Ernst and Jakob Bihl, on the wagon sent to Stuttgart. Stuttgart butchers carried an ox on the train under the motto Whoever Despises King Wilhelm, '' He will be slaughtered like this ox '' .

“... The Württemberg Oberland brought its sheep farms, its flax and hemp, the Unterland its fruit and wine, even an entire vineyard; the Black Forest sent one of its largest oaks, the salt pans their salt and their miners and smelters their metal [...] a meadow was presented with a team of four mighty bulls [...] the Danube sent a ship, whereupon a singing company sat ... "

- Consommé. Political and non-political. : The Bavarian Landswoman (1841)

A copy of the administrative edit from 1818 was also shown on a car (see illustration in the picture on the right). The original of the constitutional charter from 1819 was carried on a velvet cushion by city councilors from Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg and Tübingen . Other participants in the procession were single or in formation integrated mountaineers (a total of 640 riders took part), groups of virgins, pupils from schools, war veterans, around 30 bands and around 2000 members of 70 choral societies. The participants were armed with hundreds of flags, standards and emblems.

procedure

The participants of the pageant formed in Stuttgart on September 28 between eight and nine in the morning. They came from various assembly points to the starting point of the train at Charlottenplatz or lined up at the designated position on Esslinger, Hauptstätter and Tübinger Strasse. Accompanied by cannon shots and the ringing of bells, the train set off at 10:30 a.m. and reached the New Palace on Schlossplatz via Königstrasse at around 12 p.m.

Sitting on a horse, King Wilhelm accepted the homage of the parade participants as they passed in front of the New Palace; the parade lasted two hours. The king wore civilian clothes, a sign of the bourgeois character of the procession. The royal family, including the 18-year-old Crown Prince Karl , watched the events from the palace balcony. Afterwards, the city ​​school gave a speech and the 2000 members of the choral societies sang the festival song, which was composed and composed for the occasion, on the palace square, Which King May One Praise? as well as the German Te Deum as alternating chant Herr Gott, we praise you and the chorale Now all thank God .

“In the early morning music through the streets and music from the towers woke locals and strangers alike, and led them out onto the ornate streets and squares. The best decoration, the most lively accessories, however, were the thousands of spectators who covered all the squares and streets in festive garb and kept all the windows occupied from the lowest storey to the gables of the houses. In total the procession formed over 10,000 participants, among them around 1,000 women and virgins, 600 riders and 30-40 wagons, hundreds of flags, emblems, etc. and more than 30 music bands. At 10:30 the long-awaited signal rang out: three cannon shots. The trumpets blared, the music resounded, the singers of the wreaths of songs raised their songs, the flags fluttered and the sign to march was given. With solemn steps and a calm demeanor, they marched through the Koenigsstrasse, which was the densest of all with people. When the train arrived in front of the castle square, the bells of the four parish churches rang and the cannons thundered. The beloved king had stepped out of the castle and mounted his horse, to the delight of all who found it all the easier to see the father of the country closely. The Crown Prince was at his father's side. Her Maj. The Queen and the whole family were seated in a tasteful tent built over the main balcony. [...] Well over a hundred thousand people may have attended the procession and the festival as participants and spectators. "

- Report in Der Adler of October 7, 1841

Significance and aftermath

Jubilee column on Schlossplatz in Stuttgart, before 1863, still without the Concordia statue, which was only added in 1863

The pageant was a unique event in Württemberg and went down in the history of the state. The approximately 200,000 visitors who celebrated the parade and the king corresponded to five times the population of Stuttgart; thus every ninth Württemberg resident was present at the event. The contemporary response to the pageant was consistently positive, sometimes exuberant.

"... an exhibition of the most beautiful and the best, whose Württemberg enjoys, a tribute to which all members of society had shaken hands out of free instinct."

- Karl Pfaff : History of the City of Stuttgart (1846)

A dialect poet from Tübingen , Wilhelm Friedrich Wüst (1796–1863), published a popular poem for the pageant in Swabian dialect: How Frieder tells the pageant of the Württemberger in the inn . The lyricist Eduard Mörike created the opera text Das Fest im Gebirge , which, however, was neither printed nor performed. The pastor and poet Albert Knapp , who belongs to Pietism , wrote poems for the event; further poems and commemorative publications were also written by authors who are largely unknown today.

The joy of the spectators and the cheers for the king that day were not staged; For many people from New Württemberg, the pageant had probably strengthened the feeling that they belonged to the still young kingdom. This was also shown by the celebratory anniversary activities in the country's former imperial cities.

The pageant demonstrated a civic self-confidence that could celebrate itself in a royal jubilee. This unity was particularly noticeable, since in the previous year there had been conflicts between the monarch and representatives of the people at two other state celebrations, the state days of homage to the accession of the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. , In Berlin and Königsberg.

“The right to active participation in political events expressed here in a symbolic act [meaning the presentation of the constitutional document at the pageant], as reflected by the entire festival, is itself a symbol of the existing opportunities for political participation. Or, as it was called in the official 'Memories of the pageant': The attitude of a people, where it represents itself, is the measure of its political culture. "

- Manfred Hettling : Reform without revolution: bourgeoisie, bureaucracy and local self-government in Württemberg from 1800 to 1850 (1990)

However, the Württemberger pageant was not a complete reflection of the state of the kingdom in 1841. Even if Protestant and Catholic clergy took part in the pageant, there was always tension between the two religions in the empire. The non-participation of members of the gymnasts and fraternities promoting a united Germany is also striking . Only a few years later, liberal ideas and the desire for more freedom led to protests in Württemberg in the run-up to the revolution of 1848/49 .

In the middle of the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart, where the procession passed the king, a temporary wooden column designed by Johann Michael Knapp had been erected. In place of this pillar, a later decision of the parliament with the participation of various artists made a 30-meter-high anniversary pillar, which was unveiled two years later, on the king's birthday, and still stands in the center of the palace square today. The initiative for the establishment came from the President of the Chamber of Deputies , Karl Georg von Wächter .

The major event of 1841 is remembered again and again in Württemberg. Sometimes parts of the train are re-enacted or the participation of organizations that still exist today is thought of - as at the Cannstatter Volksfest or in 2016 by the shooting club for the 175th anniversary in Neuffen . A replica of the historical float with a replica of the Cannstatter fruit column , which was carried in the procession in 1841, was awarded the first prize of the competition held there in 2009 at the large harvest festival wagon parade on the occasion of the Vincent Festival in Wendlingen am Neckar . In 2010, the Nagel collectors' museum showed a copy of Autenrieth's pageant cycle in Kornwestheim . In 2011, the special exhibition "The Wuerttemberg Pageant 1841" took place in the Ellwangen Castle Museum .

Lore

In addition to the festival program, a memory book and the contemporary reports, two picture cycles were created for the homage procession. The two works show participants and floats in colored print. The larger cycle was published by the court art dealer CF Autenrieth (Stuttgart, Königsstrasse 19b). It is beautifully designed and rich in detail. The multi-color lithographs were re-colored, possibly with the aid of stencils. The four known, still preserved copies are incomplete, they only show half of the pageant; it is assumed that the cycle was not completed. This (partial) work was assembled into a paper web after printing 54 single sheets and delivered in roll form. A copy obtained at the University Library of Tübingen has a total length of 25 meters. A facsimile-like edition (not rolled) was published in 2005 by Thorbecke-Verlag .

The smaller cycle ("Kleiner Festzug") was published by the R. Braun publishing house (Stuttgart, Brunnenstrasse 28). It consisted of five large-format, multi-colored sheets of paper, on which the entire parade was shown in a meandering form to save space. The representation of the participants is simplified compared to the large cycle as well as greatly reduced in number. Originals of this work are also rare.

Cannstatter Wasen

For the Cannstatter Wasen , which has been held since 1818, the anniversary parade of 1841 was a special highlight, as it was partly repeated on the following day on the occasion of the folk festival taking place in Bad Cannstatt . The parade of 1841 gave rise to the tradition of the parade to the Cannstatter Wasen, which is still cultivated today and which attracts thousands of visitors every year with its brewery teams, traditional costume groups and music bands.

On September 30, 2018, the Cannstatter Volksfestverein organized a scaled-down replica of the parade from 1841 on the occasion of the anniversary of the folk festival. Around 4500 participants moved from the Kursaal to Wasen with twelve replica floats and cattle.

literature

Web links

Commons : Festzug der Württemberger 1841  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ute Schäfer, The Birth of the Fifth Season in Crailsheim , September 10, 2016, swp.de
  2. ^ Leo von Stieglitz, Search for Identities: Der Festzug der Württemberger in: Günther H. Oettinger , The Kingdom of Württemberg 1806–1918: Monarchie und Moderne , Württembergisches Landesmuseum (ed.), Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2006, p. 420
  3. ^ Karl Johannes Grauer, Wilhelm I, King of Württemberg: a picture of his life and time , Schwabenverlag, 1960, p. 258f. (Snippet)
  4. ↑ Gert Kollmer-von Oheimb-Loup , Industry, trade and commerce in the Württember pageant - a real image? , in: Markus Dewald (Hrsg.): The pageant of the Württemberger from 1841 , ISBN 978-3-7995-0160-6 , Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2005, p. 61
  5. ↑ The Göppingen stands honor the king , GP stories, p. 118 , Goeppingen.de (Hohenstaufenstadt Göppingen)
  6. ↑ Andrea Hartl, Oktoberfest and Cannstatter Volksfest: from the national festival to mass pleasure , dissertation at the University of Augsburg, Herbert Utz Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-8316-0934-5 , p. 123
  7. ↑ About Romans, Tubes and Government Anniversaries ... , Heimatverein Waiblingen e. V. - Society for City and Art History
  8. ^ Christian Gottlob Barth : History of Wuerttemberg , Calwer Verlagsverein (ed.), Calw 1876, p. 267 ; Merian , Volume 25, Hoffmann and Campe, 1972 (Snippet)
  9. ^ Die Bayerische Landbötin, second half of 1841, Verlag der Hofbuchdruckerei Joseph Rösl, Munich 1841, p. 1043
  10. ↑ abroad . In: Der Adler (1838–1843) . October 7, 1841, p. 1 ( ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online [accessed April 22, 2020]).
  11. ↑ History / Timeline , Main Agricultural Festival , in Stuttgart Event Company (responsible)
  12. ^ Karl Pfaff , History of the City of Stuttgart: based on archival documents and other proven sources , Part Two: History of the City from 1651 to 1845 , CA Sonnewald, Stuttgart 1846, p. 300
  13. ↑ Nicola Siegloch, opening of the exhibition “The Path to Modernism - Ulm and Upper Swabia in the Kingdom of Württemberg 1810”, Gothic House Leutkirch, July 8, 2010
  14. ↑ Matthias Schwengelbeck, Die Politik des Zeremoniells: Homage celebrations in the long 19th century = Historical Political Research (Volume 11), ISBN 978-3-59338-336-1 , Campus Verlag, 2007, pp. 165f.
  15. ↑ Manfred Hettling, Reform without Revolution: Bourgeoisie, Bureaucracy and Local Self-Government in Württemberg from 1800 to 1850 , ( Critical Studies in History , Volume 86), Dissertation at Bielefeld University , ISBN 978-3-647-35749-2 , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1990, p. 12
  16. ^ Philip Sandrock, When Württemberg Came to Stuttgart, June 17, 2016, Nürtinger Zeitung
  17. ↑ The winner is the traditional costume group of the Kübelesmarkt Bad Cannstatt , September 1st, 2009, Nürtinger Zeitung
  18. ^ Invitation to the opening of the exhibition: The Württemberger pageant in 1841 , Kornwestheimer Kultursommer
  19. ↑ Last guided tour of the "Festzug 1841" , October 18, 2011, Schwäbische Zeitung , Ellwangen edition (subject to a charge)
  20. ^ The delegation of the Stuttgart butchers at the pageant of the Württemberg people in 1841 , German Butcher Museum Böblingen
  21. ↑ a b Markus Dewald (ed.): The pageant of the Württemberger from 1841 , ISBN 978-3-7995-0160-6 , Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2005
  22. ↑ a b Wasen: Volksfestverein resurrects the pageant from 1841 . September 27, 2018, Eßlinger Zeitung
  23. ^ Co-anniversary: ​​Wasen and Hohenheim , July 27, 2018, University of Hohenheim

Remarks

  1. ↑ It was a copy of the so-called "Golden Plow", the first scientifically tested and completely manufactured agricultural device - a flagship product and bestseller of the Hohenheim farm equipment yeast factory , according to Special exhibition: Dt. Agricultural museum at the historical folk festival , University of Hohenheim ; Co-anniversary: ​​Wasen and Hohenheim , July 27, 2018, University of Hohenheim
  2. ↑ What is meant is the magnificent ship of the Ulmer Schifferverein, gem. Grand ship in Cannstatt , September 29, 2018, Südwestpresse , Pressreader
  3. ↑ In 1834 (six years before the anniversary date) the kingdom had approx. 1.5 million inhabitants, according to The Kingdom of Württemberg in figures , Baden-Württemberg State Archives
  4. ↑ There are different information about the date: September 29 and 30, 1841