Georg Wilhelm Böhmer

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Johann Georg Wilhelm Böhmer

Johann Georg Wilhelm Böhmer (born February 7, 1761 in Göttingen ; † January 12, 1839 there ) was a German theologian and canon law scholar , Mainz Jacobin and co-founder of the Mainz Republic , later justice of the peace and criminal lawyer in the Kingdom of Westphalia and private lecturer at the University of Göttingen .

origin

Georg Wilhelm Böhmer belonged to the Böhmer / von Boehmer family of lawyers , who in the 18th and 19th centuries belonged to the so-called Pretty Families in Kurhannover and in the early Kingdom of Hanover . He was a son of Georg Ludwig Böhmer and Henriette Elisabeth Philippine Mejer (1734–1796) as well as the grandson of Justus Henning Böhmer and brother of the Göttingen law professor Johann Friedrich Eberhard Böhmer .

Early years

From 1779 Böhmer studied theology at the University of Göttingen and also attended seminars in law and heard lectures from Georg Christoph Lichtenberg . After graduating, he became a private lecturer in canon law and church history at the philosophy faculty of this university in 1785 . At that time a habilitation was not necessary for the granting of the license to teach. He also became an assessor of the historical institute. Two years later he brought out a new magazine: Magazine for Church Law, Church and Scholarly History and was awarded Dr. phil. appointed. But Böhmer, for whom the reforms of his father Georg Ludwig Böhmer did not advance far and quickly enough, provoked his superiors with what he was accused of being Calvinist ideas, "excessive and intense free spirit " and angry demeanor. This brought him into conflict with his sovereign, the British King and German Elector Georg III. Although he received support for some of his theses mainly from Johann Salomo Semler , the enlightener had to leave the university.

German Jacobins under French occupation in Mainz 1792/93

Freedom tree
Watercolor by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1793

In 1788 Böhmer moved to the Lutheran Gymnasium in Worms as a teacher and vice-principal ; like his predecessor, the city gave him the title of "professor". There, too, after a short time he came into conflict with the predominantly Lutheran citizenry because of his enlightening statements. Böhmer himself was a Reformed Protestant and, in keeping with his theological role model Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, had tried to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment in the Lutheran grammar school by educating students in tolerance and independent thinking on the basis of reason .

The conflict with citizenship and clergy culminated in May 1789 when the guild / citizenship filed a complaint against Böhmer with Emperor Joseph II in Vienna, accusing him of “free-spirited attitudes, undigested enlightenment cries and scornful contempt for all beliefs” . In view of his enlightened attitude, it is not surprising that Böhmer followed the revolutionary movement in France with great interest and sympathy and welcomed the French Revolution that began with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 . When French revolutionary troops occupied the area around Worms and Speyer on the left bank of the Rhine in 1792 , he signaled to the general of the French troops Adam-Philippe de Custine , who had advanced to Speyer , that he should break the "chains of bondage" in Worms after the capture of Speyer. So he favored the capture of the city on October 4, 1792 by Custine. Böhmer was placed in his service as his personal secretary and also stood by his side when the French troops marched on to Mainz. In Mainz, Böhmer performed administrative and interpreting tasks for Custine, tried to convince the people of Mainz of the French constitution , continued his series of articles “Magazin der Theologie” in the Mainzer Zeitung, continued to take over the editing of this newspaper on October 22, 1792 and was finally the next day co-founder of the first Mainz Jacobin Club in Mainz Castle .

Meeting of the Mainz Jacobin Club in the former electoral palace. Friedrich Georg Pape presented his theses on the relationship between the French constitution and the Catholic Church there on November 25, 1792

This gave him great influence on the occupation and was able to promote the ideals of the French Revolution ( freedom, equality, brotherhood ) and the establishment of a German republic under French protection. In addition to numerous publications, he mainly used the “Mainzer National Zeitung” published by him, which, due to its proximity to General Custine, became a semi-official “government organ”. The establishment of the Mainz “Society of Friends of Freedom and Equality” based on the model of the Paris and Strasbourg Jacobin Club was essentially his work. The twenty-person founding committee consisted mainly of members of the bourgeois intelligentsia. After just a few weeks, the number of members exceeded the 500 limit. The Jacobins of Mainz, which included personalities such as the natural scientist Georg Forster , the mathematics professor Mathias Metternich , the doctor Georg von Wedekind , the theologian Felix Anton Blau and the philosophy professor Anton Joseph Dorsch , formed the spiritual focus of the revolutionary movement on the Rhine. Other Jacobin clubs followed, such as in Worms and Speyer. Despite numerous efforts, such as the ceremonial planting of trees of freedom , the publication of lectures on the declaration of human rights and the achievements of the revolution, and the publication of "revolutionary" pamphlets and newspapers, the support of the majority of the population, especially in the countryside , rather moderate.

Member of the Rhine-German National Convention

Disappointed at the reluctance of the population, the Paris National Convention urged in several decrees of December 1792 that the previous feudal order be removed in the occupied territories and that the revolutionary constitution of France be introduced in the course of elections. The first municipal and convent elections finally began on February 24, 1793 in the area to the left of the Rhine . However, voter turnout was weak. Many citizens were afraid of reprisals in the event of a possible return of the previous rulers, who had fled to the neighboring territory of the empire, and refused to take the prescribed oath of popular sovereignty, freedom and equality with the vote. In addition, the French occupation troops had made themselves increasingly unpopular by collecting high contributions . But after the municipal and convent elections were over after some back and forth, the Rhenish-German National Convention was constituted on March 17, 1793 in Mainz with its 130 elected representatives, including Böhmer with other leading Jacobins. First of all , the deputies declared "the area on the left bank of the Rhine between Bingen and Landau ... a free, inseparable state that obeys communal laws based on freedom and equality" (the so-called " Mainz Republic ") and decided to break away from the German Kaiser and the Reich territory . A little later they applied to the Paris National Convention to incorporate the new republic into the French state. This annexation took place on March 30, 1793, with which the Republic of Mainz came to an end after only two weeks.

In Prussian fortress custody 1793–1795

Electoral Trier fortress Ehrenbreitstein, 1789

With the advance of the Prussian and Austrian armies during the siege of Mainz (1793) , at the end of July 1793, the "French era" came to an end. The besiegers refused to guarantee safe conduct to France for the clubists trapped in Mainz. The attempt to exchange the clubists for hostages arrested in France also failed. Those who could not flee undetected ran the risk of being badly mistreated or even killed by their own compatriots as "traitors to the fatherland" and revolutionaries. Böhmer also fell into the clutches of angry Mainz citizens; the intervention of Prussian troops, which ultimately ensured discipline and banned lynching , may have saved his life. But they brought Böhmer, Metternich and 39 other Mainz clubists and their followers via Bingen to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress near Koblenz . When they were posted on July 29, 1793, both of them made a political statement. The hoped-for release by exchange was not in sight. On December 31, 1793, Böhmer wrote a petition to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia , asking for his release. In the letter he distanced himself from the reign of terror in France that had been in place since mid-1793 under Maximilien de Robespierre and wrote that his conviction no longer allowed him to go to a country “where vice and unbelief triumph and the most sacred human rights are trampled underfoot " . But his request for release was denied. When the French drew closer again, Böhmer was relocated to the Petersberg Citadel near Erfurt in early 1794 with other clubists and their followers .

Political activities in Paris from 1795

In February 1795 Prussia released Böhmer from Petersberg custody in exchange for hostages of the French in the run-up to the Basel Peace . Böhmer and most of the other clubists were able to emigrate to France with their followers. In the meantime, after Robespierre's arrest and execution in July 1794 and the subsequent takeover of government by the board of directors, the political situation had calmed down again. However, the economic situation of the emigrants from Germany was difficult. Therefore, on June 2, 1795, Böhmer wrote another petition, this time to the Paris Comité de Secours Public, and now, referring to his republican sentiments and his important role in the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine by French troops in 1792, asked for financial support Support. This was granted to him.

From then on, Böhmer and his wife lived in Paris. He campaigned for France to occupy and annex the areas on the left bank of the Rhine. With this in mind, he gave a fiery address to the convention in Paris on October 12, 1795, and a year later published a collection of French texts on the annexation of the area on the left bank of the Rhine to France under the title “La rive gauche du Rhin, limite de la République française” . Together with other emigrants from Mainz such as Anton Joseph Dorsch and Felix Anton Blau, he also published the German-language newspaper “Pariser Viewer” , which is to be regarded as the official German-language organ of the Directory and was intended for residents of the German-speaking areas bordering France. His wish for an annexation of the German areas on the left bank of the Rhine soon became a reality: militarily, the balance of power had turned in favor of France with the departure of Prussia and Spain from the anti-Napoleonic coalition . In 1797, the Cisrhenan Republic was proclaimed in some areas on the left bank of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . Shortly afterwards, the beginnings of a “sister republic” ended when large areas of Germany on the left bank of the Rhine were added to France under international law through the Peace of Campo Formio , including Mainz and the surrounding area with the Département du Mont-Tonnerre . During this eventful time, Böhmer served for several years in various offices under the Paris directorate, the First Consul and finally the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte .

Return to Germany in 1807

In 1807 the establishment of the Kingdom of Westphalia under Jérôme Bonaparte , Napoleon's brother, brought him back home. He became justice of the peace in Schlanstedt near Oschersleben in the then Oker department in the newly designed judiciary . Around 1811 he was promoted to judge at the criminal court in Hanover and at the court of appeal in Celle . Also around 1811 he was General Commissioner of the High Police in Heiligenstadt in the Harz department . As such, he also had secret service functions in the interests of France.

In addition, around 1811 Böhmer is listed as an “ auditor in the ordinary service of the Minister of Justice and the Section of Justice and the Interior” and participated in the introduction of the “New Westphalian Criminal Constitution”, which among other things finally abolished torture , and wrote an almost 900 pages “Handbook of the Literature of Criminal Law”.

After the dissolution of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1813, Böhmer was initially entrusted by the University of Göttingen with the compilation of a legal catalog for the library there and then taken on as a private lecturer in 1816. During this time, in addition to the handbook on criminal law, another large text, “On the authentic editions of the Carolina ”, as well as several smaller writings, in which he continued to represent reformist ideas despite the political situation that has meanwhile changed to the restoration , were created. This included justifying the death penalty, but advocating guillotine execution because it was not unnecessarily cruel. Apparently Böhmer's position as a private lecturer was withdrawn for a while, because in 1833 he applied to be re-listed as a private lecturer in the personnel directory. With reference to his work in the university library, the application was granted. This is likely to have included college fees, but not a salary: Instead, the private lecturers were only granted rights of use at the university's facilities. In order to save costs, the University of Göttingen even expected its professors to hold lectures in their private apartments, at least for smaller audiences. Funding for the acquisition of literature and equipment was rarely granted to private lecturers.

family

Georg Wilhelm Böhmer married Juliane von Mußig from Zerbst for the first time in 1790 . The first child from this marriage, the exact dates of which are unknown, died shortly after the birth, the other, August Ludwig Sigismund (* 1792), in March 1795 in Friedberg during the parents' emigration to France. Before 1816 he married Valentine Veronica Benzrath (1783-1829) from Trier . With her he had the son and later farmer and landlord Georg Friedrich August (1819–1868) and the daughter Dorothea Amalia Louise (1816–1889). She later married Paul Emil Meyer (1805–1886), the son of the President of the Hamburg Cathedral Chapter Friedrich Johann Lorenz Meyer and Sophie Friederike Amalie Böhmer (1766–1840), a sister of Georg Wilhelm. Georg Wilhelm's third marriage followed in 1831 to Charlotte Bacmeister (1780–1845), daughter of the bailiff from the old monastery Johann Christian Bacmeister (1741–1803) from the Hanoverian line of the renowned Bacmeister family. This marriage remained childless.

Works (selection)

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Mlynek : Pretty families. In: Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein (eds.) U. a .: City Lexicon Hanover . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2009, ISBN 978-3-89993-662-9 , p. 310.
  2. ^ Letter of request from Georg Wilhelm Boehmers dated December 31, 1793 to the Prussian King , quoted in n. Franz Dumont: Liberté and Liberty. Documents of Franco-German relations in 1792/93 , pp. 403–405. In: Francia, Research on West European History , Volume 6, Munich 1978, pp. 419-421
  3. ^ Letter of petition by Georg Wilhelm Boehmers of June 2, 1795 to the French-Republican Comité , quoted in n. Franz Dumont: Liberté and Liberty. Documents of Franco-German relations in 1792/93 , pp. 405–406. In: Francia, Research on West European History , Volume 6, Munich 1978, pp. 421-422
  4. ↑ Wolfram Siemann: "Germany's peace, security and order": The beginnings of the political police 1806 - 1866. P. 59 f in: Volume 14 of studies and texts for the social history of literature, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1985, ISBN 9783111629988
  5. ^ Georg Wilhelm Böhmer: Critical history of the guillotine. Weimar 1821.
  6. ↑ Georg Wilhelm Böhmer: About the punishment of the Precipitation. 1821.
  7. ↑ Johannes Tütken, Hans Tütken: Privatdozenten im Schatten der Georgia Augusta: To the older Privatdozentur (1734 to 1831). Part II: Biographical materials on the private lecturers in the summer semester of 1812 . Universitätsverlag Göttingen, 2005, ISBN 9783938616147 , p. 706

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Böhmer, Georg Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Böhmer, Johann Georg Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and canon law scholar
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1761
PLACE OF BIRTH Goettingen
DATE OF DEATH January 12, 1839
Place of death Goettingen