Johannes Frey (Schultheiss)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christian von Mechel : Brugg, from the west, between 1795 and 1798

Johannes Frey (* 1740 in Brugg ; † 1815 ibid) was the last mayor of Brugg and, together with his sons, was involved in the federalist uprising ( Stecklikrieg ) in Aargau in late summer 1802, which was directed against the Helvetic Republic .

biography

After attending the Latin school in Brugg from 1750 to 1754, the son of Brugg's master dyer and city judge Johann Friedrich Frey (1709–1770) studied for some time in Bern , but then took over his father's dyeing business and expanded it. As councilor he took on lucrative functions, such as court lord of Villnachern . He was also active in the profitable salt trade as a salt haulier - appointed in 1805 by the Small Council (Aargau) to the Aargau salt factor (confirmed in 1810) and salt haulier for the Bern stand.

He married Susanna Maria Füchslin, daughter of Bruges councilor Johann Franz Füchslin. 1770–1786 Councilor (XII) and governor. Councilor from 1786 to 1797; 1797–1798 Schultheiss von Brugg. On January 29, 1798, Frey was elected by the citizens of Bruges to the enlarged Grand Council of the City and Republic of Bern . Because of the turmoil in Brugg - based on the supporters of the revolution - Frey renounced the election. According to the minutes of the council, he wanted to avoid bad consequences with his renunciation. In 1802 Johannes Frey was reinstated as mayor of Brugg (a few months in office). With the founding of the Canton of Aargau, Johannes Frey became Aargauer Grand Councilor in 1803.

Resistance to the Helvetic Republic

When the French marched in the spring of 1798, the supporters of Bern fled abroad, but then returned again in the course of the summer, with the exception of the mayor's son Johann Jakob Frey, who stayed with his wife in Dogern on the right bank of the Rhine, where a Swiss emigre corps was formed with the aim of liberating the Swiss Confederation from French occupation. Johann Jakob served as Premier Lieutenant in the Rovéréa émigré regiment. Schultheiss Johannes Frey and his son Friedrich had placed the Aargau administrative chamber under house arrest. As it was known that Frey and his sons continued to fight the new Bruges authorities, their wine bars were particularly watched. As early as April 1799, the Administrative Chamber tightened its measures. In the course of the measures, Johannes Frey was arrested (without giving reasons) and deported, his papers were sealed. The sons Friedrich and Johannes received house arrest. The disempowered mayor Johannes Frey remained in prison as a state prisoner of the Helvetic Republic until September 1799; first at the fortress Aarburg , then at the fortress Hüningen in Alsace .

Altschultheiss Frey von Brugg, May von Schöftland, Goumoëns from Brestenberg, Fischer von Dennweil, Ringier von Zofingen and eight other residents of Aargau signed a letter to the general Helvetian constitution in 1801, in which they asked for the reunification of Aargau with Bern. In May 1802 the new Helvetic Constitution was voted on and adopted. The uprising broke out when France withdrew its troops from Switzerland that same year. In Aargau, the uprising against the Helvetic Republic was led by General Rudolf Ludwig von Erlach . In connection with the Stecklikkrieg in Aargau, Johannes Frey is also mentioned by name in the international press - for example in the Allgemeine Zeitung Munich or the newspaper Nouvelles politiques de Leyde . On the night of September 12th to 13th, 1802, as agreed with the Bernese, the sons of the old schoolboy Frey had a "frenzied wild bunch of around 400-500 men" in the Schenkenberg Valley, on the Bözberg, in Mönthal, in Mandach and rounded up on their own. The unsuspecting vigilante group in Brugg was taken by surprise. During the storm on the city, Johannes Frey resumed his previous position. Under the beating of the drums, von Erlach read a proclamation that declared all the Swiss authorities to be dissolved and reinstated the previous one. Johannes Frey took over the administration - albeit alone, as the previous councilors did not trust the situation. As revenge, Frey is said to have heaped billets on his political opponents ; however, he did not abuse his power. The restored conditions collapsed when Napoleon again invaded Switzerland and had the Helvetian government reinstated.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Baumann, Max, Steigmeier, Andreas: Experience Brugg , Part 1: Spotlights on the history of Brugg . here + now, Baden 2005, p. 174.
  2. ↑ StAAG RRB.1 .; Appenzeller, Gotthold: History of Swiss inland sea navigation in the Jurassic and Aare regions. Announcements from the Historical Association of the Canton of Solothurn (Volume 11), Buchdruckerei Gossmann AG 1922, p. 30.
  3. ↑ Baumann, Max, Steigmeier, Andreas: Experience Brugg , Part 1: Spotlights on the history of Brugg . here + now, Baden 2005, p. 173 f.
  4. ^ Heuberger, Samuel: The Revolution in Brugg: January to April 1798 . Brugger Neujahrsblätter, vol. 9., 1898, p. 11 f .; Schuler, Johann Melchior: History of the Revolution and the Fall of the Old Confederation up to the beginning of the Helvetian Republic: 5 . Schulthess, Zurich 1851, p. 77.
  5. ↑ StAAG 34.1.
  6. ↑ Canton Aargau State Calendar for the year 1806 . In the authoritative Buchdruckerey, Aarau 1806, p. 8.
  7. ^ Baumann, Max: Villigen. The history. Baden-Verlag, Baden 2009, p. 98.
  8. ↑ de Rovéréa, Ferdinand; de Tavel, François Charles: Mémoires de F. de Rovéréa, colonel d'un régiment de son nom, à la solde de Sa Majesté britannique, écrits par lui-même et publ. by C. de Tavel, ancien Avoyer de Berne. Tome second . Bern: Verlag Stämpfli; Zurich: Schulthess; Paris: Klincksieck, 1848, p. 82. Google Books ; Burckhardt, Felix Heinrich: Die Schweizerische Emigration , 1798-1801 , Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel 1908, p. 197.
  9. ↑ u. a. Baumann, Max, Steigmeier, Andreas: Experience Brugg , Part 1: Spotlights on Brugg's history. here + now, Baden 2005, p. 187 f.
  10. ↑ Usteri, Paul and Escher von der Linth, Hans Conrad (ed.): Der Schweizerische Republikaner, Volume 8 , 1801, p. 631.
  11. ↑ FIN de la relation officielle des preparatifs de la Contre-Revolution Suisse. In: Nouvelles politiques de Leyde. Numero LXXXVI. Leyde, on October 26th, 1802, undated; Huber, Ludwig Ferdinand: Helvetia . In: Allgemeine Zeitung Munich. Stuttgart, Monday, October 11, 1802, p. 1243.
  12. ^ Halder, Nold: Geschichte des Kantons Aargau , 1803–1953, Verlag zur Neue Aargauer Zeitung, Aarau, 1953, p. 33.
  13. ↑ Hübner, Lorenz: Baden, October 19th. In: Kurpfalzbaierische most graciously privileged Münchner Staatszeitung. In the publishing houses and from the presses of the Kurpfalzb. Münchner Zeitungs-Comtoirs , Munich 1802, p. 1217.
  14. ↑ Baumann, Max, Steigmeier, Andreas: Experience Brugg , Part 1: Spotlights on the history of Brugg . here + now, Baden 2005, p. 187 f.
personal data
SURNAME Frey, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION last mayor of Brugg
DATE OF BIRTH 1740
PLACE OF BIRTH Brugg
DATE OF DEATH 1815
Place of death Brugg