Revolution in Sigmaringen
The revolution in Sigmaringen was a regional component of the German revolution of 1848 . It concerned the events in the city of Sigmaringen in the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . The revolutionary events had an indirect part in the fact that the prince handed over the principality, which had been independent until then, to Prussia .
background
Like most German states, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was given a constitutional constitution in 1833 . A political opposition soon arose in the state parliament of the principality, its leaders were the Sigmaringen lawyer Carl Otto Würth and the recipient pastor Joseph Sprißler .
The city of Sigmaringen (1,800 inhabitants in 1848) was a democratic stronghold at that time . The bourgeoisie , the driving force of the revolution, was divided into two camps: the so-called civil society , consisting of craftsmen and landlords, and the museum society , consisting of members of the upper class, civil servants, officers, freelancers and teachers.
course
1848
On March 4, 1848, the citizens gathered in the market square and sent a petition to Prince Karl von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . In it they called for freedom of the press , armament of the people , freedom of religion and opinion , equal rights , a new tax system, the abolition of compulsory labor and the abolition of the old tax systems and jury courts. The petition was signed by 174 people, including the mayor of Sigmaringen and several mayors of the area. A citizens' committee met in the town hall on March 5, while many citizens were waiting in the market square below. Because the growing crowd was not satisfied with the concessions made by the head of government, the latter finally agreed to all popular demands that had been approved in Baden . This happened without the prince's consent, which he only got afterwards. The citizens had thus initially won. Hereditary Prince Karl Anton announced on March 14th that he would waive compulsory services and money.
Right at the beginning of the revolution, a civil armament was formed. The leaders were given golden cords for their uniforms. They bought these gold cords, countersigned by the mayor and the city council , for four guilders and six kreuzers (comparable to half a month's wages ) from the Riedling cloth merchant Gramm.
The elections for the Frankfurt National Assembly took place in April . Carl Otto Würth was defeated by the recipient Pastor Joseph Sprißler and the Government Director Mock. On April 24, Würth called for the founding of the democratic patriotic association in Zoller Hof . As a countermovement, a constitutional association with around 1,000 members was formed, but it has not done anything since the celebration of the establishment of provisional central authority in Frankfurt at the end of June. The newspaper of the democratic patriotic society was the narrator , the newspaper of the constitutional society was the friend of the people from Hohenzollern .
On May 10th, at Sprißler's farewell on Karlsplatz, Würth confessed to the republic. Prince Karl Anton then had the Bavarian military march into Sigmaringen, Captain Dopfer was relieved of his office and Lieutenant von Hoffstetter was imprisoned. Nevertheless, Prince Karl abdicated on August 27 in favor of his more liberal- minded son Karl Anton.
In Frankfurt there was barricade fighting between the republicans against the federal troops on September 18 , Gustav Struve proclaimed the German Republic on September 21 in Loerrach ( Struve Putsch ). On September 6th, Joseph Sprißler resigned in Frankfurt. As a result, on September 23, Würth was elected with 88 percent of the vote; the result was not announced until October 13th.
On September 24th, a people's assembly with 4000 to 5000 people took place in Trillfingen near Haigerloch . As a result, Bavarian troops were again called to Sigmaringen. Würth and the Sigmaringen local council demanded that the invasion be stopped, but Mock refused. On the night of September 25th to 26th, Würth dispatched messengers to all parts of the village to report that a people's assembly would take place in Sigmaringen on September 26th. 3,000 people appeared on Karlsplatz for this gathering. At that time it was still believed that the uprisings in Württemberg had been successful. A safety committee was formed with Würth as a board member; other members were Mayor Gastl, Karl Graf, Karl Dopfer, von Hoffstetter, Meinrad Dannegger, Quirin Müller as well as Josef Münzer and J. Lutz. The weapons for their task of stopping the invasion of Bavarian troops would have had to be forcibly fetched from the Gorheim barracks if Mock had not - reluctantly - handed them over. With the capture of arms, the meeting dissolved; the weapons were brought to the town hall. That same day the news of Struves and Rau's defeats arrived.
On September 27th, Prince Karl Anton fled with his government to Überlingen . Next, Würth planned the proclamation of the republic, which would have made the revolution in Sigmaringen successful. After Bavarian soldiers marched in on October 10, 1848, Karl Anton returned and the old order was restored. At the beginning of November half of the Bavarian troops withdrew, the other half withdrew only after being replaced by two Württemberg companies , which remained stationed in Hohenzollern until February 4th. During this time, some Sigmaringer soldiers and democrats were punished or imprisoned.
1849
In the spring of 1849 the situation came to a head again in Sigmaringen. Prince Karl Anton had to agree to the new Frankfurt Imperial Constitution . On June 3, a people's assembly took place in Gammertingen , at which the unification of the military and vigilante groups, the free election of officers and the handover of domains to the state were demanded. On June 21st Prussian troops triumphed at Mannheim ( battle near Waghäusel ) over the Baden popular uprising , on July 23rd the final defeat in Rastatt followed . At the request of the prince, Prussian troops entered Sigmaringen and all of Hohenzollern on August 3rd. In contrast to Baden, no martial law was imposed in Hohenzollern.
As early as the spring of 1848, the prince had been conducting secret negotiations with the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. About the annexation of the principality to the Kingdom of Prussia. On December 7, 1849, Prince Karl Anton signed the State Treaty with Prussia. On April 6, 1850, the principality was ceremoniously handed over.
consequences
The two most important spokesmen of the Sigmaringen Democrats went into exile in Switzerland . Carl Otto Würth continued to be a lawyer, von Hoffstetter became a colonel in the Swiss Army . Many citizens also emigrated from all over Hohenzollern, most of them to the USA .
With the abolition of all feudal rights, the peasants in Hohenzollern were also the real beneficiaries of the revolution.
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was administered together with the neighboring Hohenzollern-Hechingen as the new Prussian administrative district Hohenzollernsche Lande . Prussia made Sigmaringen an important administrative center, and the Princely House had its ownership structure ( secularized monasteries and art treasures) enshrined in the State Treaty . Prince Karl Anton became Prime Minister of Prussia.
See also
literature
- District Office Sigmaringen (ed.): For the cause of freedom, the people and the republic: The revolution 1848/49 in the area of today's district Sigmaringen , Sigmaringen 1998 (= Heimatliche Schriftenreihe des Landkreis Sigmaringen , Vol. 7).
- Eberhard Gönner : The revolution of 1848/49 in the Hohenzollern principalities and their connection to Prussia , Verlag A. Pretzl, Hechingen 1952.
- Wolfgang Hermann: Severin Beck and the Wehrsteiner Kreis. The fate of a democrat in the former princely Hohenzollern-Sigmaringischen Oberamt Glatt in the years 1848/49 . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 128th Volume 2007, pp. 73–146 online at the Freiburg University Library
- Andreas Zekorn: Old structures and new elements during the revolution of 1848/49 in Hohenzollern . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 35th Volume 1999, pp. 7–24
- Rolf Vogt: Five days that shook the principality. The Trillfinger People's Assembly on September 24, 1848 and the democratic revolution in Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 35th Volume 1999, pp. 25–52
- Andreas Zekorn: Revolutionary officials? The behavior of the senior officials in Balingen, Hechingen and Haigerloch during the revolution of 1848/49 . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 35th Volume 1999, pp. 53–92
- Edwin Ernst Weber: Theses on the revolution in Hohenzollern viewed mentally . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 35th Volume 1999, pp. 93-100
- Fritz Kallenberg: Contribution to the "research discourse" on the revolution of 1948/49 in Hohenzollern . In: Zeitschrift für Hohenzollerische Geschichte, 35th Volume 1999, pp. 101-104