Iserlohn uprising of 1849

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Iserlohn uprising in May 1849 in Westphalia was one of the most important so-called May uprisings as a result of the imperial constitution campaign in the final phase of the German Revolution 1848/1849 .

Call of the Iserlohn Security Committee in 1849
Profile of the apprehension of the "ringleaders" of the uprising
Memorial to the victims of the uprising in the Iserlohn main cemetery

Origin and development

The relocation and eventual repeal of the Prussian National Assembly caused a new wave of political movements in Westphalia. It is noteworthy that at times Liberals and Democrats worked together. So there was a congress in Münster in November 1848 , in which representatives of democratic, constitutional and other political associations took part. After the proclamation of the imposed Prussian constitution at the beginning of December, the situation in Westphalia calmed down again, but the actions of the authorities against the leading participants in the congress, such as the arrest of Jodocus Temme , Johann Matthias Gierse and 12 other people, rekindled the mood. The result was that the Democrats - the most determined supporters of the revolution - were stronger than the conservative, liberal or Catholic candidates in many constituencies in the elections for the Prussian House of Representatives in Westphalia at the end of January and beginning of February. The situation was exacerbated by the rejection of the imperial crown by Friedrich Wilhelm IV. And the imperial constitution campaign initiated by the Central March Association . The resulting movement is also known as the May Revolution . In Westphalia, Iserlohn was the central location of these events.

The starting point was the mutiny of the Landwehr troops - a militia-like army supplement to the regular line troops. These units formed during the Prussian reform period were on the one hand known as a refuge of Prussian patriotism, on the other hand they were regarded by the government as a quasi-democratic and, especially in revolutionary times, unreliable institution. On May 10, 1849, 1,500 soldiers called up mutinied in Hagen who feared they would be used against the revolutionaries in Baden . About 400 members of the Landwehr moved from Hagen to Iserlohn. There they received support from the other industrial areas of the former county of Mark , but also from the rural parts of the former Sauerland region in Cologne . In Iserlohn was armory stormed a radical and Security Committee on the model of yet on May 10, the French Revolution furnished. The chairman was the "moderate democrat" lawyer Karl Schuchart , who tried to exert a moderating influence on the movement. On the same afternoon a delegation was sent to the Oberpräsident in Munster to bring the demands: withdrawal of the draft notice; no use of the military against the city; Amnesty for the insurgents. The delegation was unsuccessful, and the help expected from outside was not provided. Courted Democrats with military expertise waved them off. Food became scarce and the insurgent workers lacked wages.

On May 17, 1849, the Prussian line troops ( Infantry Regiment No. 24 ) succeeded in conquering the city. Although Lieutenant Colonel Schrötter, commander of the fusilier battalion, was killed, the other losses were low (one dead, four wounded). On the part of the rebels and civilians, there were more than 100 deaths, probably mainly as a result of a massacre : soldiers of the regiment, enraged by the death of their ambushed battalion commander, searched the houses and executed their residents as well as those who had fled if weapons or ammunition were found . Dozens of people have been arrested, and around 80 have been charged. The majority, however, were acquitted in subsequent legal proceedings. The leaders of the Iserlohn uprising - Caspar Butz from Hagen, Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Grevel from Hagen and Karl Post from Eilpe near Hagen - were able to emigrate.

After the suppression of the uprising, the state defense units from Westphalia were actually used to fight the revolution in the Palatinate and Baden. The city of Iserlohn had to endure - and pay for - "heavy military billeting" for a year until spring 1850.

References and comments

  1. a b c Peter Bürger : "Shoot him, the dog of the Democrats!" In: Telepolis of May 17, 2016.

literature

  • Harm Klueting: History of Westphalia. The land between the Rhine and Weser from the 8th to the 20th century . Paderborn, 1998. pp. 288-289. ISBN 3-89710-050-9
  • Wilfried Reininghaus / Axel Eilts: Fifteen months of the revolution. The province of Westphalia from March 1848 to May 1849. In: Wilfried Reinighaus / Horst Conrad (Hrsg.): For freedom and law. Westphalia and Lippe in the revolution of 1848/49. Münster, 1999. ISBN 3-402-05382-9 , pp. 32–73. v. a. Pp. 65-73.
  • Theodor Fontane: The 24th regiment in 1848 and 1849. In: Walks through the Mark Brandenburg, first volume. Cologne, 1997. p. 253. ISBN 3-89508-696-7
  • Julius Köster: The Iserlohn Revolution and the unrest in the county of Mark: May 1849; according to official files and reports from contemporaries. Berlin, 1899 digitized