Police dragon corps of the Duchy of Oldenburg

The police dragon corps of the Duchy of Oldenburg was set up in 1786 and was the first state police unit of the (Grand) Duchy of Oldenburg or the later Free State of Oldenburg . In contrast to later gendarmes in the country, it was not subordinate to the military but directly to the ducal government. The establishment of the corps belongs in the context of various administrative, judicial and social reforms by Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig , who this year took over his official duties from his deceased uncle, Duke Friedrich August . The corps was dissolved by the French occupying forces in February 1811 and part of its functions was taken over by the Imperial Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie impériale ).

Foundation and tasks

The corps was set up by a decree of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig of October 23, 1786. Its tasks consisted of securing the highways, especially the prevention of theft and robbery, border security, in particular the prevention of vagabonds and beggars from entering the country, as well as the general administration of justice through the support of the lower police authorities. For this purpose five unmounted NCOs and 16 mounted commons were to be employed; The prerequisite for hiring the latter was that they should be able to “read at least what was written”.

The "Polizey-Dragoons" were directly subordinate to the government office; The Dragoons' superiors were the councilors Herbart (until 1802), Schmedes until (1805) and Hansen (until 1811). The first ten Dragoons entered service in 1787.

Equipment, armament and mounting (uniform)

Maréchaussée 1786

The dragoons had to raise their service horse themselves; it should preferably be black, as this was the most widespread and the simplest and cheapest way to create a uniform appearance for the corps. A pallasch and two pistols were used as armament .

The uniform was based on that of the French maréchaussée and consisted of

a dark blue skirt with a red collar and red borders and white buttons,
leather trousers (probably knee breeches),
a yellow vest,
a red collar,
a blue coat,
a white coat (probably for stable service)
an unspecified hat (probably a three-cornered hat ).

No illustration has survived. The uniform should be renewed every year; a service life of a good seven years was assumed for the jacket.

Stationing and activity

The strength of the corps increased considerably over time. From the original ten dragoons it rose to one corporal and 18 dragoons by 1799 and reached its high of 44 in 1805, which remained constant until 1811. In general, the Dragoons did their job on individual posts ; only four were stationed in the city of Oldenburg and two in Dinklage . Practically every major place in the duchy was occupied by a state police post; but above all all border crossings .

That general crime was apparently at a very low level in this epoch can be concluded from a so-called vagabond hunt in 1792, which was carried out throughout the territory, but not a single perpetrator was found. Apparently there were no gangs of thieves or robbers . On the occasion of a robbery of a postman in Butjadingen in 1799, it was stated that such gangs had no possibility of existence due to the geographic nature of the national territory - no mountains and no extensive forests. Hence, the postman was believed to have been murdered by a local perpetrator who knew the victim's customs. In addition, the Dragoons in this region could not monitor the normal traffic routes, as the residents jumped over the Hamme with jumping sticks and the Dragoons could only secure the military roads .

resolution

The corps was dissolved due to the occupation of the duchy by France in 1810 and the incorporation of the territory into the empire . The corps was dissolved and its members resigned. During the occupation until 1813, the 34th Legion of the Imperial Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie impériale ) in Bremen was responsible for the now former duchy as state police .

State of research

The only investigation into the corps comes from the then (1926) Police Captain Dr. Heinrich Lankenau of the Ordnungspolizei Oldenburg. In the 1920s, Lankenau was the first police officer in Oldenburg who tried to write an Oldenburg police history from the beginnings in the 18th century to the present day. The goal was obviously to construct a line of tradition analogous to military history and to give the Oldenburg Security Police and Ordnungspolizei, founded in 1919, historical legitimacy. Regardless of this objective, Lankenau comprehensively evaluated the holdings of the then State Archives (today Lower Saxony State Archives Oldenburg ) and the then Ministry of the Interior. Already at that time, Lankenau recognized how complicated and time-consuming a comparative police history was, even with just the neighboring countries. The only publication that was available to him at the time was a work on the administrative history of the Kingdom of Württemberg. This problem exists for police history research to this day.

literature

Heinrich Lankenau: The police dragon corps of the Duchy of Oldenburg (1786-1811). The history of the oldest association of the Oldenburg state police. In: Oldenburgisches Jahrbuch des Verein für Altertumskunde und Landesgeschichte , Vol. XXX (49), 1926, pp. 5–128. Digitalisat the State Library Oldenburg
Friedrich Wilhelm Schaer: Peter Friedrich Ludwig, Duke of Oldenburg, Prince-Bishop of Lübeck, Prince of Birkenfeld. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , pp. 557-561.