Revolution of 1848/1849 in the Free City of Frankfurt

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Friedrich Siegmund Jucho
The National Assembly in the Paulskirche

The revolution of 1848/1849 in the Free City of Frankfurt was characterized by the special features that the city, with the constitutional amendment act, had had a fairly democratic constitution since 1816 and that it was the seat of the pre-parliament and the German national assembly .

March Revolution in Frankfurt

Election announcement for the election to the National Assembly in Frankfurt

On March 3, 1848, a people's assembly took place at what was then the riding arena, in which 2,000 people took part. It was March receivables decided to be where the Mannheim National Assembly on 27 February oriented. This petition was due to go to the Senate on March 4th. This handover was accompanied by riots, which however had no effect. The following day the Senate of the Free City of Frankfurt gave its approval to the demands. Only with regard to the equality of Jews with Christian nationals did the Senate refer to the need for implementation in the constitutional legislative procedure.

There was no overthrow or a change of government to a March government in Frankfurt. The conservatives in the city naturally had no interest in it, the liberals saw the need to organize the implementation of the pre-parliament and national assembly and saw that an overthrow or even a power vacuum would not serve the cause.

On March 4, was the complete freedom of the press , which on March 27, 1848 Freedom of association introduced in Frankfurt. The Senate and Legislative Assembly passed a series of reforms, including the replacement of tithe and the mitigation of military sentences.

The Free City of Frankfurt sent 12 representatives to the preliminary parliament, including the councilors Samuel Gottlieb Müller and Eduard Souchay , the doctors Heinrich Hoffmann , Johann Michael Mappes and Georg Varrentrapp , the historian Georg Ludwig Kriegk and the lawyers Friedrich Siegmund Jucho and Maximilian Reinganum . The city hurriedly had the Paulskirche prepared as a meeting place for parliament. When preparing the accommodation for the members of the Paulskirche parliament, many private individuals also provided accommodation.

The left-liberal Jucho was elected for the constituency of the city of Frankfurt. He prevailed on April 28th with 6650 to 1404 votes against Reinganum.

Constitutional discussion

Barricade fighting on September 18, 1848
Memorial to the fallen of September 18, 1848

On March 29, the Senate proposed to the Legislative Assembly to set up a commission to review a constitutional revision. The left-wing liberals, who had organized themselves in the “Monday wreath”, called for an elected constitutional council instead. The popular assembly organized by the Monday wreath in the Katharinenkirche on May 3, 1848, spoke out in favor of such an elected constitutional assembly .

The Senate initially rejected this. As a compromise between the Senate and the legislative assembly, it was then decided to elect a constitutional committee on August 24, 1848, to which 25 Frankfurt citizens and 5 members of the Frankfurt rural communities should belong. Citizens and rural residents were eligible to vote, but not Jews and residents, which led to protests. For this election, the Monday wreath and the citizens' association co-founded by Heinrich Hoffmann presented a joint electoral list. These candidates won 29 of the 30 seats (only Eduard Franz Souchay prevailed as an independent).

On September 18, after the approval of the Malmö Peace, the September Uprising broke out. This had nothing to do with Frankfurt politics, but led to a massive impairment of city politics: The attempts by the chairmen of the Monday wreath, Reinganum und Behagel to call the people's assembly on the Pentecostal pasture on September 17th to moderate, were unsuccessful. The Frankfurt line troops were still in Schleswig-Holstein, the Senate was unable to act. Insurgents tore up the pavement in forty places in the city and erected barricades . The Prussian MPs Felix Fürst von Lichnowsky and Hans von Auerswald were murdered on the street. The Reich government thereupon imposed a state of siege on the city and summoned foreign troops from Mainz , Darmstadt and Friedberg , which forcibly restored order. In the barricade fighting on September 18, 30 insurgents and 12 soldiers were killed.

After the September riots, an occupation force from the large territorial states of Prussia, Austria and Bavaria remained in the city. The vigilante group , steeped in tradition , was dissolved and they had to hand over their weapons. Under the influence of the uprising and the occupation, Frankfurt elected its constituent assembly on October 25, 1848 . 100 MPs were elected for this in the city and 20 in the rural communities. The Monday wreath organized the left-liberal, the citizens' association the conservative-liberal forces.

The Constituent Assembly of November 5, 1848, chaired by Friedrich Kugler, worked out a new constitution by March / April 1849, which was based on the " Constitution de la République et Canton de Genève " of May 24, 1847. In May 1849 Nicolaus Hadermann became President of the Constituent Assembly. After many changes, the constitution was adopted by the Assembly in December 1849.

But time had changed now. The victory of the reaction was looming. The main conflict in the politics of the city was now the question of an orientation towards Austria or Prussia (the "patriotic association" of friends of Prussia had already gained 2500 members at the end of July 1849).

A mass petition movement was directed against the new constitution at the end of December 1849 . At the end of the year, the minority resigned from the constituent assembly. The Senate took this as an opportunity to end the deliberations of the Chamber. On January 3, 1850, President Hadermann and the remaining MPs were not given access to the Limpurg House . The constitution was never submitted to the citizens for a vote. Instead, the Senate called regular elections under the old constitution for the Legislative Assembly, which met on January 21, 1850. The constituent assembly then dissolved itself.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Official Journal of the Free City of Frankfurt. No. 31, March 11, 1848.