Battle on the Scheideck

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Battle on the Scheideck
Contemporary lithograph of the battle
Contemporary lithograph of the battle
date April 20, 1848
place Scheideck near Kandern
output Victory of the Baden and Hessian federal troops
Parties to the conflict

Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio) .svg republican irregulars

to batheGrand Duchy of Baden Grand Duchy of Baden Grand Duchy of Hesse
Grand Duchy of HesseGrand Duchy of Hesse 

Commander

Friedrich Hecker

General Friedrich von Gagern †
Colonel Heinrich Wilhelm von Hinckeldey

Troop strength
1200 2200
losses

10 dead

4 dead; 15 wounded; 6 missing people

Fighting in the course of the Baden Revolution of 1848/49

The battle on the Scheideck (also battle near Kandern or in the spelling Scheidegg ) took place on April 20, 1848 during the Baden Revolution on the Scheideckpass southeast of Kandern in southern Baden . Friedrich Hecker's revolutionary campaign in Baden met troops of the German Confederation under the command of General Friedrich von Gagern . After a few negotiations and skirmishes, a brief battle broke out on the Scheideck, in which von Gagern fell and the rebels were dispersed. The federal troops took up the chase and on the same day dispersed another revolutionary platoon led by Joseph Weißhaar . The battle on the Scheideck ushered in the end of the two revolutionary marches. After the battle there were disputes over the circumstances of Gagern's death.

prehistory

History map of the Hecker train (red route)
Entry of a white-haired-Struveschen vigilante column in Lörrach on April 20, 1848 on the way to support the Hecker platoon in the battle on the Scheideck. (Oil painting by Friedrich Kaiser )

Friedrich Hecker, Gustav Struve and other radical democrats were disappointed by the pre-parliament established after the German Revolution of 1848/1849 . They demanded a break with the princes and further revolutionary actions that would ultimately lead to the establishment of a republican German federal state. The majority in the pre-parliament, on the other hand, favored a constitutional-monarchical federal state, which was to be created with the participation of the princes. Hecker and Struve could not get their ideas through and neither were elected to the Fifties Committee, which was to continue the business of the pre-parliament until the election of the National Assembly. Hecker then returned to Baden, where he was a member of the Second Chamber of the Baden Estates Assembly . The mood here was heated: The government feared marching free troop trains from France and debated whether soldiers from Hesse and Württemberg should be stationed in the country to defend themselves. Hecker spoke out against it in parliament on April 7th. A day later, his close confidante Josef Fickler , editor of the Seeblätter and an important agitator of the radical democrats in the Seekreis , was arrested at the behest of MP Karl Mathy . Since Mathy had no sovereign powers as a member of parliament, this determination was illegal; Hecker now feared his own arrest and fled from Mannheim via France to Constance. Here he proclaimed the revolution on April 12th and began his revolutionary march the following day. Initially supported by fewer than 60 supporters, he began to march from Konstanz towards Karlsruhe, in the hope that other fighters would join along the way. Against the revolutionary efforts in Baden, the government had troops of the 8th Army Corps of the Federal Army , which consisted of Baden, Hessian and Wuerttemberg units.

Due to the presence of Württemberg troops near Donaueschingen , Hecker was pushed south there and in the following days moved west until he reached the meadow valley and marched through it to Steinen . He tried to get north again from Steinen and reached Kandern on April 19th. But even there, the federal troops were already nearby: Baden and Hessian troops led by General Friedrich von Gagern had come to Schliengen by rail and marched from there to Kandern. Hecker had meanwhile made the decision to retreat to Steinen in order to unite with another 700-strong revolutionary platoon led by Joseph Weißhaar . He set out on April 17th in Lottstetten and marched along the High Rhine to Loerrach, where he turned north-east towards Steinen. Gustav Struve partly marched with this and other trains.

Troops involved

The federal troops consisted of Hessian and Baden associations . The Baden contingent consisted of a battalion of the Baden body regiment , a battalion of the second Baden infantry regiment and three squadrons of dragoons . A battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment formed the Hessian contingent. The federal troops had six guns. The commander was Lieutenant General Friedrich von Gagern, who formally commanded the 2nd Baden Division and represented Margrave Maximilian . After his death, Colonel Heinrich Wilhelm von Hinckeldey, commander of the 1st Baden Dragoon Regiment , took over the command. The Baden Major Gustav Kuntz acted as Chief of Staff of the federal troops. The participating revolutionary Karl Kaiser estimated the strength of the federal troops at 2,200 men. The fact that Friedrich von Gagern was in command of the armed forces is sometimes seen in the literature as an indication that the government did not want to take draconian measures: Gagern was politically experienced and had more liberal and national views. On the other hand, the appointment of a “stranger” led to unrest in the Baden officer corps and among the Republicans.

Opposite the federal troops was Friedrich Hecker's approximately 1,200-strong revolutionary train. The armament of the train was very mixed and partly consisted only of scythes . Important military leaders were August Willich and Karl Kaiser. The revolutionaries' artillery consisted of two guns.

course

Map of the area affected by the uprising

Withdrawal from Kandern

In the early morning of April 20, the federal troops under Gagern advanced towards Kandern. The insurgents declined an invitation to give up and withdrew before the town was stormed by federal troops. Gagern and Hecker met on a bridge in front of Kandern; Gagern asked Hecker to give up, but Hecker refused. According to Hecker, Gagern then said to him: “You are a clever man, but a fanatic,” to which Hecker replied: “If devotion to the liberation of a large people is fanaticism, you may call it that.” Both Hecker and Gagern had expressed the hope before the battle that a fight could be avoided if the supporters of the respective counterpart could be won, but neither Gagern succeeded in persuading the militants to turn back and surrendered, nor did Hecker in making the soldiers overflow. The revolutionaries continued their retreat in a south-easterly direction and thus reached the hilly landscape between Kander and Wiesental. Gagern's federal troops stayed close behind them. After about an hour they reached the Scheideck pass, between Kandern and Schlächtenhaus .

Gun battle at the top of the pass

At the top of the pass, a further retreat of the insurgents was ruled out: if the federal troops had taken the height, they would have been able to fire from above the further departure of the revolutionaries. The insurgents then formed a line of defense and set up their guns. Riflemen armed with firearms were set up on the flanks and along the pass road, but the right center consisted of men armed with scythes, behind whom a reserve was also kept. The line-up of the irregulars was unfavorable in several respects; On the one hand, the grim reapers in the middle were directly exposed to any fire from the advancing troops; on the other hand, trees partially blocked the field of fire for the shooters and musketeers. When the federal troops for their part took up positions, the irregulars tried to convince them to defend with shouts. Some revolutionaries stepped out of line and shook hands with the soldiers. How the subsequent firefight came about is unclear. According to the report of the Baden Colonel von Hinckeldey , Gagern was called by the insurgents, asked them to give up again and took a few steps back to his horse when the insurgents opened fire. Hecker, on the other hand, stated that some of the Hessian soldiers had moved towards the revolutionaries with peaceful intent. Gagern and some officers had ridden to the front, the soldiers had returned to the line, the federal troops had received the order to fire, and the insurgents had returned fire. Whichever way the firefight began, both sides fired at each other and Gagern was hit by three bullets and died. The command of the federal troops passed to Colonel von Hinckeldey. Karl Kaiser, who commanded the left wing of the irregulars, wanted to lead the column of those armed with scythes to attack. However, the grim reaper had already got into disorder due to the unclear situation before Gagern's death, and this was now made worse by the fire that started on both sides. The Hessian troops began a bayonet attack and pushed back the insurgents, some of whom fled into the woods and were blown up. A detachment from Konstanzer, which was under the leadership of Theodor Mögling and comprised around 40 men, initially held out, but also had to withdraw when it threatened to be overtaken . The standing engagement had started around nine o'clock and lasted about half an hour; thereafter it remained with a single fire that lasted for another hour. The federal troops advanced on the Schlächtenhaus, which they reached at 12 o'clock. Here a farmer who was carrying a pitchfork and running away from the troops was shot.

Dispersion of the white-haired train

Hinckeldey's troops took a short rest in the Schlächtenhaus and then marched on in the direction of Steinen, where the Struve-Weißhaarsche revolutionary train camped and where 250 to 300 men of the Hecker train had fled. Struve and von Hinckeldey negotiated. The commander of the federal troops demanded the immediate surrender of arms. Struve asked for a period of several hours to withdraw, but von Hinckeldey only allowed him half an hour and then took action against Steinen. The insurgents hastily retreated towards the Swiss border. Their weapons were taken from them at Rheinfelden , and then the Weißhaar-Struve procession also dispersed. While fleeing from the Scheideck, Hecker had lost touch with his irregular group and only reached Steinen after dark, when the place was already being patrolled by soldiers of the federal troops. Supported by some citizens, he continued his escape and also arrived in Rheinfelden after midnight.

consequences

Flyer with a mocking poem about Hecker. About the Scheideck it says in the stanzas five and six: Through the Baar they now wandered, / And afterwards to Wiesenthal, / And there they came across soldiers without number near Kandern. / Noble Gagern, brave Hesse, / Do you want to compete with Hecker? / Gagern, you're not coming back / Vivat up the republic! / Gagern wants to parliament, / But that is not Hecker's way; / "I, he said, should retreat, /" Me with my red beard !? "- Oh! Now you can hear shots cracking, / General Gagern can be seen falling - / And the brave Hinkeldey / sat there on horseback.

Military impact

The battle on the Scheideck led to the dispersal of the Hecker and Weisshaar revolutionary moves and is considered the "central event of the April uprising". It not only meant the end of two revolutionary trains, but also had an impact on other groups of irregulars. Georg Herwegh , whose German Democratic Legion had crossed the Rhine to Baden on April 24 and marched to Kandern on the same day, learned there of Hecker's defeat. Since the union with Hecker was no longer possible, Herwegh marched instead to the east to unite with Franz Sigel's platoon; This did not happen either, and Herwegh had to retreat to Switzerland, but was defeated on April 27 in the battle near Dossenbach . In addition, Hecker's defeat also had an impact on Sigel's vigilante group. Sigel's plan had originally been to gather irregulars and then unite with Hecker. He had reached Todtnau in the Upper Wiesental on April 20 and learned about the battle on the Scheideck there. Then Sigel's group marched through the Wiesental to Schopfheim , where he was joined by some stragglers of the Hecker group. Due to the hostile atmosphere in the city, Sigel moved back to Todtnau and marched from there to Freiburg. In the battle near Günterstal , his platoon was also defeated on April 23 and dispersed the next day.

Controversy over Gagern's death

Just a few days after the battle, a heated controversy broke out between those involved about the circumstances of General von Gagern's death. According to Colonel von Hinckeldey's report, the fire had started from the insurgents when von Gagern, after his last call for surrender, took a few steps back from the vanguard and mounted his horse.

The Basler Intellektivenblatt announced the news of the battle on April 21st and wrote that Gagern and Hecker were having a conversation when the fatal shots were fired. The revolutionaries objected to this representation. In a letter to the editorial staff of the Intelligence Gazette on April 22, Hecker and two other militants wrote that Gagern and other officers had ridden forward to direct the fire and that they were only fired when the federal troops had already fired . Allegations that Gagern perished while negotiating or by opening a fire by the rioters were rejected as "deliberate distortion".

These disputes were followed by other reports from those involved; a soldier of the federal troops even wanted to have seen Hecker himself participate in the opening volley of the irregulars with a pistol, which Hecker also rejected: "During the entire campaign, I never got into the situation, that was what my position meant to just pull out or put on the saber or pistols, let alone make use of them. ”Further explanations were given by officers and soldiers of the federal troops involved and by the irregular Karl Kaiser. The narratives differed in details, but the tenor remained the same: The federal troops claimed that the irregulars fired first, and the revolutionaries charged the federal troops with the first volley. The death of Gagern became an important political issue: In the 1950s committee the news of Gagern's death was announced to the effect that he had been asked to negotiate, had approached the lines of the rioters and had been shot while walking back. Carl Johann Wilhelm Stedmann and Heinrich Wilhelmi expressed their pain and distaste for the "nefarious deed" (Wilhelmi) and the "loss of this excellent man" (Stedmann), and the entire committee rose from their seats in agreement with Stedman's statement. Something similar happened in the second chamber of the Baden Estates Assembly . The discussed “murder” of Gagern's by Hecker's militants raised not only conservatives but also moderate liberals against the republicans.

It was only over time that the view took hold that Gagern had fallen at the beginning of the battle and not been murdered. However, Hecker was confronted with the alleged murder of Gagern even in the 1870s, when he was already living in the United States.

losses

Memorial stone for those who fell in battle
Memorial plaque on the Scheideckpass ( 47 ° 42 ′ 6 ″  N , 7 ° 42 ′ 19.2 ″  E )

There is different information about the losses on both sides. According to Colonel von Hinckedey's report to the Baden War Ministry, the federal troops had four dead, six seriously and nine slightly wounded as well as six missing, the colonel put the number of failures on the other side at least five times as high. Government councilor Stephani reported the approximate number of 35 wounded for the actual battle on the Scheideck, in addition to Gagern's death, and a further 6–10 wounded for the battle with the Weißhaarschen Zug. The historian Frank Engehausen puts the losses on both sides at "a dozen seriously injured and a dozen dead". A memorial stone erected for all those who fell on the top of the Scheideck pass names, in addition to Gagern, a Baden grenadier and eight revolutionaries by name and speaks of two other, to this day unknown, fallen soldiers on the part of the irregulars.

literature

  • The battle at Kandern and the death of Lieutenant General von Gagern on April 20th. According to new, previously unpublished files . Verlag Franz Nöldeke, Karlsruhe 1848. online on Google Books . Collection of reports and messages about the battle, contains among other things:
    • Friedrich Hecker: Statement by Dr. Hecker, May 12, 1848 Google Books
    • Heinrich von Hinckeldey : Report to the War Ministry on the battle of the Grand Ducal Baden and Grand Ducal Hessian troops against the rebels near Kandern on April 20, 1848 Google Books
    • Report of the government councilor Stephani attached to the troops in the Oberland as civil commissioner, from Lörrach on April 20, 1848 Google Books
  • Frank Engehausen: Brief history of the revolution 1848/49 in Baden , G. Braun Buchverlag, Karlsruhe 2010, ISBN 978-3-7650-8596-3 .
  • Sabine Friday : Friedrich Hecker. Biography of a Republican . Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-515-07296-9 .
  • Angelika Hauser-Hauswirth (editor): Paths of the revolutionaries. Hiking routes German Revolution in Baden 1848/49 . LpB Baden-Württemberg, 1998.
  • Friedrich Hecker: The uprising of the people in Baden for the German republic in spring 1848 , Schabelitz, Basel 1848 ( urn : nbn: de: bsz: 31-12120 ).
  • Wolfgang J. Mommsen : 1848. The unwanted revolution . Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-596-13899-X .
  • Karl Morell: The March Revolution and the Baden Uprising . 2nd, revised edition. Scheitlin and Zollikofer, St. Gallen 1849; archive.org
  • Gustav Struve: History of the three popular uprisings in Baden . Jenni, Bern 1849; Google Books
  • Veit Valentin : History of the German Revolution from 1848–1849 . Volume 1: Until the Frankfurt Parliament meets. Reprint, Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne / Berlin 1970
  • Albert Eisele : What went before. Reflections on the battle on the Scheideck on April 20, 1848. In: Die Markgrafschaft, Heft 5/1965, pp. 9-11
  • Albert Eisele: New findings on the battle on the Scheideck on April 20, 1848. In: Die Margrafschaft, issue 11/1967, pp. 10-13
  • Albert Eisele: About the battle on the Scheideck on April 20, 1848. In: Das Markgräflerland , Issue 2/1967, p. 13-16 digitized version of the Freiburg University Library
  • Gerhard Finkbeiner: Did the “Black Lais” belong to the Hecker's snipers in the battle on the Scheideck on April 20, 1848? In: Die Margrafschaft, Volume 1/2004, pp. 133–141; Digitized version of the Freiburg University Library
  • Hermann Schäfer: About the battle on the Scheideck on April 20, 1848. In: Das Markgräflerland , Issue 2/1961, pp. 20–24 digitized version of the Freiburg University Library
  • The truth of the Kanderner Affair . In: The Gazebo . Issue 29, 1872, pp. 477-478 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
  • Report on the battle. Extra supplement to the Freiburger Zeitung , April 22, 1848

Web links

Commons : Skirmish on the Scheideck  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Gustav Struve: History of the three popular surveys in Baden 1848/1849 ; Freiburg, 1980, p. 67f., Quotation: “ In order to establish contact with the Hecker band as quickly as possible, the Weisshaar-Struve Colonne, about 700 strong, moved the following morning, Maundy Thursday, April 20 to Loerrach. There should be rest. "
  2. ↑ Willy Real: The Revolution in Baden 1848/49 (Stuttgart 1983), Fig. 3 (between pp. 64 and 65)
  3. ↑ Mommsen, Die Unwollte Revolution , p. 142.
  4. ↑ Freitag, Friedrich Hecker , p. 115
  5. ↑ Freitag, Friedrich Hecker , pp. 117–118.
  6. ↑ Valentin: History of the German Revolution , p. 491
  7. ^ Karl Morell, The March Revolution , p. 126
  8. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 6
  9. ^ Struve, History of the three popular surveys in Baden , p. 69
  10. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 29
  11. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 51f.
  12. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 74
  13. ↑ a b Stephani in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 5
  14. ↑ a b c von Hinckeldey in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 8
  15. ↑ see August Justus Alexander Keim : History of the Infantry Leibregiment Grossherzogin (3rd Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 117 and its tribes 1677–1902, Berlin 1903, pp. 273–276 Internet Archive - representation of the battle from the Hessian perspective
  16. ↑ Valentin, History of the German Revolution , p. 494 f.
  17. ↑ The battle near Kandern , p. 25
  18. ^ The battle near Kandern , p. 37
  19. ↑ Kaiser in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 32
  20. ↑ Engehausen, Brief History of the Revolution , p. 78
  21. ^ Valentin, History of the German Revolution , p. 495
  22. ↑ Kaiser in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , pp. 25–32
  23. ↑ a b c d by Hinckeldey in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 9
  24. ↑ Hecker in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 16f.
  25. ↑ Freitag, Friedrich Hecker , p. 122
  26. ^ Valentin, History of the German Revolution , p. 496
  27. ↑ a b Hecker in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 17
  28. ^ Morell, The March Revolution , p. 142
  29. ↑ a b Hecker in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 18
  30. ^ Morell, The March Revolution , pp. 143f.
  31. ^ Morell, The March Revolution , p. 144
  32. ↑ by Hinckeldey in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 8f.
  33. ↑ Stephani in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 6
  34. ↑ by Hinckedey in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 10.
  35. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 62
  36. ↑ Hecker: The uprising of the people in Baden for the German republic in spring 1848 , p. 66f.
  37. ↑ a b c Engehausen, Little History of the Revolution , p. 79
  38. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , pp. 65–69
  39. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , p. 33f.
  40. ↑ Hauser-Hauswirth, Ways of the Revolutionaries , pp. 34 and 42
  41. ^ Intelligence Journal of the City of Basel, No. 94, April 21, 1848, printed in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 11f.
  42. ↑ Hecker, Willmann and Schöninger: Letter to the editors of the Basler Intellektivenblatt, April 22, 1848, printed in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 12f.
  43. ↑ testimony of soldiers Lautermilch at bay Infantry Regiment, the Battle of Kandern , S. 15f.
  44. ↑ Hecker's declaration in the Oberrheinische Zeitung of May 12, 1848, printed Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 19
  45. ↑ see Das Gefecht bei Kandern , pp. 20–33
  46. ↑ Minutes of the Fifties Committee of April 22, 1848, in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 57f .; Minutes of the session of the Second Chamber of Baden, April 28, 1848, ibid, p. 59
  47. ↑ see e.g. B. the representation in Meyers Konversationslexikon , first supplement volume, p. 1315 or Valentin, Geschichte der deutschen Revolution , p. 498
  48. ^ Sabine Freitag: Friedrich Hecker: Biography of a Republican , Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1998, p. 136
  49. ↑ by Hinckeldey in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 10
  50. ↑ Stephani in Das Gefecht bei Kandern , p. 6f.
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 24, 2012 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 41 ′ 29 ″  N , 7 ° 44 ′ 8 ″  E