Lorenz Plazid Schumacher

Lorenz Plazid Schumacher (born February 6, 1735 in Lucerne ; † June 6, 1764 ibid), Grand Councilor and administrator at Heidegg , comes from the Lucerne patrician family of the same name and is the son of Jost Niklaus Joachim Schumacher and Anna Maria Meyer von Schauensee. Considered adventurous, reckless and wasteful, he was charged with conspiracy against the government and executed. One uncle was the notorious pastor of Rothenburg Franz Alois Schumacher , another was an officer in the Lucerne Regiment Keller in Sardinia-Piedmont.

Power struggle in Lucerne

Around the middle of the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment , a decade-long power struggle raged among the ruling families of Lucerne between the forces striving for reforms and the party oriented towards preservation. At the same time, both parties feared a democratic conspiracy against the aristocratic form of government. The fight, which went down in history as the Schumacher-Meyer-Handel , was led by Joseph Rudolf Valentin Meyer under the aspect of unfaithful administration against the then most powerful family in Lucerne, whose influence he wanted to break and against whom he also led a personal campaign.

Theft of state funds

Among the main participants in the Schumacher-Meyer trade were Franz Plazid Schumacher and, in particular, old bag master Jost Niklaus Joachim Schumacher, whose invoice filing showed a deficit because a gang of thieves broke into his house in 1759 and stole a large amount of state money. Valentin Meyer claimed that the theft was fictitious and that the money that had disappeared had been used to finance the dissolute lifestyle of his son Lorenz Plazid.

Unused opportunity

In order to take his son out of the field of fire, in 1761, on the advice of cousin Franz Dominik Schumacher, former lieutenant captain of the ducal Lorraine bodyguard, he recommended that he go to Vienna, where Jost Anton Pfyffer von Altishofen commanded the imperial Swiss guard. Franz Dominik Schumacher's son-in-law, Johann Martin Bernhard Hartmann, received his cousin in Vienna and introduced him to the Guard. Lorenz Plazid received the protection of the Prince of Liechtenstein ( Josef Wenzel ) and the privilege of sharing table and horse with his nephews ( Franz Josef and Karl Borromäus ) through the mediation of the Lucerne Guard Captain and Vienna Square Commandant , Paul Anton Josef Xaver Cysat . He also received a golden tobacco tin with his portrait from the prince. He was also to be presented to the emperor at court. He was also offered a company. His father was delighted with this favor and wrote two extremely friendly letters of thanks to the Majesties. But he implored his son to stay in Vienna, whatever happens in Lucerne.

state of emergency

The hasty and secret removal of Lorenz Plazid Schumacher from Lucerne was immediately interpreted as evidence of the correctness of the accusation. Embarrassing investigations followed, and although no irregularities in his father's administration were found, the Meyer party succeeded in declaring Jost Niklaus Joachim Schumacher forfeited all honors, rights and offices. His property was confiscated and he was banned from the Swiss Confederation .

When Lorenz Plazid heard this in Vienna, he forgot his father's admonishing words and hurried to Lucerne in 1763, indignant, where he challenged the government with deliberately improper behavior and dealt with dissatisfied. At the same time there were rumors of an impending attack on the central Swiss cantons. Troops were called up, the city watch reinforced and the other estates warned. Lorenz Plazid Schumacher was suspected of instigating a conspiracy against the urban aristocracy . It was feared that he might take revenge for his father, and because he behaved impetuously during the interrogations, he was locked in the town hall. The suspicion of the conspiracy was confirmed, and when Lorenz Plazid escaped, a bounty was offered . He was betrayed, piled in and forged in chains, but he was not conscious of any greater guilt.

execution

During the interrogation he should u. a. called the name of the Freiburg conspirator Jean Pierre de Gottrau de Billens , whom he met in Vienna. Because of such contacts, but also because of his political discussions with dissatisfied citizens and some documents praising the virtues of democracy, Lorenz Plazid was charged with high treason and incitement to rebellion . He wrote a disrespectful letter to the government for a convicted pie baker and helped him escape. During further interrogations, he is said to have admitted to taking the city by surprise with the help of the Entlebuchers , "reversing" the state regiment and destroying the alliance agreements with France. While in Freiburg, Jean Pierre de Gottrau, who is said to have set up an arsenal , was only expelled from the country, Lorenz Plazid was executed with a sword within sight of his father's house . Valentin Meyer led the trial as prosecutor, examiner and judge. The council upheld the verdict with 36 votes to 16.

In the probably very exaggerated judgment against Lorenz Plazid, circumstantial evidence , ambition and feelings of revenge played just as much a role as the fear of an uprising of the people who could claim the old rights. This fear had existed since the Peasants' War of 1653 and became topical again under the influence of the French Enlightenment. With the execution of Lorenz Plazid Schumacher's death sentence , they wanted to show that even in their own ranks they did not shy away from proceeding with the utmost severity. Lorenz Plazid also had to atone for his bourgeois co-defendants, who also received heavy fines but, in order not to irritate the people, escaped the death sentence.

family

Lorenz Plazid Schumacher's widow Clara zur Gilgen (daughter of the mayor Aurelian and Maria Ursula am Rhyn ) lived in seclusion with her children. The daughters went to the monastery, the son suffered from melancholy and drowned in the Reuss. He was an officer in France (Aubonne Regiment) and was married to Antonia Dürler. Of his eight children, only Hyazintha was able to marry appropriately (with Ignaz Pfyffer, grandson of Lieutenant General and topographer Franz Ludwig Pfyffer von Wyher ). Two sons died in foreign service.

Remarks

1. ↑ Son of the powerful mayor Franz Plazid Schumacher and Maria Agatha Josepha von Fleckenstein
2. ↑ Irregularities were also found in him, but he had been pardoned, probably because of his young age.
3. ↑ Franz III. Stephan, cf. List of the Dukes of Lorraine
4. ↑ After the wedding with Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria (1736), Duke Franz III. brought his Swiss Guard from Lorraine to Vienna, where his successor disbanded them in 1767 for reasons of economy.
5. ↑ He left family and office behind
6. ↑ Meanwhile at night he bent a window grille, fled over the roof into the interior of the am Rhyn house, went down the stairs and stepped onto Furrengasse. Between the Hotel Kreuz and am-Rhyn-Haus he went down to the Reuss, from there along the river to the Metzgerrainle and then over the Reusssteg, where he then hid. The next day the city was alerted with drums and trumpets.
7. ↑ Corner house Kramgasse / Rössligasse towards Mühleplatz
8. ↑ Lorenz Plazid's sister should have consecrated herself to the monastery at the request of her cousin, Canon Ignaz Schumacher, but when the vow was approaching, she escaped and married Johann Baptist Pfyffer von Altishofen.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Joseph Schürmann-Roth, The Federal Guard in Lorraine, Florence and Vienna in the 17th / 18th. C. 1989 State Archives Lucerne. [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (The names of Franz Dominik Schumacher and Johann Martin Bernhard Hartmann are not recorded on the list contained in this work)  
2. ^ Family tables in portraits of gentlemen of the Lucerne patrician family Schumacher , p. 128. State Archives Lucerne.
3. ↑ Hans Schumacher, Outline of a Family History
4. ^ François Joseph Nicolas Baron d'Alt in his work "Hors d'oeuvre" (cf. Alexandre Daguet, Album de la Suisse romande 2, 1844, pp. 81–87)

Web links

• Stefan Jäggi: Schumacher, Lorenz Plazid. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

literature

• Valentin Meyer, Anton Schnyder: Das Pekulat: A true state history of the aristocracy from the Republic of Lucerne. 1831. (Kessinger Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-161-26883-6 )
• Final process or: Causes of the death of Junker Lorenz Plazid von Schumacher; with comments against his examinator and at the same time process maker (1776) . State and Family Archives Lucerne.
• Hans Schumacher: Outline of a family story . Lucerne 1935/36. State and Family Archives Lucerne.
• Kasimir Pfyffer von Altishofen: History of the city and the canton of Lucerne. Volume 1: From the origin to the state upheaval in 1798. Zurich 1850. (digitized from: opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de )
• Philipp Anton von Segesser: Legal history of the city and republic of Lucerne. Räber, Lucerne 1850–1858. (Reprint: Scientia, Aalen 1974, ISBN 3-511-06560-7 )
• Hans Wicki: Lucerne patriciate in crisis , history friend 145/1992.