Mannheimer Rheinschanze
The Mannheimer Rheinschanze was a bridgehead from Mannheim on the opposite bank of the Rhine , from which the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein later developed.
The term "Schanze"
The word Schanze refers to a closed weir system made of earth. The word itself is derived from the medieval word for the “ bundles of brushwood ” with which such structures were originally attached. Redoubts were defensive structures that consisted of a bulge. They stood either on their own or in connection with other institutions in the field (as part of a fortress).
The Rheinschanze in the 17th century
Established in 1606
The first Rheinschanze facility was built - at the same time as the Friedrichsburg Fortress - in what is now Mannheim under Elector Friedrich IV . Friedrich, who ruled the Electoral Palatinate from Heidelberg , had come to the opinion that Heidelberg was strategically unfavorable due to its location between two high mountains. So he chose the village of Mannheim, which was surrounded on three sides by the rivers Rhine and Neckar and offered an unobstructed view on all sides, as the location for a fortress . But he had not expected the resistance of the Mannheim farmers, who for a long time resisted giving up their fields and vineyards. It was not until February 11, 1606 that a contract was concluded in which the Mannheimers, motivated by compensation, agreed to the construction of a fortification. On March 17, 1606, the foundation stone was laid .
The Rheinschanze on the other bank of the Rhine was a small horn factory to secure the Rhine crossing. The topography then was not the same as it is today. A picture from 1620 shows a fortified island in front of the Rheinschanze, which is no longer shown in a plan from 1700. Presumably it was connected to the mainland when the bank structures were expanded.
Destruction in the Thirty Years War
During the Thirty Years War , the Rheinschanze was occupied by Count von Tilly's troops, who had recently taken Heidelberg. The English general, sent by the Count Palatinate's father-in-law, King James I of England , had to give up the city after Tilly had the Rheinschanze and the city of Mannheim bombarded from the other side of the Rhine on September 11, 1622. On September 13th, the besieged made another sortie. On October 23, however, Tilly opened fire from all the entrenchments on the city so violently that the commandant withdrew the residents to the fortress and set the houses of the city on fire.
Famine and disease soon set in the fortress. But there was no longer any money to pay the mercenaries. The Commander in Chief De Vere therefore initiated surrender negotiations on October 30th, which came to a conclusion on November 2nd. The crew received free evacuation and the residents were guaranteed the protection of their property. On November 4, Tilly moved into Mannheim and had the fortifications and Rheinschanze torn down. Mannheim was then left by its residents. The Palatinate electoral dignity was also transferred from Emperor Ferdinand to Duke Maximilian of Bavaria.
In the further course of the Thirty Years War Mannheim was exposed to several armed conflicts. In 1649 , one year after the Peace of Westphalia , Mannheim was returned to the Palatinate dynasty under Elector Karl Ludwig , son of the " Winter King ", and the fortress and Rheinschanze were renewed.
The " flying bridge "
Under Elector Karl Ludwig, a so-called " flying bridge " was set up in 1669 to better connect the two banks of the Rhine . It was a yaw ferry . Until then, the Rhine could only be crossed on barges. The builder of the yaw ferry, Wilhelm Tautphöus , citizen of Bacharach, was proud of his work and celebrated it in a poem as a bridge that is unlike any other anywhere else; she moves easily and safely without sails and without oars and can carry more than 400 men, horses and loaded wagons at once.
The Elector Karl Ludwig was the first to take the ferry across the Rhine on August 27, 1669 and wrote about this to his wife on August 28:
“Yesterday I drove with 100 horses on one occasion with the flying bridge over the Rhine in a Huy. When I can get to Frankendahl comfortably, I don't get sore. "
In fact, the ferry is said to have been able to accommodate 13 heavily loaded wagons with three horses at the same time. Had for the use of bridge toll to be paid. Information on this is provided in the "Order of Freight or Fare," printed in 1669 , according to which anyone who travels over the Rhine with the Fliegend or Gyrbrücke to Mannheim should pay: One person on foot, local or foreign: a double pfennig, one on horseback: two Kreutzer. "
The "flying bridge" was a permanently installed ferry that was pulled on ropes and was considered a technical masterpiece. When Mannheim became the Electoral Palatinate residence in 1718 and Oggersheim became a secondary residence from 1720, this made a permanent road connection between the two places necessary. In the first half of the 18th century, the " flying bridge " was therefore replaced by a ship bridge. Its wooden construction rested on anchored barges so that it could rise and fall with the waterway. If a ship wanted to pass, part of the bridge had to be opened. In winter, the entire bridge was driven down due to the then still strong ice drift.
Destruction in the Palatinate War of Succession
In 1671, Elector Karl Ludwig married his daughter Elisabeth Charlotte ( Liselotte von der Pfalz ) to Duke Philipp von Orléans , the brother of the French King Louis XIV, for reasons of power politics . He hoped for great advantages from this connection, but was soon disappointed. King Louis XIV demanded that he should take him on against Holland, but as a German prince he refused: The French troops then marched through the Palatinate, which had remained neutral, devastatingly in the winter of 1673. The elector's attempt to protect the Palatinate with the help of the emperor only made the situation worse. In 1674 the French came again under General Turenne and treated the Palatinate as enemy territory.
Mannheim had made preparations for a siege, but this did not take place. In 1677 the city was surrounded again, but no attempt was made to capture it. Finally, in 1679, peace was made between the Emperor and the King of France.
After the death of Elector Karl Ludwig in 1680, his son Karl II became his heir, but died in 1685 without any descendants. Emperor Leopold therefore transferred the electorate to his closest male relative, Count Palatine Philipp Wilhelm . King Louis XIV of France raised a claim to the Electoral Palatinate for his brother, Duke Philipp von Orléans, who was the wife of the late Elector Karl Ludwig, Liselotte von der Pfalz. However, the claims were not recognized because the Palatinate house laws did not provide for any inheritance in the female line. But France tried to enforce the claims of the Duke of Orleans by force and invaded the Palatinate on September 4, 1688.
In Mannheim the governor commanded Baron von Seeligenkron, who had only 1,050 men at his disposal. On November 1, 1688, the French General Montclar requested the fortress to be surrendered. The commandant refused. City council and mayor approved the surrender. On November 3rd, pamphlets were distributed in which Montclar announced that the town would be looted and burned if it was not surrendered within two days.
The following day the French opened fire from the Rheinschanze and the citizens opened the gates forcibly. The governor wanted to take the 300-strong crew back to the fortress, but only 40 followed him. A mutiny soon broke out in the fortress and on November 12, 1688 the fortress was also handed over to the French. After the Palatinate garrison had withdrawn, the French Colonel Harcourt took command and allowed partial looting. Two months later, Heidelberg Castle was also blown up. On March 3, 1689, a decree of the King of France was read to the mayor and the council of Mannheim, according to which "all houses and buildings should be demolished and the city of Mannheim made uninhabitable".
The following day the soldiers began the destruction. But because it was taking too long for them, a fire was started and the city, the fortress and the Rheinschanze were destroyed.
Reconstruction under Elector Johann Wilhelm
In 1698, Elector Johann Wilhelm set about having the Mannheim Fortress and the Rheinschanze rebuilt. For this purpose, he gave the famous Dutch general and engineer, Baron Menno van Coehoorn , the order to draw up a plan for the construction, according to which the whole city should be included in the fortress and the Rheinschanze should also be rebuilt. Construction began in 1700 and right at the beginning of construction the Rheinschanze was rebuilt “with the wet ditch as a hornwork”.
The Rheinschanze in the 18th century
Destruction in the War of the Spanish Succession
After the death of the Spanish King Charles II , a war over the succession broke out, in which Prince Eugene of Savoy and John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, stood out as generals. On June 19, 1713, the French Marshal Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars attacked the Rheinschanze and Mannheim after he had already taken Landau , Speyer and other Palatinate cities.
Marshal de Villars opened trenches in front of the Rheinschanze on June 19, 1713. The defense of the hill was entrusted to Lieutenant Kuhla from the Electorate of the Palatinate, who kept it occupied by 600 men. Although the French bombardment was severe, the occupation resisted until June 27th. Then Kuhla received the order to withdraw to Mannheim. On the night of June 27-28, 1713, he had some of the cannons and ammunition sunk in the Rhine and sat with most of the crew on the flying bridge over the Rhine. He had 20 men mask the passage through the fire of some cannons. Soon after, these 20 men followed the rest of the crew. On June 29, 1713, at daybreak, the French took possession of the Rheinschanze after they, suspicious of the silence in the hill, had it scouted out by volunteers. On September 8, 1713, de Villars set out with his army from Speyer and the crew of the Rheinschanze joined him after they had completely demolished it.
Under Bavarian rule
When the Bavarian Elector Maximilian Joseph died without an heir in 1777 , Elector Karl Theodor had to take his position as Bavarian Elector in Munich. Mannheim and the Rheinschanze came to Bavaria and Karl Theodor moved his residence to Munich. With this, the Palatinate line of the Wittelsbachers took over their rule in Bavaria.
Destruction during the French Revolution
In the French Revolutionary Wars, the French commander, General Michaud, was instructed to take the Rheinschanze at any cost. Heavy ice endangered the Rhine bridge and threatened the connection between the ski jump and the fortress. Soon the bridge was torn apart and boats took over the transport between the hill and the fortress. The French noticed this situation and on December 22nd, 1794 demanded the handover of the hill with the following request:
“You are lost, you are without tools and without hope of support. 40,000 Republicans, whom you can count, are determined to dare everything, to do everything to conquer you, 150 gullies of fire are ready to spew death and flames on you; Look behind you! The Rhine, on which you have built your hope, offers you the abyss that threatens to engulf you. Look at us and you will find the nobility and greatness that are inseparable from the French people. Do not consider this to be vain boasting, the Republicans do not need it and never let themselves be so belittled; They never say anything in vain, you know it. Vote now! We give you three hours to think about it; if this is outlined, we will seize you by force and your lot is death! "
Since the request was rejected, the French began strong cannon fire from eight batteries on the night of December 23rd to 24th. The Schanze and the Mühlau were showered with glowing balls and projectiles of all kinds. The Palatinate-Bavarian artillery defense of the Rheinschanze was headed by Georg von Tausch , later lieutenant general and commander of the Munich cadet corps . The bombardment continued until the afternoon of the 24th, whereupon a renewed request for surrender was issued, otherwise the city of Mannheim would be set on fire.
In response to this threat, the Mannheim city council turned to the commandant and approved the handover of the Rheinschanze. In view of the fact that the connection to the ski jump could no longer be maintained, the governor Freiherr von Belderbusch and the Austrian Feldzeugmeister Graf Wartensleben agreed to the handover of the Rheinschanze.
The Rheinschanze was delivered on December 24, 1794. The relevant agreement was:
“The Rheinschanze in Mannheim will be handed over to the besieging army on December 25th at noon with the artillery, ammunition and other objects that will still be in it at the moment of delivery, on condition that the city of Mannheim, as long as the war only on the left bank of the Rhine is not allowed to be bombed. The destruction of the Rheinschanze must not be prevented; the slightest opposition in this regard will be seen as a violation of the present agreement and will be rejected by bombardment of the city. "
Nevertheless, due to the changing fortunes of war, the Rheinschanze came into German hands again. At the conclusion of the Campo Formio peace agreement (1797), the German areas on the left bank of the Rhine were officially ceded to France, but an additional agreement (Loeben Treaty and Heidelberg Convention) left the Mannheim Rheinschanze, which was again in German possession, as a bridgehead with German territory. While the Rastatt congress was still negotiating the details of the peace treaty, France a. a. also secure the Rheinschanze near Mannheim and the commanding General Charles Nicolas Oudinot requested the fortress to be surrendered on January 25, 1798. The Mannheim commandant Adam von Bartels then moved four companies of the 1st Kurpfalz-Bayerischer Feldjäger Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Theodor von Karg, from Mannheim to the advanced bridgehead position.
On January 25th and 26th, 1798, respectively, a protracted battle occurred in which the French also began to bombard Mannheim. Therefore Bartels sent his representative, Lieutenant Colonel Johann Andreas von Traitteur , to the left bank of the Rhine to have the Rheinschanze handed over. The caterer intervened in the ongoing fight and sounded the trumpet. Lieutenant Colonel von Karg went to the fortress for handover negotiations. During the negotiations, the French suddenly stormed into the open fortress with a surprise attack, where they had now penetrated from the side. The majority of the crew under Lieutenant Colonel Karg (approx. 400 people) had to surrender, only Captain Wilhelm von Metzen was able to save himself with about 50 men in a scuffle through the French and reach the ship's bridge towards Mannheim. Pursued by the French troops, Metzen managed to cross the Rhine fighting with his soldiers, to get to the Mannheim Rheintor and to order the gatekeeper to close the drawbridge, which prevented the enemy from penetrating the Mannheim fortress.
The contemporary historical-political narratives of the latest state and world events report in 1798 in the following words:
“ After several attempts the French finally succeeded in penetrating the Rheinschanze on the left flank and at the same time a bunch of them came, you don't know whether on ships or other routes, the hill in the back and mastered the Rhine bridge. Now the crew was cut off from retreat; but one part managed to get through, and even to get over the bridge to the right bank of the Rhine with a cannon and an ammunition cart. The French followed and would perhaps have penetrated the town with the retreating crew if, as it is commonly said, the prudence and courageous demeanor of Captain von Metzen had not put a stop to it. "
The weakly occupied Mannheim could not offer the French any greater resistance, which is why there were negotiations between Bartels and Oudinot, in the course of which Mannheim remained unmolested, but Mannheim's Rheinschanze fell permanently to France.
The Rheinschanze in the 19th century
When the left bank of the Rhine fell to France and the Rhine became the political border, the Rheinschanze developed independently and later even in competition with Mannheim.
Economic development after the wars of liberation
Due to the French Wars, the Rheinschanze became a desolate area with a customs post. France had declared the former Palatinate property a national property and sold it in 1803 to the trading house Gebr. Fabrequettes without any further use. In 1804, however, Jakob Graf built the “ Zum Anker ” inn right in front of the entrance to the Rheinschanze, which later became the Ankerhof.
Inside the Rheinschanze, however, the Mannheim innkeeper Karl Hornig bought himself in 1808 for 2,000 francs and built an inn and a customs post for the French authorities directly on the banks of the Rhine. The inn was profitable with the many troops moving through the Napoleonic era, but Hornig continued to take advantage of the favorable location of the Rheinschanze and had berths for merchant ships built on his own initiative, from which he charged fees. Due to multiple complaints, he was forbidden to do so by the authorities in 1811.
The end of the "French era" came on New Year's Eve 1813/1814. The left wing of Blücher's coalition army, a Russian corps under General Fabian Gottlieb von der Osten-Sacken , crossed the Rhine about three kilometers downstream from the Neckar, then moved south again and was able to take the Rheinschanze. The fortifications were then rebuilt. The hill was then occupied by Russian and then by Bavarian troops . The former left bank of the Rhine, on which the Blüchers landed, has been on the right bank of the Rhine since the completion of the "Friesenheim breakthrough" in the course of the straightening of the Rhine. The landing point at that time is now on the Friesenheimer Insel, which lies in the old Rhine loop . A memorial was erected there in 1914.
After the death of Karl Hornig, his widow had the property auctioned on December 27, 1820. The bidder was the merchant and wine merchant Johann Heinrich Scharpff from Speyer, who bought it on the advice of his son-in-law, the merchant Philipp Markus Lichtenberger , for the price of 15,000 guilders. Scharpff's company set up a branch of his trading house in the Rheinschanze, which sold the agricultural products of the Palatinate, especially tobacco and wine.
Scharpff saw the development potential of the Rheinschanze, but also the obstacles that could affect this development. This was proven by a decree of the Board of Directors of the Neckar District from 1820:
"In order to counter the disadvantages admitted to the interests of trade and shipping by loading the goods at non-legal loading bays, it is decreed that in future the local skippers will not be allowed to load goods at any other location than the legal loading station In the first case, the offender is to be punished with a penalty of fifty Reichsthaler, in the second with a hundred Reichsthaler and in the third with a denunciation fee of fifty Reichsthaler with the loss of the shipping right. In addition to this penalty, the offender is required to bear the cranes and storage fees, then Kay Gelder, just as if the loading had taken place in the port. "
Visit of the Bavarian King Ludwig I.
From June 7th to 15th, 1829, the Bavarian King Ludwig I visited the Palatinate and the Rheinschanze with Queen Therese .
- Report of the king's visit
“After returning via the fortifications to the lodging quarters, the king led his wife to a window opposite Mannheim; Here, one could hear the prince, in a friendly, familiar tone, telling memories from his youth to the mildly participating partner. The sight of Mannheim, the former residence of the Electorate of the Palatinate, might well let images of the past rise in the deep-feeling mind of the monarch, which made him sadly serious. Mannheim was his youth stay; Mannheim was the place where he had a cheerful childhood in a loving mother's hand, Mannheim was the place where he prepared for the difficult occupation of rulership, his ancestors stayed here until Karl Theodors Haupt embraced Bavaria's princely diadem. But the gaze soon fell again on the animated scenes on this side of the river. The Rheinschanze was like a flower temple, the cheering crowd may well have been 10,000, the waving flags, the thousands of cheers from the workers and sailors recently made the high rulers happy. "
At the end of the visit, the girl read a poem to Auguste Lichtenberger in order to poetically request royal protection for the trading center. The final verse of the farewell poem read:
- O king, may I live in hope
- You want to give the port a name
- As a witness that he has your protection?
- Then the work will find even greater upswing
- And announce its prosperity to later posterity,
- How vigorously Ludwig protects art and trade!
Expansion of the trading house
In 1829 the trading company Lichtenberger got into an economic crisis because Lichtenberger's father-in-law, Scharpff, had died and the Rheinschanze was put up for auction. Lichtenberger knew that a large Mannheim trading company was aiming to acquire the establishment, but could not bid. In this predicament, the later government director Lufft advised him to give this relative 30,000 guilders as compensation. The offer was accepted and from this point onwards a significant upturn in the trading house dates. The existing warehouse proved to be inadequate, which is why Lichtenberger built another large warehouse in 1831, and the installation of another crane proved necessary.
Since the concession period for the first crane expired in 1832, Lichtenberger asked for an extension of the concession and for permission to erect a second crane. As early as 1829 there was considerable resistance to prevent the crane from continuing to operate. As in 1822, it was Mannheim again, whose trading stand protested and which the Frankenthal City Council also joined. The latter complained to the ministry because the Rheinschanze had attracted two thirds of Frankenthal's trade; the trading stand there was ruined and the Frankenthal Canal is deserted. The government said that Frankenthal had no reason to complain against a trading establishment whose suppression would do little for the city of Frankenthal, but would damage the Rhine district very much.
Construction of the winter harbor
In 1843, the Bavarian government allowed the creation of a coal and marine utensils magazine. During this time, the winter harbor, which had formed itself as a result of a dam breach in 1824, was built. The port was neglected, the entrance too narrow, the basin too shallow, so that larger ships or even steamers could not enter.
In 1823 Lichtenberger asked the authorities for permission to connect a pond on his property with the Rhine through a small canal. This was unnecessary, however, because the high water level in November 1824 caused a dam below the Rheinschanze to break and flooded the lower lying land. The break in the dam became the entrance to the winter harbor. However, there was also a rumor that the dam had been pierced by Mannheim boatmen at night to protect Mannheim, which had been flooded up to the planks by a dam breach on the right bank of the Rhine.
The Rheinschanze thus had the only winter-proof Rhine port in the Bavarian Palatinate. The ships were able to anchor here even in the winter months when the Rhine regularly froze. A winter harbor was important to stimulate traffic. This was a decisive locational advantage that made the Rheinschanze the largest port in the Palatinate .
Renaming to Ludwigshafen
What Scharpff had asked for in 1825, the naming of the Rheinschanze after the then Bavarian King Maximilian in Maximilianshafen, was approved in 1843. Now the Rheinschanze received from King Ludwig I permission to call itself Ludwigshafen.
At the same time it was ordered that a separate police district would be established and that preparations would be made for the formation of a separate community. This so-called "Supreme Resolution" reads:
- Kingdom of Bavaria .
- State Ministry of the Interior .
- His Majesty the King, as a result of the report requests of the K. Government of the Palatinate of 28 BC. Mts. The following resolutions are deigned to be adopted.
- 1. His Kgl. Your Majesty approve that the trading and harbor area, previously known as the “Rheinschanze”, across from Mannheim and the congregation forming a cathedral, should now be given the name “Ludwigshafen”.
- From now on, this designation is to be used everywhere, especially in all official negotiations, and also to be made known to the public for review by the official and intelligence gazette of the Palatinate.
- 2. The town of Ludwigshafen has to remain in its previous association of municipalities for the time being, but its elevation to an independent municipality is to be initiated and already prepared by all appropriate measures. -
- 3. A special police district for Ludwigshafen is to be formed immediately, which has to include the previous Rheinschanze, the Ankerhof, Ganterhof, the Graefenau and Rohrlacherhof and the Hemshöfe.
- 4. For the police district Ludwigshafen, a police adjunct is set up to handle the local police, which in this respect is directly subordinate to the K. Landkommissariat Speyer , but in every other respect in the service relationship with the municipality administration of Mundenheim respectively. von Fliesenheim stands.
- 5. A German school is to be built in Ludwigshafen immediately and all hamlets and farms included in the Ludwigshafen police district are to be assigned to it. It must be ensured that not only the previous contribution of the municipality of Friesenheim for the maintenance of the teacher is increased to 100 florins and transferred to the school teacher to be employed, but that an appropriate subsidy from the district school fund is also granted until the municipality of Ludwigshafen receives the full teacher's salary is able to reach himself.
- 6. If the community of Ludwigshafen is still insufficiently funded, the question of the appropriate means must be carefully considered, and the K government and the local government finance chamber must immediately discuss the extent to which and in what way the funds within the Aerarial Ländereyen of about 86 daily works, or whose pensions for the future municipality of Ludwigshäfen - in accordance with the constitutional provisions - can be acquired for the future municipal boundaries applied for by the Kgl Government Chamber of the Interior?
- The result is to be submitted with special expert reports.
- 7. A special resolution is made on the submitted site plan.
- For the time being, His Royal Majesty wants the plan of every building to be performed in Ludwigshafen to be, therefore, also to that of the private parties, submitted to the same for approval, to avoid luxury as well as mean appearance in these plans, rather to observe practicality with good architectural style.
- The K. Government, Chamber of the Interior, receives back the plan submitted with its report for the districts of Ludwigshafen, Mundenhefm and Friesenheim with the order to immediately dispose of what is suitable for the execution of these highest orders.
- Munich, April 25, 1843
See also
- Ludwigshafen am Rhein on the further history of the city of Ludwigshafen
- Rheinschanze other Rheinschanze in Germany
- Palatine Ludwig Railway (Ludwigshafen - Neustadt - Kaiserslautern )
literature
- History of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Formation and development of an industrial and commercial city in fifty years. 1853-1903. With a historical review. On the occasion of the 50th Existence of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein . Issued by the mayor's office. Ludwigshafen: Verlag Waldkirch, 1903
- Emil Nesseler: The Rheinschanze as a fortress in the Electoral Palatinate. Westmark Verlag Ludwigshafen am Rhein, 1940
Web links
- Institute for Palatinate History and Folklore ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- The Rheinschanze - the nucleus of Ludwigshafen
Individual evidence
- ↑ The "flying bridge" near Mannheim. LEO-BW , accessed on February 28, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g History of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Formation and development of an industrial and commercial city in fifty years. 1853-1903. With a historical review. On the occasion of the 50th Existence of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein . Issued by the mayor's office. Ludwigshafen: Verlag Waldkirch, 1903
- ↑ Mannheim and its buildings - Mannheim, 1906, pp. 70 ff., Available in Heidelberg historical holdings , Heidelberg University Library
- ↑ Scan from the source
Coordinates: 49 ° 28 '50.3 " N , 8 ° 27' 8.3" E