Storm on Freiburg

Storm on Freiburg

Part of: Baden Revolution

Storming the barricades at the Breisacher Tor

date	April 24, 1848
place	Freiburg in Breisgau
output	Freiburg is occupied by federal troops

Parties to the conflict
republican irregulars	2nd Division of the VIII Army Corps of the German Confederation with units from: Baden Nassau Hessen
Commander
Georg von Langsdorff	General Friedrich Hoffmann
Troop strength
1,200	6,000
losses
11 dead; 13 wounded	14 dead; 20 wounded

The storm on Freiburg took place on April 24, 1848 during the Baden Revolution . Associations of the VIII Army Corps of the German Confederation stormed the city of Freiburg im Breisgau , which was occupied by republican militants .

Bloody Easter 1848

On April 22nd, a people's assembly was held in Freiburg with 3,000 to 4,000 participants, 1,200 to 1,400 of whom were armed. The military had withdrawn from the city. After Friedrich Hecker's defeat on April 20 in the battle on the Scheideck , Karl von Rotteck junior and Carl Mez tried in vain to dissuade the friars from the armed uprising, which is why the Republicans later described the two as traitors. The rebels did not believe the news of Hecker's defeat and relied on the relief from the freischarge, estimated at 5,000 men, who advanced on Freiburg under Franz Sigel .

The following day, the Freiburg vigilante group tried to prevent the irregulars from taking over the municipal cannons, whereby the vigilante leadership acted cautiously and the teams ultimately stayed away. The commander of the advancing federal troops threatened to storm the city if the troops did not withdraw and the barricades were removed. The deadline was extended several times - most recently until 4 p.m. Around 3:30 p.m., the fire of the battle near Günterstal could be heard in Freiburg , which now prevented the federal troops from storming Freiburg. Larger groups of free groups gathered again in the city, as those who had already prepared to leave now stayed. The irregulars first got one of the city cannons to intervene in the battle near Günterstal. Later the militants also took the remaining three cannons from the city armory and brought them into position at the city gates.

On April 24th, the irregulars commandeered weapons in Freiburg town houses. At 9:30 a.m., under the orders of General Friedrich Hoffmann, the attack of the federal troops on the city began. Fierce fighting raged around the Martinstor, but the troops from Hessen-Nassau were the first to penetrate the city via Kaiserstrasse. Baden soldiers came into the city via Jesuitengasse and Zähringertor, and troops from Hessen-Nassau and Baden at the Predigertor. At 11 a.m. Freiburg was completely in the hands of the federal troops. Some houses in the city were damaged in the fighting and civilians were killed. The expected relief of the irregulars advancing on Freiburg from outside under Franz Sigel and Theodor Mögling came too late, which presumably averted greater damage to the city.

General Hoffmann proclaimed martial law and had all the city's residents disarmed. Numerous irregulars were taken prisoner. In addition, a number of citizens of Freiburg were arrested, including Karl von Rotteck junior. The commander of the irregulars, Georg von Langsdorff, was a member of the Freiburg Gymnastics Association from 1844 . The Baden state government dissolved the association on April 25, as more of its members were involved in the uprising.

On April 26th, the commander of the VIIIth Army Corps of the German Confederation , Prince Friedrich von Württemberg , arrived in Freiburg and on April 28th he took a parade of his troops.

Commemoration

Memorial plaque

At the place next to the Schwabentor , unofficially designated as the place of the last barricade , a plaque commemorates the events of that time.

literature

• Joseph L. Wohleb: Freiburg in the 48 revolution . In: Schau-ins-Land, Heft 69, 1950, pp. 102–118 online at Freiburg University Library

Web links

• Presentation on www.freiburgs-geschichte.de
• Freiburg newspaper of April 25, 1848; Retrieved August 8, 2013
• Freiburg newspaper of April 26, 1848; Retrieved August 8, 2013
• Freiburg newspaper of April 27, 1848; Retrieved August 8, 2013
• Freiburg newspaper of April 28, 1848 with the report by General Hoffmann; Retrieved August 8, 2013
• Presentation on www.schule-bw.de; Retrieved August 9, 2013
• Illustrirte Zeitung , No. 258 of June 10, 1848, pp. 377–378 ( online at Google Books )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Freiburger Zeitung online from April 23rd and 26th

Coordinates: 48 ° 0 ′ 0 ″  N , 7 ° 51 ′ 0 ″  E