State of the prince
The state of the prince primate (also prince primate state or state of the Kurerzkanzlers ) was a sovereign state that existed from 1806 to 1810, during the reign of Napoleon and was a member of the confederation of the German Rhine Confederation . The sole regent was Karl Theodor von Dalberg (1744-1817). Sometimes the predecessor state (1803–1806) and the successor state (1810–1813) are also called that.
Geography and history
The state was formed on July 12, 1806 with the signing of the Rhine Confederation Act . The national territory included the previous Principality of Aschaffenburg , the Principality of Regensburg , the County of Wetzlar (former imperial city) and the newly added Free Imperial City of Frankfurt . On May 22nd, 1810, when the Regensburg territory was ceded to the Kingdom of Bavaria, the primate state nominally ended. The remaining areas of Aschaffenburg, Frankfurt and Wetzlar went into the newly created Grand Duchy of Frankfurt . At the instigation of Napoleon , the Prince Primate was compensated for the lost Regensburg territories with the Principality of Hanau and the Principality of Fulda , so that the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was divided into four departments : Frankfurt (with Wetzlar), Aschaffenburg , Hanau and Fulda .
The Prince Primate
The regent of the Prince-Primary State, Karl Theodor von Dalberg, was Prince-Bishop of Constance since January 17, 1800 . From July 25, 1802 he was also the last ruler of the Archbishopric of Mainz , although he could no longer reside directly in Mainz, which was already occupied by Napoleonic troops. He therefore ruled mainly from his residence in Johannisburg Castle in Aschaffenburg, which remained the royal seat from 1802 to 1813. With the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803, Dalberg received the title of Prince Primate for Germany , since Mainz had now finally fallen to France . It was agreed that this title as well as the offices of the Elector of Mainz , the Imperial Arch Chancellor, and the Archbishop of Mainz would in future always be held by the Bishop of Regensburg in personal union. The seat of the prince-chancellor should be in Regensburg. Since the Bishop of Regensburg was still alive, Dalberg's official appointment as Archbishop of Regensburg was delayed until February 1, 1805, but Dalberg was already Prince Primate and Imperial Arch Chancellor.
Effect and criticism
The state of the prince-prince is regarded as a model state in which Dalberg carefully tried to implement reforms. Due to the political conditions of the occupation of part of Germany, the Napoleonic Wars and the internal disputes of the successor states of the German Empire, the possibilities were limited. There was also criticism of Dalberg from many quarters for being too compliant to Napoleonic rule. The realpolitical achievement was mostly appreciated. Most of the reforms were only implemented in the successor state, the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt . As sovereign and bishop Dalberg was embarrassed conscientiously, in his administration of Kantian sense of duty, at the same time of winning human kindness and helpfulness. Whenever he stayed in Regensburg or Konstanz, he held the pontifical acts himself and usually also took part in the consistorial meetings in Regensburg. Throughout his life he had a strong belief in the good possibilities in people and was quite a regent in the sense of the Enlightenment.
literature
- Klaus Rob: Karl Theodor von Dalberg (1744-1817). A political biography for the years 1744–1806 , Frankfurt am Main 1984.
- Konrad M. Färber u. a. (Ed.): Carl von Dalberg: Archbishop and Statesman (1744-1817) , Regensburg 1994. ISBN 3-927529-03-6
- Konrad M. Färber: Emperor and Arch Chancellor. Carl von Dalberg and Napoleon at the end of the Old Kingdom , Regensburg 1994.
- Herbert Hömig: Carl Theodor von Dalberg. Statesman and prince of the church in the shadow of Napoleon , Paderborn 2011.
- Martin A. Völker : Space fantasies, narrative wholeness and identity. A reconstruction of the aesthetic from the work and work of the barons von Dalberg , Enlightenment and Modernism, Vol. 5. Hannover-Laatzen: Wehrhahn Verlag, 2006. ISBN 978-3-86525-205-0
- Karl von Beaulieu-Marconnay : Karl von Dalberg and his time. On the biography and characteristics of the Prince Primate. 2 vol., Weimar 1879.
- Hermann Ketterer: The Principality of Aschaffenburg and its transition to the Crown of Bavaria. Festschrift for the memory of the century. On behalf of the Aschaffenburg City Council. Aschaffenburg Magistrate, Aschaffenburg 1915.
- Commission for Bavarian State History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences (Hrsg.): Historischer Atlas von Bayern. Part: Franconia. Row 1, Issue 12: Günter Christ: Aschaffenburg. Main features of the administration of the Mainz Oberstift and the Dalberg State. Commission for Bavarian State History and others, Munich and others in 1963.