Schönfeld district

The Schönfeld Circle was named after Schönfeld Palace near Kassel , an oppositional circle around the Electress Auguste (* 1780, † 1841), close to the Romanticism , whose political tendencies were against her husband, Elector Wilhelm II of Hesse-Kassel (* 1777; † 1847), judged.

history

Electress Auguste lived separately from her husband since 1806 - which was confirmed in a separation agreement in 1815. Prince Wilhelm lived with his lover and later second wife, Countess Emilie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz (* 1791, † 1843), in Kassel. Wilhelm II was an autocratic monarch who was opposed to the liberal wishes of the bourgeoisie . After 1815, parts of the opposition formed the Schönfeld Circle , named after the Electress's residence at the time, Schönfeld Palace near Kassel.

The circle was composed quite heterogeneously socially and politically. He certainly wasn't radical. What united him was the common cultural interest and the political rejection of the elector. Beyond that, there was little in common. The heterogeneity of this opposition group also shows how broad the opposition to Elector Wilhelm II spread across all social classes. Therefore, the very existence of the Schönfeld Circle was enough to make it appear dangerous to the Elector. With the elector and the backing of her Prussian relatives and the electoral prince, there appeared sufficient political backing and, through the participation of state officials and officers, sufficient political know-how was available to endanger the elector's position. When the rumor arose in 1823 that Electress Auguste wanted to install herself as regent for her son with the help of her Prussian relatives and to oust the Elector, Wilhelm II transferred the members of the Schönfeld Circle, as far as they were civil servants and officers, to the province and sent the Prince Electors in "exile" in Marburg . This meant the end of the Schönfeld circle.

Many members of the Schönfeld Circle later made a quick career in the electoral state after the electoral prince had effectively taken over the business of government in 1831 and Wilhelm II had gone abroad.

Members

The circle included the leading intellectuals of Kurhessen . These included the Electress

• Prince Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (* 1802; † 1875),
• the military
  • Joseph von Radowitz (* 1797; † 1853), later advisor to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and briefly Prussian Foreign Minister in 1850,
  • Ferdinand von Eschwege (* 1790; † 1857), Lieutenant General, Commander of the Garde du Corps ,
  • Carl von Altenbockum (* 1786, † 1841), and later commander of the bodyguard - infantry ,
  • Wilhelm von Verschuer (* 1795; † 1837), later wing adjutant to the electoral prince and ultra-conservative member of the state parliament,
  • Major Georg von Below, educator of the electoral prince,
• from the educated middle class :
  • Karl Schomburg (* 1791; † 1841), Lord Mayor of Kassel,
  • Karl Carvacchi (* 1791; † 1869) merchant and paint manufacturer, later authorized representative of the Hesse region at the German Customs Union , 1831 best man of the Prince Elector,
  • Ludwig Hassenpflug (* 1794; † 1862), later leading revisionist minister in Kurhessen,
  • Jacob (* 1785; † 1863) and
  • Wilhelm Grimm (* 1786; † 1859), sister-in-law of Hassenpflug and at the time librarians in Kassel,
• the artists
  • Johann Werner Henschel (* 1782; † 1850), sculptor,
  • Ludwig Hummel (* 1770; † 1840), painter,
  • Julius Eugen Ruhl (* 1796; † 1871), architect and later first director of the Hessian state railways,
  • Ludwig Sigismund Ruhl , Director of the Kassel Picture Gallery,
• Karl Siegmund Waitz von Eschen (* 1795, † 1873), chamberlain to the elector, later conservative spokesman in the state parliament.

Schönfeld Circle (1992-2007)

A “Schönfeld Circle” was also active in Schönfeld Castle from 1992 to 2007, under the direction of the East-West Science Center of the University of Kassel and in cooperation with the Moscow office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation . Since 1998, conferences have been held there by Russia experts and multipliers. It was their concern to discuss the current development tendencies of Russian domestic and foreign policy. To this end, they invited scientists, politicians and media representatives to the Schönfeld palace in Kassel. The participants were "either actively involved in shaping the democratic experiment themselves, commenting critically on the development path of Russian society and politics, or connected with the country through many years of practical experience".

literature

• Ewald Grothe : Electress Auguste of Hessen-Kassel and the Schönfelder Kreis . In: Fürstenhof and scholarly republic. Hessian résumés of the 18th century. Edited by Bernd Heidenreich, Wiesbaden 1997, pp. 53–60.
• Rüdiger Ham: Ludwig Hassenpflug: statesman and lawyer between revolution and reaction. A political biography (= studies on historical research of the modern age , 50), Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-8300-2764-5 .
• Bernhard Lauer (eds.), Gerd Fenner, Ewald Grothe, Marianne Heinz and Heidrun Helwig: Electress Auguste von Hessen (1789-1841) in her time . Brothers Grimm Society, Kassel 1995.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ferdinand von Eschwege
2. ↑ Ost-West-Wissenschaftszentrum-Friedrich Ebert Foundation, duration: 1992 - 2007, Schönfeld Palace, Kassel [1] , accessed on October 20, 2017
3. ↑ Gabriele Gorza and Peter W. Schulze (editors), Where is Russia heading under Putin ?: the authoritarian path to democracy , Campus Verlag , 2004, ISBN 3593375850 , 9783593375854 [2] , page 7/8, accessed on October 20, 2017