Postal history of the Grand Duchy of Berg

The postal history of the Grand Duchy of Berg spanned a period of seven years, from 1806 to 1813.

history

On the basis of the Treaty of Schönbrunn and the Treaty of Brno , King Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria ceded the Duchy of Berg to the French Emperor Napoléon on March 15, 1806 by means of a government transfer patent . He in turn appointed his brother-in-law Joachim Murat as ruler of the Duchy of Berg, to which the right-bank parts of the former Prussian Duchy of Cleves were added. The Treaty of Paris ( Rhine Confederation Act ), signed in the summer of 1806 , which incorporated the Bergisch-Klevian territory into the confederation of the states of the Rhine Confederation and into a military alliance with France, authorized Joachim Murat to accept the title of Grand Duke of Kleve and Berg. Since then, the territory has been referred to as the Grand Duchy of Berg , but less often as the Grand Duchy of Cleves and Berg.

The Thurn and Taxis postal administration was completely surprised and unsettled. Napoleon was determined to have laws and administrative principles introduced based on French models. Murat ordered "the posts of the Thurn und Taxis officials to be removed because he did not trust them to maintain secrecy." Napoleon wrote in 1807 from Warsaw: "I cannot bear that the posts of the states of the Rhine Confederation are handed over to the officials of the von Thurn und Taxis." He ordered the officials to be evicted from the post offices. All attempts to prevent the Thurn und Taxisischen officials from being driven out failed.

On May 15, 1806, the French postal inspector Du Preuil from Paris appeared in Düsseldorf with the assignment to set up the postal service in the Duchy of Berg and to take over the provisional management of the post. On May 17, 1806, Duke Joachim issued an ordinance instructing the postal workers to support this claim. All postal facilities were confiscated. With this, the Thurn und Taxissche Post in the Duchy of Berg ceased to exist. The new post manager, Du Preuil, informed the post office manager about the new situation. First the cash registers were confiscated.

The transition to the French administration took place without major disruptions. Du Preuil wrote: "If you have difficulties in the administration of your office, write to me and I will endeavor to eliminate them". The former Thurn and Taxis commissioner, privy councilor Freiherr von Vrintz-Berberich, advised his postmen to continue the service under the French commissioner, he could not offer them any other perspective. There were disputes with Thurn and Taxis about the remuneration of the mutual fee shares that were incurred when postal items crossed borders. The border crossing turned out to be cumbersome. The items were first sorted by class, then numbered and each letter entered in a directory with the name, place of the recipient, postage, Franco postage, expenses postage and number of the letter and then a copy was made to insert into the iron . Upon arrival at the delivery post office, the skin was opened, the letters sorted by number and the list with the information on the letters checked.

A general management of the posts was set up in Düsseldorf and subordinated to the Bergisches Finance Minister. Du Preuil became general post director.

At the instigation of Napoleon, a "Bergisches Oberpostamt" was set up in Hamburg on October 26, 1806. The Thurn and Taxis Oberpostamt had few opportunities to appeal; it was threatened with military action if it did not deliver the Felleisen for the Grand Duchy of Berg to the Bergische Post throughout France, Portugal and Spain. On January 11, 1807, Napoleon, again from Warsaw, ordered that the post offices of the countries defeated by the French should be closed. As a result, the Prussian, Hanover, Braunschweig and Taxis post offices in Hamburg were closed. The Danish, Swedish and Mecklenburg post offices were closed in 1809. The Hamburg post office, which regulated traffic with overseas countries, Bremen and Lübeck, remained in existence for the time being. In order to get hold of the mail to Russia, a contract was signed between the Senate of Hamburg and the Bergische Postverwaltung. This course was taken over on December 8, 1807 for a period of 25 years for a lease of 100,000 marks annually.

In Bremen, the new Bergische Oberpostamt took over on February 15, 1807 the operation of the Taxis, Prussian and Hanover post offices and postal courses. Only the post office in the city of Bremen, which arranged the route to Holland and Hamburg and overseas, remained. The contract of June 4, 1808 then brought the Bremen post office to the Bergische postal administration in return for the payment of 4,000 thalers. The city of Bremen kept the transport service in its administration.

A little later, a Bergisch post office was also set up in Lübeck, and again the little taxis, Hanoverian and Brunswick post offices were closed.

The reason for the takeovers was the monitoring of the continental barrier . So Napoleon was able to have the correspondence of the North Sea areas closely observed in order to obtain information that was important for the prevention of traffic and trade with Great Britain.

In the Peace of Tilsit on July 9, 1807, Friedrich Wilhelm was forced by Prussia to cede occupied territories. The former abbeys of Elten, Essen and Werden , the county of Mark with the part of the city of Lippstadt , insofar as they belonged to the King of Prussia, the principality of Münster with Kappenberg, the counties of Tecklenburg and Lingen and the county of Dortmund were assigned to the Grand Duchy of Berg. In Münster on May 6, 1808, the chief postmaster and court chamber council Duesberg signed the oath. The Grand Duchy of Berg thus became a contiguous territory and reached its greatest extent. On February 26, 1808, the fortress Wesel was added to the French department 103 / La Roer named after the river Rur . Small areas were exchanged with Holland.

The Bergische Postanstalten differentiated between post offices (directions) and postal expeditions (expéditions). On January 1, 1809, there were 30 post offices and 97 postal expeditions in the area of the General Postal Directorate. The mail expeditions were administered by mail expeditors who were subordinate to a post office. Uniforms were mandatory for postillions, mailmen (facteurs), packers (emballeurs) and mail conductors as well as office servants (garcons de bureaus).

Finally, at the end of 1809, the Bergische postal administration took over the post in the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen and in the Principality of Salm .

Map of the Grand Duchy of Berg around 1810

The old system of coins and currencies in the Duchy of Berg and the new territories posed a particular problem. In order to remedy the situation, the French system was introduced in the Grand Duchy of Berg on January 1, 1810. The old Bergische Taler corresponded to the Reichstaler, but was divided into 60 Stüber (= 8 Heller). The decimal system was introduced in France as early as 1795. From January 1, 1810, the "France and its decimal parts" were in effect in the Grand Duchy of Berg.

Driving mail

First of all, in 1806, the Thurn and Taxis main courses remained in operation. These were courses to Frankfurt, Munster, Osnabrück and Essen. The French post office lacked the prerequisites. She had no mail wagons, horses and harnesses. The Reitpost from Düsseldorf to Hamburg could already be taken over on November 1st, 1806, further takeovers followed. The new courses were divided into mail routes (messageries) and routes for passenger transport (diligences).

A decree of Napoleon of February 25, 1809 regulated the organization of mounted, mobile and extra posts in the entire Grand Duchy. New post offices were only allowed to be set up by post holders expressly authorized by the General Post Office. Horses could be changed in the post stations and travelers could be transported from one station to another. With these postmen there were contracts for the rapid transport of letterheads and mail wagons. The distance between stations should not exceed 3 miles (27 km). A place in the stagecoach had to pay 24 stüber per mile. Each traveler could carry 30 pounds of luggage with them, and the parcel tax was charged above that. The extra mail system remains unchanged. Since January 1, 1809, a uniform service of the letter post was decreed throughout the country and set out in a concise form equipment, regulations and fees for people and goods. For example, 35 stüber per horse and mile were required for the extra post and 20 stüber per mile for a chaise. For a person who wanted to travel in an open carriage with a drawbar, two horses had to be taken, for 2 persons 3 horses.

Letter post

Letter from the Bergisch time

The letter mail ran largely on fixed riding post rates. The course from Düsseldorf to Hamburg (see above), to Kassel to the Kingdom of Westphalia , to Elberfeld etc. formed the backbone; many messenger lines started from these main courses.

In a publication of July 10, 1807, the charges for the field post for simple letters addressed to military personnel were set at 3 stüber, regardless of where the letter was to go.

On February 25, 1809 the postage tax was fixed. For a simple letter (under ½ lot, 7.4 g) at a distance of up to five normal hours (3.9 km, almost 20 km), 2 stüber (60 stüber = 1 Reichstaler), up to 10 hours 4 stüber, up to 20 Hours 6 rooms, up to 30 hours 8 rooms and over 50 hours 10 rooms, to be paid. The weight progression rose to ¾ (1¼ times postage), 1, 1½, 2 and further ½ lot to 4 lot, for each level there was a postage postage; after the removal. For samples , ⅓ of the tax, but at least the fee for a simple letter, was to be paid. Newspapers had to be paid for in advance with 1/5 stüber for each sheet. Double the postage was paid for registered letters, 40 stüber were reimbursed in the event of loss. For driving mail deliveries up to 2 pounds and 3 miles 3 stüber, up to 5 miles 2 stüber and over 5 miles 1 stüber. Parcels up to 50 kg were only allowed to be sent by post. Valuables were billed according to value and distance. You paid up to 10 Reichstaler, 1 Stüber per mile, up to 100 Reichstaler 2 Stüber, 50 Reichstaler 1 Stüber more and over 900 to 1,000 Reichstaler 15 Stüber per mile. For securities only half. For journeys with the mail car 24 Stüber per mile and person were to be paid, with Extrapost, unchanged, 35 Stüber per horse and mile. In addition, there were 15 stüber per mile as a tip for the postilion while the post office operator charged 20 stüber for a chaise. The freedom of postage was restricted to ministers, prefects and sub-prefects in official matters. Court presidents and general procurations were able to defer the postage amounts for official mail until the end of the month. As in the Kingdom of Westphalia, the tariff was very high; after all, they wanted to make a profit, which then did not materialize. As a result of an imperial decree, the distances between the post stations are published on July 13, 1809. Another improvement by the French Post. Now everyone could calculate their postage in advance, even if it was complicated.

The end

Napoleon's brother, King Louis of Holland, abdicated on July 3rd and left his country with an unknown destination. Napoleon took this as an opportunity to tighten the continental block against England. The whole of Holland and the German North Sea ports with their hinterland were incorporated into the French Empire. A senate resolution of December 13, 1810 determined that Holland, the Hanseatic cities, Lauenburg and all countries that lay between the North Sea and a line drawn by the influence of the Lippe into the Rhine via Haltern, Telgte, Stolzenau and Boitzenburg to Lübeck, became French national territory belonged.

The Grand Duchy of Berg thus lost a fifth of its entire national territory. 48 of 130 post offices fell to the German Empire, including the profitable post offices in Münster, Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck. However, the grand ducal Bergische postal administration with its own postal administration remained.

After the Battle of Leipzig, the entire Grand Duchy of Berg was occupied by Allied troops. On November 15, 1813, the grand-ducal Bergische Post came to an end after seven years of activity. After some back and forth, Thurn und Taxis took over the post in the Berg Generalgouvernement until the post was taken over by Prussia on June 30, 1816. After the Paris Peace Accords, the Grand Duchy of Berg fell to Prussia on November 10, 1814.

Postal history of the Grand Duchy of Berg

contents

history

Driving mail

Letter post

The end

See also