Hanseatic departments
Hanseatic departments (French: départements hanséatiques ) is the generic term for four departments that emerged after the annexation of north-west German areas on January 1, 1811 as part of the Napoleonic First French Empire . They soon came to an end with the military defeat of the French emperor and general against Russia and Prussia (1813). The north-west German territories incorporated into France were divided into a hierarchical system of administrative districts and administrative levels in accordance with the centralized administrative structure of France. The highest administrative units were the departments . These were inArrondissements , these are divided into cantons and these in turn into mairies (municipalities, communes).
history
As part of the policy of the continental blockade , Napoleon had the German North Sea coast as far as Hamburg, including the hinterland from the Rhine to the Elbe and Lübeck, annexed to France on January 1, 1811 by a decree of December 12, 1810. Parts of East Friesland and Jeverland had come under French control as the Department Oost-Friesland as early as 1806. In 1810, the region finally became part of the French Empire as the Ems-Oriental (Osterems) department . The Duchy of Oldenburg had belonged to the Rhine Confederation since October 14, 1808 , but Napoleon also occupied the territory of his ally in 1810 and added it to the existing department of the Weser estuary. The failed campaign to Russia in 1812 was followed by the defeat of the French in 1813/14 and the possible lifting of the continental barrier.
As early as July 9, 1810, it was decided to annex the Kingdom of Holland , which had been ruled by Napoleon's brother Ludwig Bonaparte , since 1806 , to France. The northern part of the Kingdom of Hanover and areas from the Grand Duchy of Berg were also captured . This arrangement was short-lived. The Bergische arrondissements Münster, Rees and Steinfurt formed the department of the Lippe since April 27th, 1811.
The area along the North Sea and north of the Lippe as well as a line from Haltern via Telgte , Stolzenau , Ratzeburg to Lübeck , annexed on the basis of a French Senate resolution of December 13, 1810, included the duchies of Lauenburg and Oldenburg , the Hanseatic cities of Bremen , Hamburg and Lübeck, the north of the Lippe parts of the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen , the Principality of Salm , north of the Lippe parts of the Grand Duchy of Berg , the former Electorate of Hanover and parts of the Kingdom of Westphalia (in particular the former Duchy of Osnabrück and parts of the former Principality of Minden ).
On January 1, 1811, Napoleon ordered the division into the three Hanseatic departments, and on April 27, 1811 the department of the Lippe was added.
| Name of the department | Headquarters | District (arrondissement, sub-prefecture) |
|---|---|---|
|
Department of the Elbe estuary (French: Département des Bouches de l'Elbe ) |
Hamburg | District of Hamburg |
| Lübeck district | ||
| District of Lüneburg | ||
| District of Stade | ||
|
Department of the mouth of the Weser (French: Département des Bouches du Weser ) |
Bremen | District of Bremen |
| District of Oldenburg | ||
| Nienburg District | ||
| Bremerlehe district | ||
|
Department of the Ober-Ems (French: Département de l'Ems-Supérieur ) |
Osnabrück | Osnabrück District |
| Lingen district | ||
| Minden District | ||
| Quakenbrück district | ||
|
Department of the Lippe (French: Département de la Lippe ) |
Muenster | Münster district |
| Neuenhaus district | ||
| Rees District | ||
| Steinfurt district |
The also controlled Swedish Pomerania with the main town Stralsund remained unchanged.
The departments were each administered by their own prefects. As a district of the 32nd Military Division, however, they were jointly subject to the de facto upper administration by Governor General Louis-Nicolas Davout . The Imperial Court of Justice (Cour Impériale) in Hamburg was the appeal body for all four Hanseatic departments. The court organization of the Hanseatic departments followed the French model.
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the departments dissolved.
See also
- French period in Bremen
- Hamburg French Period
- Lübeck French period
- Brunswick French period
- Left bank of the Rhine
literature
- Helmut Stubbe da Luz : "French times" in Northern Germany (1803-1814). Napoleon's Hanseatic Departments ; Bremen 2003
- Albrecht Friedrich Ludolph Lasius : The French Kayser State under the government of the Kayser Napoleon the Great in 1812 . A historical manual, First Department, Osnabrück bey Johann Gottfried Kißling, 1813