Franckh-Koseritz conspiracy

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The Franckh-Koseritz conspiracy , a military and civil conspiracy , was an attempt to prepare for a republican revolution. The conspiracy is linked to the Frankfurt Wachensturm . The main conspirators were Ernst Ludwig Koseritz (1805-1838) and Friedrich Gottlob Franckh (1802-1845).

prehistory

The military head of the conspiracy was the first lieutenant of the 6th regiment Ernst Ludwig Koseritz. From 1825 he was a lieutenant in the Hohenasperg fortress - a prison for legally convicted criminals as well as for " political prisoners ". Here he had contact with oppositional students of the Youth League . The impressions of the French July Revolution of 1830 and the “enthusiasm for Poland” of his compatriots for the freedom fighters of the Polish November uprising of 1830/31 led him to the opposition camp. From 1831 Koseritz, together with Sergeant Johann Samuel Lehr, collected supporters in the lower ranks of the regiment for the ostensible purpose of serving the "People's Cause". Among his fellow officers, he drew lieutenants Raht and Venninger and lieutenants Becher, von Müldenstein and Reitter into his trust. He also sought contact with the Poles-friendly Ludwigsburg citizens, including the Gürtler Dorn. The meeting point for the opposition was the “Räuberhöhle” wine tavern. In April 1832 political emissaries (emissaries) from France came to Ludwigsburg and one of them, Major Rosecky, as an old soldier, had an influence on the mood of like-minded people.

The “categorical and most indomitable supplier of ideas” (Gad Arnsberg), on the other hand, was the bookseller Friedrich Gottlob Franckh, who was in Paris in 1831 . There he had contact with the republican club "Les amis du peuple" and got to know the like-minded Georg David Hardegg . The “German section” of the “Les amis du peuple” was founded by them together with other German republicans. Hardegg returned to Württemberg from Paris in December 1831, Franckh in March 1832. Both Hardegg and Franckh sought to implement their vision of German unity. For this purpose, Franckh traveled to the Hambach Festival in May 1832 , where liberal, bourgeois opposition members from all parts of the German Confederation met and demanded national unity , freedom and popular sovereignty - some of the participants even the open revolution. Following the Hambach Festival, the federal government in the Free City of Frankfurt passed resolutions that provided for repression against the opposition. On July 5, 1832, the Federal Assembly passed ten articles “to maintain the legal order and calm in the German Confederation”, which supplemented the six articles previously dated June 28, 1832. These resolutions created the impression in the opposition movement that legal reform seemed hopeless and that a revolution would therefore be inevitable as a necessity.

Shortly after the festival, the emissaries Obermüller and von Rauschenplatt of the German Press and Fatherland Association reached Koseritz. These were representatives of the association, which had also organized the Hambach Festival in advance. As a result of the resolutions, the association had to be reconstituted in Frankfurt am Main , as its previous Hambach executive board was arrested for persecution or fled the country.

preparation

Koseritz got in touch with Franckh through their childhood friend Rudolf Lohbauer , who had been a speaker at the Hambach Festival. Supported by his financial means, Frankh traveled to Frankfurt and met the conspirators there, including the lawyer Franz Gärth . At the same time, Georg David Hardegg was in Ludwigsburg, in preparation for a possible uprising, to be given lessons in fencing and drill by NCOs and for this he kept in touch with the republicans in the Ludwigsburg "robber's den". He convinced friends of his youth from school for the revolutionary idea and thus drew his schoolmates, the painter Friedrich Ludwig Groß, the pharmacist's assistant Gottlieb Heinrich Mayer and the medical student Gustav Widenmann, into their trust. In August 1832 Koseritz met Hardegg and Franckh in person in the “robber's cave”. Until the end of 1832, the conspirators exchanged views on the progress of the planning. From Frankfurt, for example, the teacher Friedrich Wilhelm Knöbel traveled to Stuttgart to report. One imagined that the army would support the revolution and believed that there would be a people's army in Württemberg , the “ Rheinpfalz ”, the Duchy of Nassau , the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Electorate of Hesse as soon as action was taken. Thus Koseritz became the military leader, while Friedrich Gottlob Franckh and Georg David Hardegg took over the political leadership.

Koseritz and Franckh were of the opinion that the revolution should be sparked by oneself. In September 1832 they decided to let the concrete implementation take place in the following year, whereby Koseritz promised to initiate the impetus with a military uprising. Hardegg considered it necessary to root the idea even more firmly in the population of Württemberg and thus improve the chances of a successful revolution. Because of this, at the end of 1832 there were differences between him and Franckh about the right time. His friend Mayer later testified: "The difference was that Franckh wanted a republic and only then wanted to create a republican attitude, while Hardegg wanted a republican attitude first and then a republic". Georg David Hardegg began studying in Tübingen in the fall of 1832 and tried to win supporters for the idea of ​​the republic there. Since he had little success with the students, he propagated it among the farmers in the surrounding area. He obtained leaflets about this from Franckh in Stuttgart, which he distributed to the villages together with his friend Mayer, who had also moved to Tübingen - Widenmann was there once. Faithful to the throne and altar, the conservative rural population was hostile to the idea. Pastors who were informed by farmers reported the leaflets to the authorities. This initiated an investigation, which also led to it. Franckhe traveled to Frankfurt at the beginning of 1833 to agree to the uprising, as time was of the essence. On January 30, 1833, Mayer and Widenmann were arrested in Tübingen. Hardegg traveled to Stuttgart to inform Franckh of the arrests and shortly afterwards returned to Tübingen. There he found his room sealed and volunteered the next day. A short time later, on the ninth, Franckh was also arrested. However, the arrested held back during the interrogation, so that further co-conspirators could not be identified by the government for the time being.

The arrests accelerated the overturn plans. Gärth and Koseritz met on March 3rd in Schluchtern near Heilbronn . On the part of Gärth, the pharmacist Trapp from Friedberg and the candidate Breidenstein from Homburg were present. Köseriz had brought Dorn with them. Both sides made a unanimous decision that they would strike on April 3, 1833 after four weeks. Koseritz assures that he can stand up for two infantry regiments, but he was not sure of the matter himself. He therefore sent Dorn to Frankfurt as the date approached, to explain that the matter had not been prepared in Württemberg. Gärth raged over this news and sent the ambassador with the request: “Keep your word! and to open the revolution on April 3rd under all circumstances ”.

The plan and the failure

Several hundred conspirators, armed if possible, were to storm the main guard in Frankfurt. The team should be disarmed or persuaded to join and go to the Bundestag together to lift it in full session. A popular uprising unleashed by the guard storm would have to secure the action and would prevent the recapture by loyal troops. At the same time, Koseritz had the plan to stir up the Hohenasperg garrison company. The local artillery should then move out and take position at the powder towers near Ludwigsburg. In addition, at midnight he wanted NCOs to move the two infantry regiments of the Württemberg army from the barracks to positions in front of Stuttgart in order to cut off the city. The cavalry regiments were to be kept busy, at best drawn to the side of the revolutionaries, until the peasants arrived. Together with these Koseritz wanted to break in to the gates, take the arsenal and arm the peasants. A break-in found out in advance that weapons for around 40,000 men were stored in the Hohenasperger Arsenal. After this action was completed, the train was supposed to march to Stuttgart and there capture the king and proclaim the republic. Similar revolts were planned in Hesse and Rhine Bavaria. In addition, republican-minded Polish officers had been assured who would march into Germany from their French exile with French auxiliaries.

On April 3, 1833, Koseritz received a last warning from Frankfurt in Ludwigsburg. He moved away from the common plan with the Frankfurters. Perhaps this is how Joachim Baur writes: "Hardegg was missing, according to Koseritz: 'one of the most decisive revolutionaries and always ready to strike', as well as Frackh, who had always pushed forward to break through his hesitation". According to Biffart, Köseritz said: "We want to see how far they go down there". On April 5th, before the news of the exit of the guard tower arrived, he gathered the familiar NCOs near Ludwigsburg. But in the afternoon the news of the failure came. Koseritz then broke off the action. On June 1, the co-conspirator Dorn was arrested and Koseritz himself six days later.

Biffart wrote that the plan was rash because all the assumptions were excessive. The Hohenasperg crew had not been won and only 60 NCOs had agreed to participate. In Stuttgart no one knew about the conspiracy and the farmers remained calm. Joachim Baur wrote that the plan may sound fantastic, but that it had a real basis, based on the events of the French, Belgian and Polish uprisings. The mood in Germany and other European states gave hope for a unified German republic in a liberal Europe freed from princely power.

The consequences

After the discovery of a growing circle of conspirators, the investigations were restructured. The government declared the Royal Court of Justice of the Neckar District in Esslingen to be responsible for the civilians involved, the Tübingen Higher Regional Court dealt with the activities of the Tübingen fraternity and the Ludwigsburg military government took over the litigation for those involved in the military.

Military participants

Koseritz and his military supporters were tried between March 23 and 31, 1835 for high treason . Koseritz was sentenced to dishonorable cassation (dismissal) and the death penalty by shooting, as was his confidante, Sergeant Lehr. Other military participants received lower penalties. The king upheld the sentence on April 20, 1835. Only immediately before the execution on April 24 was the death penalty issued. The pardoned Koseritz and Lehr were escorted to Bremen, provided with funds and embarked for life in exile in America. The other parties involved began the sentences.

Civilian Participants

The judicial inquisition proceedings against suspected civilians took an unusually long time and only came to an end with the appeal on January 29, 1839. Royal decrees in June 1833 called for the investigations and convictions to be accelerated, but the investigation reports were not finalized until 1835. The actual legal proceedings lasted another three years. Between January 23 and February 17, 1838, sentences were pronounced against 31 of the original 50 accused of high treason. The belt member Christian Wilhelm Dorn was sentenced to 15 years, Franckh and Hardegg to 14 years each in prison, taking into account part of the five-year pre-trial detention. In the 1839 appeal proceedings, the sentences of some of the defendants were reduced, in the case of Franckhs and Hardeggs to nine years. The second instance assessed the conspiracy as distant rather than immediate preparation for overthrow. For other civilian participants, the sentences ranged from 10 years down to 2 months. In some cases, the imprisonment was ended prematurely by a royal amnesty in connection with the 25th anniversary of the reign of Regent Wilhelm I on September 25, 1841.

evaluation

Joachim Baur stated in 2000 that the conspiracy was typical of its time, the " Vormärz ", in many ways : the participants were young, the group was not limited to academic youth, but was open to the petty bourgeoisie and the craftsmen. The company is embedded in a European revolutionary movement, from which it has drawn its almost naive optimism . Enlightenment elements mixed with revolutionary activism, whereby goals and means are not clearly defined. The main demands for Baur were a republic and the national unity of Germany with a liberal constitution. In addition, there are also considerations about the reformability of states, ideas of a constitutional monarchy alongside radical democracy and bourgeois-capitalist views, as well as early socialist and anarchist moments. The participants are united to act lawfully in the interests of progress and this with a strong, often passionate will and conviction for change. The reaction of the governments, the suppression or smothering of the uprising and the often subsequent draconian punishments would also be appropriate for this time. The repression had been intensified since 1832 (and again later in 1834). Thus there was little prospect of a revolutionary transformation of Germany at that time.

literature

  • M. Biffart: History of the Württemberg Hohenasperg festivals . Karl Aue, Stuttgart 1858, p. 123 ff . ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
  • Theodor Schön: On the Koseriz conspiracy (based on the most kindly made available records in private possession). In: Diözesanarchiv von Schwaben , 25th year 1907, pp. 17–24 and pp. 33–41.
  • Gad Arnsberg: The early democratic-revolutionary counter-move. In: Otto Borst (Hrsg.): Aufruhr und Abstagung. March 1815–1848 in Baden and Württemberg. Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0878-6 , pp. 65-86.
  • Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879) . In: Historical Association for the City and District of Ludwigsburg e. V. (Hrsg.): Ludwigsburg history sheets . 54th year Ludwigsburg 2000, p. 69-94 ( die-exponauten.com [PDF]).
  • Gad Arnsberg: Democrats, "ultra-liberals" and other enemies of the state. On the Württemberg military and civil conspiracy from 1831 to 1833. In: House of History Baden-Württemberg (Hrsg.): Political prisoners in southwest Germany. Tübingen 2001, pp. 74-100. ISBN 3-87407-382-3 .
  • Gad Arnsberg: ... about the need for a German republic. The Württemberg military and civil conspiracy 1831-1833 (= publications of the Commission for historical regional studies in Baden-Württemberg. Series B: Research 211). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2017. Review
  • WB: A memory from the thirties . In: The Gazebo . Issue 23, 1863, pp. 365-367 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ The title of the pamphlets was Germany's rebirth and echo of the German people's voice in Joachim Baur: A Revolutionary with Two Attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 75.
  2. ↑ The military participants were sentenced as follows:
    1. Sergeant Lehr as assistant Koseritz - demotion to soldier, disgraceful expulsion from the military, death penalty by shooting
    2. First lieutenant Raht 5th Infantry Regiment - release and 4 years of strict imprisonment
    3. Sub-lieutenant Reitler 3rd Cavalry Regiment - release and 2 years of strict imprisonment
    4. Subordinate Becher 4th Infantry Regiment - released and 2 years of strict imprisonment
    5. Sub-lieutenant von Müldenstein 8th Infantry Regiment - release and 2 years of strict imprisonment
    6. First Lieutenant Venningerdes 4th Infantry Regiment - Dismissal without saying goodbye, ½ year strict imprisonment
    7. Sergeant Essich 2nd Cavalry Regiment - demotion, disgraceful expulsion and 5-year labor sentence
    8. Sergeant Pallmer 6th Infantry Regiment - demotion, abusive expulsion and 5-year labor sentence
    9. Sergeant Krafft 6th Infantry Regiment - demotion, abusive expulsion and 4-year labor sentence
    10. Sergeant Breckle 6th Infantry Regiment - 3 ½ year labor sentence
    11. Feldwebel Jung 5th Infantry Regiment - 3-year labor sentence
    12. Obermann Bellon 6th Infantry Regiment - 3-year labor sentence
    13. Obermann Zucker 6th Infantry Regiment - 3-year labor sentence
    14. Obermann Krafft - 2 ½ year labor sentence
    15. Obermann Keller - 4 weeks imprisonment
    16. Staffourier Knight 3rd Infantry Brigade - demotion, abusive expulsion ½ year imprisonment
    in M. Biffart, Stuttgart, 1858, pp. 132-136.
  3. ↑ The civil parties whose presumed involvement was investigated and judgments in the first instance / after appeal:
    1. Franckh - 14 years in prison / 9 years after revision
    2. Hardegg - 14 years in prison / 9 years after revision
    3. Christian Wilhelm Dorn, Gürtler from Ludwigsburg - 15 years in prison (in Franz Regle: The Bavarian People's Friend No. 36 of March 3, 1838, Franz Seraph Hübschmann, Munich, 1838, Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
    4. Gottlieb Heinrich Mayer, pharmacist's assistant from Heilbronn
    5. Franz Malté, lithographer from Stuttgart - 9 years (in Franz Regle: Der Bavarian People's Friend No. 36 of March 3, 1838, Franz Seraph Hübschmann, Munich, 1838, Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
    6. Friedrich Ludwig Groß, painter from Ludwigsburg
    7. Ernst Schreiber, legal counsel from Heilbronn - 10 years (in Franz Regle: Der Bavarian People's Friend , No. 36 of March 3, 1838, Franz Seraph Hübschmann, Munich, 1838, Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
    8. Albert Kraus, gold worker from Ludwigsburg
    9. Gustav Widemann, stud. med. from Ludwigsburg
    10. Ernst Friedrich Kauffmann , Preceptor from Ludwigsburg
    11. Ferdinand Weihenmayer, architect from Ludwigsburg
    12. Gottlieb Friedrich Schwarz, baker from Ludwigsburg
    13. Ferdinand Wilhelm Krauss, gold worker from Ludwigsburg
    14. Johannes Schertlen, lithographer from Ulm
    15. Eduard Schmidlin , gardener from Stuttgart
    16. Friedrich Dehm, journeyman cobbler from Unterweissach
    17. Jakob Friedrich Kammerer , screen maker from Ludwigsburg
    18. Friederike Kammerer, his wife
    19. Gottlob Büchle, watchmaker from Ludwigsburg
    20. Friedrich Himmelreich, merchant from Ludwigsburg
    21. Gottlieb Körner, beer brewer from Ludwigsburg
    22. Josef Christoph Frech, baker from Ludwigsburg
    23. Gottlob Friedrich Fieß, landowner from Hemmingen
    24. Gottfried Haller, hat maker from Stuttgart
    25. Kaspar Unz, farmer on the Egartenhof
    26. Heinrich Herrlinger, landowner from Großgartach
    27. Karl Friedrich Eberbach, businessman from Großgartach
    28. Karl Kower, candidate from Reichenbach
    29. Alois Schmitt, private teacher from Stuttgart
    30. Gottlob Tafel , legal counsel from Stuttgart
    31. Friedrich Rödinger , legal counsel from Stuttgart
    32. Dr. Wilhelm Friedrich Schäufelen, city doctor from Möckmühl
    33. Friedrich Roscher, scribe from Stuttgart
    34. Wilhelm Wagner, legal counsel from Balingen
    35. Hermann Schmidlin, Preceptor from Stuttgart
    36. Johannes Möhrlin, private teacher from Ludwigsburg
    37. Friedrich Häberle, braid maker from Ludwigsburg
    38. Georg Friedrich Conrad, Schwanenwirt from Illingen
    39. Carl Conrad, Kronenwirt from Mühlacker
    40. Conrad Klett, shoemaker from Illingen
    41. Heinrich Conrad, tanner from Dürrmenz
    42. Johannes Letsch, councilor from Zillhausen
    43. Konrad Lang, senior actuary from Balingen
    44. Buttersack, assistant council administrator from Rosenfeld
    45. Dr. med. Hartmann from Balingen
    46. Carl Roth, supervisor from Tübingen
    47. Gottlieb Mangold, wage employee from Stuttgart
    48. August Zoller , journalist from Stuttgart (son of Karl August Christoph Friedrich Zoller )
    49. Ernst Traugott Eifert, printer from Tübingen
    50. Johann Christian Walker, carpenter from Tübingen
    in Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 79 ff & high treason case Frankh and comrades in the state archive of Baden-Württemberg

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Commission for historical regional studies (ed.): Handbook of Baden-Württemberg History . From the end of the Old Kingdom to the end of the monarchies. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-91467-6 , pp. 296 ( books.google.de ).
  2. ↑ M. Biffart: History of the Württemberg festivals Hohenasperg . Karl Aue, Stuttgart 1858, p. 123 ff . ( Text archive - Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ Franz Regle: The Bavarian People's Friend . Franz Seraph Huebschmann, Munich 1838, Sp. 299 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  4. ↑ a b M. Biffart, Stuttgart 1858, p. 127 f.
  5. ^ A b c d Joachim Baur: A Revolutionary with Two Attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879) . In: Historical Association for the City and District of Ludwigsburg e. V. (Hrsg.): Ludwigsburg history sheets . tape 54 . Ludwigsburg 2000, p. 69-94 ( die-exponauten.com [PDF]). online ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.die-exponauten.com
  6. ^ Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 71 f.
  7. ^ Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 73 f.
  8. ^ Otto Büsch: Handbook of Prussian History . Volume two. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-11-008322-1 , p. 195 ( books.google.de ).
  9. ↑ a b c M. Biffart, Stuttgart, 1858, p. 129 f.
  10. ↑ a b c d e M. Biffart, Stuttgart, 1858, p. 131 f.
  11. ^ A b Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 75.
  12. ^ A b c d Joachim Baur: A Revolutionary with Two Attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 76 f.
  13. ↑ a b c d e Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, pp. 74 f, 77.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i M. Biffart, Stuttgart, 1858, pp. 132-136.
  15. ^ Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 78
  16. ^ Joachim Baur: A revolutionary with two attempts Georg David Hardegg from Eglosheim (1812–1879). 54/2000, p. 79 ff.