HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Duchy of Nassau (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
states of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
and
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...
. It was a
member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...
and later of the
German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
. Its ruling dynasty, now extinct, was the
House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
. The duchy was named for its historical core city,
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, although
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
rather than Nassau was its capital. In 1865, the Duchy of Nassau had 465,636 inhabitants. After being occupied and annexed into the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
in 1866 following the
Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
, it was incorporated into the Province of Hesse-Nassau. The area today is a geographical and historical region,
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, and Nassau is also the name of the
Nassau Nature Park The Nassau Nature Park (german: Naturpark Nassau) is a nature park in the southwestern Westerwald and the northwestern Taunus area of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, located within the historical state of Nassau and including the town ...
within the borders of the former duchy. Today, the
Grand Duke of Luxembourg The Grand Duke of Luxembourg ( lb, Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, french: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, german: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it ...
still uses "Duke of Nassau" as his secondary title, and "Prince" or "Princess of Nassau" is used as a title by other members of the grand ducal family. Nassau is also part of the name of the Dutch royal family, which styles itself Orange-Nassau.


Geography

The territory of the duchy was essentially congruent with the
Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range spa ...
and
Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...
mountain ranges. The southern and western borders were formed by the Main and the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...
, while in the northern part of the territory, the
Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source i ...
river separated the two mountain ranges. The neighbouring territory to the east and south was the
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 18 ...
. The Landgraviate of
Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...
and the
Free City of Frankfurt For almost five centuries, the German city of Frankfurt was a city-state within two major Germanic entities: *The Holy Roman Empire as the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt () (until 1806) *The German Confederation as the Free City of Frankfurt ...
were also to the east. To the west was the
Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...
of the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
, which also controlled an
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
in the eastern part of Nassau, called Wetzlar.


Population

At its foundation in 1806, the Duchy had 302,769 inhabitants. The citizens were mostly farmers, day labourers, or artisans. In 1819, 7% of Nassauers lived in settlements with more than 2,000 inhabitants, while the rest lived in 850 smaller settlements and 1,200 isolated homesteads. Wiesbaden was the largest settlement with 5,000 inhabitants, and
Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...
was the second-largest with around 2,600 inhabitants. By 1847, Wiesbaden had grown to 14,000 inhabitants and Limburg to 3,400. The third-largest city was Höchst am Main.


History


Establishment

The
House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
had produced many collateral lines in the course of its nearly one-thousand-year history. Up to the 18th century, the three main lines were the small princedoms of
Nassau-Usingen Nassau-Usingen was a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the Upper Rhenish Circle that became a principality in 1688. The origin of the county lies in the medieval county of Weilnau that was acquired by the counts of Nassau-Weilburg in 1602. ...
, Nassau-Weilburg, and Nassau-Dietz (later Orange-Nassau), with large, scattered territories in what is now the Netherlands and Belgium. From 1736, many treaties and agreements were made between the different lines (The Nassau Family Pact), which prevented further splitting of territories and enabled general political co-ordination between the branches. In this context, the administrative subdivisions of the individual territories were adjusted, laying the foundations for the later unification of the territories. After the
War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...
(1792–1797), Nassau-Dietz lost its possessions in Belgium and the Netherlands, while Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg lost all their territories west of the Rhine to France. On the other hand, like other German secular principalities, the Nassaus gained territory that had formerly belonged to the church as a result of
secularisation In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
. The Nassaus participated in negotiations at the Second Congress of Rastatt (1797) and in Paris, in order to secure the territories of the Prince-Bishops of
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
and
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
. The Imperial Recess of 1803 largely accorded with the desires of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg. Orange-Nassau had already agreed separate terms with
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
. Nassau-Usingen had lost
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...
, two-thirds of
Saarwerden Sarrewerden (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. The localities of ''Bischtroff-sur-Sarre'' and ''Zollingen'' are incorporated in the commune since 1972. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin departm ...
, Ottweiler, and some smaller territories (totalling 60,000 inhabitants and 447,000
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
s of income per year). In compensation, it received: from Mainz, Höchst, Königstein,
Cronberg Cronberg is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Tarja Cronberg (born 1943), Finnish Green League politician * Fredrik Magnus Cronberg (1719–1728), Governor of Uppsala * Walter von Cronberg (1477 or 1479–1545), Grand Master ...
,
Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the pre ...
and the
Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rhein ...
; from
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
some districts on the east bank of the Rhine; from Bavaria, the sub-district of
Kaub Kaub (old spelling: ''Caub'') is a town in Germany, state Rhineland-Palatinate, district Rhein-Lahn-Kreis. It is part of the municipality (''Verbandsgemeinde'') Loreley. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 50 km west from W ...
; from
Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse be ...
, the lordship of
Eppstein Eppstein is a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Eppstein lies west of Frankfurt am Main, around 12 km north east of the state capital Wiesbaden, and is at the edge of the Taunus mountains. The ruins of the Eppstein castle is ...
,
Katzenelnbogen Katzenelnbogen () is the name of a castle and small town in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the '' Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Aar-Einrich. History Katzenelnbo ...
, and
Braubach Braubach is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 10 km southeast of Koblenz. Braubach has assorted medieval architecture intact, including ...
; from Prussia,
Sayn-Altenkirchen Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn-Altenkirchen (sometimes called Sayn-Altenkirchen) was a German county located in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, near the river Sieg. When Count William III of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn died in 1623 without clear heirs, the ...
, Sayn-Hachenburg; and several cloisters were received from Mainz. Thus Nassau-Usingen regained its lost population and increased its annual income by around 130,000 guilders. Nassau-Weilburg lost Kirchheim, Stauf, and its third of Saarwerden (15,500 inhabitants and 178,000 guilders in revenue). For these, it received many small possessions of Trier, including
Ehrenbreitstein Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (german: Festung Ehrenbreitstein, ) is a fortress in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the east bank of the Rhine where it is joined by the Moselle, overlooking the town of Koblenz. Occupying the position ...
,
Vallendar Vallendar is a town in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipali ...
,
Sayn Sayn was a small German county of the Holy Roman Empire which, during the Middle Ages, existed within what is today Rheinland-Pfalz. There have been two Counties of Sayn. The first emerged in 1139 and became closely associated with the County ...
,
Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to w ...
, Limburg an der Lahn, three abbeys, and the holdings of
Limburg Cathedral Limburg Cathedral (german: Limburger Dom, also known as ''Georgsdom'' ("George's Cathedral") after its dedication to Saint George, is located above the old town of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Limbu ...
. This totalled 37,000 inhabitants and 147,000 guilders of revenue. In the course of these arrangements, the Kammergut of the Princely house was considerably extended to more than 52,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land. These domains encompassed 11.5% of the flat land and yielded around a million guilders per year – the largest part of their total income. Even before the actual Imperial Recess, in September and October 1802, both principalities deployed troops in the territories of Cologne and Mainz that they had received. In November and December, after civilian officials had taken possession of the territory, new oaths were sworn by officials of the previous regimes and the new subjects. According to the reports of Nassau officials, the new administrations were welcomed, or at least accepted without protest, in most regions, since the Nassau principalities were considered very liberal, compared to the former ecclesiastical rulers. Between December 1802 and September 1803, the wealth monasteries and religious communities were disbanded. The closures of monasteries without possessions continued until 1817 since the state had to provide pensions to monks and converses after disbanding their communities. Between October 1803 and February 1804, the territories of many
Imperial Knight The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility ('' edelfrei'') and the minister ...
s and other possessors of
Imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...
were occupied and annexed. Only in August/September 1806 were these acquisitions confirmed by edict, affirmed by the treaty of the
Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria a ...
. This process encountered considerable resistance, led by the Imperial Knights, but this resistance had no serious consequences and ultimately failed since the Nassau princes' seizures were enforced by French officials and soldiers. On 17 July 1806, Prince Frederick Augustus of Nassau-Usingen and his cousin Prince Frederick William of Nassau-Weilburg joined the Confederation of the Rhine. Prince Frederick Augustus, the senior member of the House of Nassau received the title of Sovereign Duke of Nassau, while Frederick William was granted the title of Sovereign Prince of Nassau. Under pressure from
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
both counties merged to form the Duchy of Nassau on 30 August 1806, under the joint rule of Frederick Augustus and Frederick William. This decision was encouraged by the fact that Frederick Augustus had no male heirs and Frederick William was thus in line to inherit his principality anyway. In 1815, at the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
, there was a further territorial expansion. When the Orange-Nassau line received the Dutch crown on 31 May, they had to surrender the Principality of Orange-Nassau to Prussia, which passed part of it to the Duchy of Nassau the next day. Frederick William died from a fall on the stairs at Schloss Weilburg on 9 January 1816, and it was his son
William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
who became the first sole Duke of Nassau after Frederick Augustus' death on 24 March 1816.


Reform period

The Chief ministers in 1806 were Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern and Ernst Franz Ludwig von Bieberstein. Von Gagern resigned in 1811, after which von Bieberstein served alone until his death in 1834. A series of reforms were carried out in the first years of the Duchy: the abolition of
serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...
in 1806, the introduction of
freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights ...
in 1810, and a fundamental tax reform in 1812, which replaced 991 direct taxes with a single progressive tax on land and trade. Degrading corporal punishment was abolished and the ''Kulturverordnung'' (cultivation ordinance) promoted the autonomous management of soil and land. After a transitional period with four districts, the new Duchy was consolidated into three districts on 1 August 1809: Wiesbaden, Weilburg, and Ehrenbreitstein. In turn, these were abolished in 1816, with the establishment of Wiesbaden as sole capital. The number of
Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
subdivisions was slowly reduced, from sixty-two in 1806 to forty-eight in 1812. Due to the religious heterogeneity of the territory, a system of "combined schools" was introduced on 24 March 1817. On 14 March 1818, a state-wide public health system was established – the first such system in Germany.


Constitution of 1814

On 2 September 1814, a constitution was promulgated. It was the first modern constitution in any of the German states. Because there was (very limited) parliamentary involvement in government, especially in taxation, it was considered to be a "Parliamentary Constitution" in the language of the day. The constitution guaranteed the freedom of the individual, religious tolerance, and the
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...
. It was heavily influenced by
Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the unification of German ...
, who originally came from Nassau and had substantial holdings there. The princes encouraged his involvement because he was part of the class of Imperial Knights who had been dispossessed by them and due to his involvement, the opposition of the Knights was diminished. However, the legislation of the Concert of Europe period, especially the
Carlsbad Decrees The Carlsbad Decrees (german: Karlsbader Beschlüsse) were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town ...
of 1819, marked a new restriction of freedoms in Nassau as elsewhere. On 28 December 1849, the constitution was replaced by a reformed constitution which took account of the democratic demands of the
German revolutions of 1848–49 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
. On 25 November 1851, this constitution was repealed and the old constitution was restored.


Parliament

Under the constitution of 1814, the Parliament (''Landstände'') of Nassau had two chambers: a chamber of deputies (''Landesdeputiertenversammlung'') and a house of lords (''Herrenbank''). The eleven members of the house of lords were all princes of the House of Nassau or representatives of the nobility. The twenty-two members of the chamber of deputies were mostly elected by
census suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to ...
but had to be land owners, except for three representatives of ecclesiastics and one representative of teachers. Only four years after the establishment of the constitution, in 1818, did the first election in the Duchy take place. As a result, Parliament was prevented from playing a role in the establishment of the Duchy. The electorate consisted of 39 nobles, 1448 owners of substantial amounts of land, and 128 wealthy city dwellers. Given that the population of the Duchy at the time was about 287,000, this was a tiny number of electors. The Parliament met for the first time on 3 March 1818.


The Nassau Domain dispute

At the foundation of the Duchy, Minister von Bieberstein established a strong fiscal distinction between the treasury of the general domain and that of the regional taxes. The domain, which included court estates and land, and mineral water springs, as well as the
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
and other feudal dues was the property of the Ducal House, which could not be used for paying state expenses and which Parliament had no power over. Even in the very earliest years of the Duchy, this system was loudly criticised. The parliamentary president Carl Friedrich Emil von Ibell in particular complained about this in letters to Bieberstein and petitions to the Duke, with ever greater frequency. His hostile position was one of the justifications for his impeachment in 1821. In the following years, there was more debate with and within Parliament, as well as with the government, about the division between Ducal and state funds. The conflict only came out into the open, however, in the course of the
July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first in 1789. It led to ...
of 1830 sparked unrest in neighbouring countries. In 1831, the government prevented the submission of petitions to the Duke on the subject and held a joint manoeuvre in Rheingau with Austrian troops from the fortress in Mainz. At its next sitting, Parliament, which had not been very active up to this point, drafted several reform proposals, few of which were accepted. The issue of the Domain thus progressed to burning point. On 24 March, the deputies of the lower chamber put forward a proposal for the Domain to become property of the populace. The government forbade a public assemblies on this issue and announced the opposite opinion. To suppress any revolt following this decision, several hundred troops were called in from the neighbouring
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 18 ...
. However, no revolt actually broke out. In the press within the state and in the neighbouring principalities, articles in newspapers and pamphlets supported both sides of the issue. The president of the chamber
Georg Herber Georg Herber (30 January 1763 - 11 March 1833) was a child of Age of Enlightenment, The Enlightenment and Jurisprudence, jurist who entered government service, becoming a politician in his late middle age. He came to prominence in the Duchy of N ...
was the main figure on the side of the deputies, especially in a polemical piece published in the ''Hanauer Zeitung'' on 21 October 1831. At the end of 1831, the Nassau court began investigations against Herber. On 3 December 1832, Herber was finally sentenced to three years in prison for 'Abuse of the sovereign' and 'libel' against Bieberstein. On the night of 4 December, the president of the chamber was arrested as he slept in his bed. On 7 January 1833, he was released on bail. Herber's lawyer, , later the revolutionary Chief Minister of Nassau, attempted to get him a reduced sentence, but he was prevented. However, the sentence was never enforced, because Herber, who was very sick, died on 11 March 1833. The Ducal government had already prepared to expand the house of lords in the course of 1831 and this was effected by an edict on 29 October 1831. The bourgeois were thus put into a minority and failed in their attempt to prevent the levying of taxation in November 1831. Additionally, the house of lords voted down a targeted action of the bourgeois against Bieberstein. In the following months, there were ever more assemblies, rallies, newspaper articles (especially from outside Nassau), and pamphlets by the different parties of the conflict. Officials who had expressed sympathies for the bourgeois were reprimanded or fired and liberal newspapers from outside Nassau were banned. In March 1832, there was a new election for the lower chamber. However, the bourgeois deputies demanded that the house of lords were reduced to their previous numbers. Since the government refused this, the deputies ended the session and left the chamber on 17 April. The three ecclesiastical members, the member for teachers and one other deputy declared that the rest had forfeited their right to participate and approved the Ducal tax levy.


Accession of Duke Adolphe

After the Domain Dispute, the politics of Nassau became quiet. After the death of von Bieberstein, Nassau entered the German Zollverein in 1835, which Bieberstein had energetically resisted. In 1839, Duke William also died and his twenty-two-year-old son
Adolphe ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...
replaced him as Duke. Adolphe moved his residence to the Wiesbaden City Palace in 1841 and in January 1845, he married the Russian Grand Duchess
Elizabeth Mikhailovna Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia (Moscow, 26 May 1826 – Wiesbaden, 28 January 1845) was the second child and daughter of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia and Princess Charlotte of Württemberg who took the name ''Elena Pavl ...
, who died in childbirth a year later. To honour her, he had the
Russian orthodox church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
in Wiesbaden. In 1842, Adolphe was one of the founding members of the Mainz Adelsverein, which was intended to establish a German colony in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, but was not successful. From 1844, there was a wave of community foundations in Nassau, especially trade and athletic associations. These were initially apolitical, but they would play a role in the upcoming Revolution. Wiesbaden was additionally one of the centres of German Catholicism. The government attempted some tentative reforms in 1845 with a somewhat more liberal municipalities law and with a law about district courts in 1846. In 1847, Parliament drafted laws on press freedom and damage to the land by animals, in response to complaints from the rural population about the consequences of Ducal hunts.


Revolution of 1848

Like most of Europe, Nassau was engulfed in a revolutionary wave after the
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...
in France in 1848. On 1 March a liberal group headed by the jurist August Hergenhahn gathered at the ''Vier Jahreszeiten'' Hotel in Wiesbaden to present a list of moderate liberal nationalist demands to the government. This list included civil freedoms, a German national assembly, and a new electoral law. The next day, the ''Neun Forderungen der Nassauer'' (Nine Demands of the Nassauers) were presented to Chief Minister Emil August von Dungern, who immediately approved the formation of a citizens' militia, freedom of the press, and the convocation of the lower chamber of Parliament to discuss electoral reform. Decisions on the other demands were reserved for the Duke, who was in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
at that moment. In accordance with a proclamation of Hergenhahn, around 40,000 men assembled in Wiesbaden on 4 March. There was a clear conflict in this action, which would shape the subsequent development of events: while the circle around Hergenhahn hoped to receive confirmation of their demands by the acclamation of the people, they were mainly peasants, armed with scythes, cudgels, and axes, seeking the abolition of old Feudal impositions and an easing of forest and hunting laws. As the crowd moved restlessly through the city, the Duke announced from the balcony of his residence that he would meet all their demands. Then the crowd happily dispersed. With the advent of press freedom, thirteen political newspapers appeared within weeks, including five in Wiesbaden alone. Numerous local gazettes in rural areas also began to print political texts. From the second week of March, electoral reform took centre stage in the political scene. The most important demand of the liberals was that the right to vote should no longer be tied to a minimum property requirement. On 6 March, the lower chamber held a debate on this subject. When the house of lords sought to discuss voting rights as well, there were protests among the populace of Wiesbaden. Around 500 people gathered in Wiesbaden in the evening to publicly debate the question of voting rights. Smaller meetings occurred in other cities of nassau. By the middle of the month however, these public discussions had faded away. Meanwhile, the lower chamber agreed that the future parliament should be
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
with 40–60 members and that the property requirement for voting should be abolished. Most controversial was whether the members of the new parliament should be elected directly or by an electoral college. A draft bill was presented on 20 March and finally passed on 28 March. They decided in favour of an electoral college by 18 votes to three. On 5 April the electoral law came into effect. It stated that every hundred people would choose an elector, who in turn would meet in one of 14 electoral colleges, each of which would choose one member of parliament. The right to vote was extended to several groups that had hitherto been excluded, such as noblemen, officials, pensioners, and
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. Those who received poor relief or were bankrupt were not allowed to vote. All citizens were eligible to serve as members of Parliament except for the highest administrative officials, military officers, and court officials. Meanwhile, on 31 March, the Pre-Parliament gathered in the St. Paul's Church in
Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...
. Fifteen of its deputies were drawn from the lower chamber of the Nassau parliament and two from the Nassau house of lords. There were another nine citizens of the Duchy in the Pre-Parliament as well. As a result, chaotic conditions developed in rural areas. Many officials had lost their jobs at the beginning of the revolution, so there was no ordered administration. The farmers completely stopped paying taxes and drove out the forest rangers. Many young officials and teachers proved to be revolutionary agitators for a radical democracy. The Ducal government contributed to this situation with hectic actions to calm the rural population, like amnesties (particularly for poaching, rural, and forest crimes), conceding free elections of the
Schultheiß In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a ''Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county (' ...
en, the abolition of the last feudal dues, and the removal of various unpopular administrative officials. In the cities, the people often reacted to the general lawlessness by establishing their own neighbourhood watches. In Wiesbaden, a central safety committee for the whole of Nassau under the leadership of Augustus Hergenhahn was established and came to enjoy a level of authority throughout the Duchy. Hergenhahn developed into the moderate liberal leading light of the revolution and also secured the trust of Duke Adoplhe. After Emil August von Dungern resigned as Chief Minister, the Duke appointed Hergenhahn as his replacement on 16 April.


1848 elections

Since the elections for the Parliament of Nassau were drawing near, political societies began to form and these eventually consolidated into true political parties. From the end of March, the Bishop of Limburg, , began to encourage Catholic societies in rural areas. They had the clearest programme of any of the parties, with 21 core principles, which the Bishop had promulgated on 9 March. Additionally, pastoral letters and religious services provided a platform for propagating ecclesiastical politics. On 4 April, a radical liberal pamphlet was distributed in Wiesbaden, announcing the "Committee of the Republican Society" as the first party that stood against the Catholic political agitation. The next day, a special issue of the ''Nassauische Allgemein'' announced a Democratic-Monarchist opposition party, which was formally founded on 7 April. On 5 April, there were significant protests calling for the establishment of a Wiesbaden committee for electoral preparation. In the morning, the Liberals called for a public assembly to take place at 1 pm, at which the electoral college would be chosen for which they had already prepared a list of candidates. In midmorning, the Moderates secured a two hour postponement, which they used to draft their own list, which secured a large majority of the votes when the meeting took place. In the following weeks, the Ducal government began preparations for the Parliamentary elections and for elections to the Pan-German
Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...
. Since this was the first time that such a task had been attempted, it was an incredibly difficult process in many areas to create the lists of voters. There were protests by the populace and newspapers against limitations on the right to vote that were considered unfair. In particular, they pushed back against the fact that the adult sons of artisans and farmers would not be allowed to vote if they worked in their father's business. Finally, on 18 April, the election of the electoral colleges took place. In each town and region they were chosen by assemblies of voters. The total number of the 420,000 inhabitants of the Duchy who voted could not be determined for certain. Estimates varied between 84,000 and 100,000 people (20–23%). Turnout varied by region from very low to nearly full participation, but there was a tendency for higher participation in the cities than in the countryside. Many procedural irregularities were reported from the electoral assemblies. Ideological programmes played a minor role in the selection of electors. Promises of lower rates of taxation were thrown around in many of the hustings during the assemblies. In most cases they elected people who were already socially prominent, like mayors, teachers, forest rangers, or clergymen (especially in the
Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...
). The Catholics provided their followers with pre-prepared ballot papers with the Catholic candidates marked on them. This was explicitly forbidden by the electoral law and was strongly criticised by the liberals. The 4,000 electors chose the six representatives of Nassau for the Frankfurt Parliament on 25 April. It proved difficult to find suitable and willing candidates. Only with difficulty did the Wiesbaden electoral committee (as representatives of the moderate liberals, the Catholic church and its societies, and the various ideological newspapers) find candidates for the six vacancies. Everyone in the committee's list was a government employee. In District 1 (
Rennerod Rennerod is a town in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rennerod, a kind of collective municipality. Within the municipal area, until German Reunification on 3 Octob ...
, in the north of the duchy) and District 4 (
Nastätten Nastätten is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Taunus, approx. 25 km southeast of Koblenz, and 35 km northwest of Wiesbaden. Nastätten is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemein ...
, southwest), there was not much conflict; Procurator Carl Schenck of
Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday road ...
was elected in the former with 76% of the vote, while Friedrich Schepp, a member of the governing council, was chosen in the latter with 90% of the vote. In District 2 (
Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to w ...
, in the northwest), there had been a much more heated campaign, but
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empir ...
Max von Gagern won with 82% of the vote. Von Gagern had been approached to be a candidate by the liberals, but was also a devoted Catholic and close confidant of the Duke. This position between the camps provided opportunities for Catholics and Liberals to attack him, but these attacks ultimately had little impact, since he retained the church's support. Controversy also surrounded
Friedrich Schulz __NOTOC__ Friedrich Schulz (15 October 1897 – 30 November 1976) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Awards * 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Cl ...
, the committee's candidate for District 3 ( Limburg, in the centre of the duchy). He was a deputy headmaster in Weilburg and editor of the ''Lahnboten'', who pushed a reformist line, which in his opinion would lead to a Republic. For this ambitious plan, which was criticised as "fantastical," Schulz was criticised by the liberals. But in the end, Schulz secured 85% of the vote in his district. District 5 ( Königstein, the southeast) was won by Karl Philipp Hehner, who held the most radical views of any of the representatives. He was a former member of a Burschenschaft and had been temporarily expelled from state service in 1831 for his political views, but had risen by March 1848 to one of the highest positions in the government. Hehner considered a
constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
as only a transitional stage and kept his main focus on a Republic. Probably because of this radical position, he secured only 61% of the vote in his district. In District 6 (Wiesbaden), Augustus Hergenhahn himself stood and won with 80% of the vote. In the course of 1848, the Nassau deputies in the Frankfurt Parliament aside from Schenk developed into factions. Von Gagern, Hergenhahn and Schep joined the moderate liberal Casino faction, while Schulz and Hehner joined the centre left Westendhall. As the Frankfurt Parliament collapsed, Max von Gagern resigned his position along with 65 other monarchist representatives on 21 May 1849. He was followed shortly after by Hergehahn, Schepp and Schenk. Hehner and Schulz remained members until the final dissolution of the Parliament in June 1849. In the election for the Nassau parliament on 1 May, which was also carried out by the 4,000 members of the electoral colleges, local interests played a much larger role than in the elections for the Frankfurt Parliament. The parties and societies did not have a serious impact. The majority of the successful candidates were civil servants and mayors, with a couple of merchants, industrialists, and farmers. Noticeably few Catholics and absolutely no Catholic clergy were elected.


End of the Revolution

The Nassau Parliament met for the first time on 22 May 1848. Over the summer, groupings based on the Left-Right schema began to appear in the parliament. The unrest in Nassau was not calmed after the elections. In July 1848, it reached a new crisis point, with physical clashes on the right of the Duke to veto decisions of Parliament. While the left wing in the Parliament did not recognise this power, the right wing and the Ducal government insisted on it. Soon this dispute led to unrest among the general population. Finally, Hergenhahn called in Prussian and Austrian troops from Mainz, who put down the riots in Wiesbaden. In September, after fighting in the streets in Frankfurt, Federal troops occupied part of the Taunus. In parallel with the Parliament, the landscape of political societies and publications also began to develop a firmer ideological divide and became increasingly active. Many petitions and rallies took place in the second half of the year. The ''Freie Zeitung'' became the mouthpiece of the left wing of the National assembly over the course of the summer and frequently criticised the governments of Prussia and Nassau. The ''Nassauische Allgemeine'' abandoned strict neutrality and transformed into a supporter of a constitutional monarchy, as did the Weilburg ''Lahnbote''. Even in 1848, an abatement of the revolutionary force was notable. Except for the ''Freie Zeitung'' and the ''Allgemeine'' all papers ceased publishing in the second half of the year, because sales rapidly dropped and the Ducal government began to suppress the press. As a result of these developments, the ''Nassauische Allgemeine'' became increasingly dependent on the Ducal government for money and content. From the end of 1849, there was again a comprehensive
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
regime. The political societies, which had formed by autumn 1848, mostly took up democratic positions, including explicitly political clubs, but also many
sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
s and workers' clubs. On 12 November, the democratic societies joined together as the ''Kirberger Union'', which was to serve as an
umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
. As the reaction against the revolution began, there were many new foundations, so that by the end of 1848, there were around fifty organisations in the Kirberger Union, many with their own sub-organisations. In the following months however, the democratic movement collapsed rapidly. After the middle of 1849, there were no active democratic societies. A few societies were formed, supporting constitutional monarchy. They gained an over-arching structure on 19 November 1848, when the Nassau and Hessian constitutional societies named themselves the Deutsche Vereine (German Society) as an umbrella organisation with its base in Wiesbaden.


Elections for the Erfurt Parliament

After the collapse of the Frankfurt Parliament, there was conflict between Prussia, Austria, and the smaller German states. The Duchy of Nassau was among the small German principalities which supported the Prussians and their plans to convoke a Union Parliament at
Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...
. On 3 December 1849, the Ducal government oversaw elections for this body in the four Nassau districts, using Prussian three-class franchise Although the political movements had passed their peak, there was even so an electoral campaign for the positions. Constitutionalists, the government and the ''Nassauische Allgemeine'' all sought a high voter turnout in the hope that this would add legitimacy to the Prussian plans for a monarchist Germany. The so-called Gotha Post-Parliament, an informal successor of the Frankfurt Parliament, came decisively under the influence of Max van Gagern. August Hergenhahn also participated in that Post-Parliament in June 1849. On 16 December, the constitutional monarchists organised a large electoral assembly in Wiesbaden, at which nominations took place. By contrast, the democrats tried to ensure a low voter turnout and sought the implementation of the Frankfurt Constitution. In June 1849, the organised people's assemblies all over Nassau for this purpose. The largest assembly, with around 500 participants, took place on 10 June in
Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...
and formulated ten demands, including the withdrawal of Nassau troops from
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
,
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
, and the Palatinate, where they were stationed as representatives of the German Federation to prevent revolutionary movements. Beyond that, they wanted the reconstitution of a German parliament with full powers. The Catholic political societies had already disappeared by this point. The church itself made no effort to influence the election. Preparation for elections to the Erfurt Parliament began in December 1849. On 20 January 1850, the initial election of the electoral college took place in Nassau. Due to the higher voting age, the number of voters participating was a bit lower than in 1848. The turnout varied between 1% and 20%. Only two districts had a turnout of more than 60%. In some places, the only participants were the polling officials themselves. In at least 27 of the 132 electoral districts, the vote could not take place at all because of low turnout and had to be rescheduled for 27 January. The men chosen to be members of the electoral colleges were all civil servants. In the following days, the constitutional monarchists nominated candidates to be elected as representative. On 31 January, the electoral colleges chose Carl Wirth, a local official in Selters, Max von Gagern, August Hergenhahn and the Duke's brother-in-law Hermann, Prince of Wied as Nassau's deputies to the Erfurt Parliament. Although a nobleman, the Prince of Wied was the most liberal of the elected representatives.


The Restoration

After a brief period of calm, Duke Adolphe began a reactionary programme. There were ever more conflicts between the Duke and the Chief Minister who was only moderately conservative and resigned at the end of 1851. His successor was , who took his position on 7 February 1852. With his help, the Duke reduced the freedoms that had been granted over the following years and began to remove liberal officials from office. By the middle of 1852, nearly all political societies had been banned. In 1849, the government submitted a proposal for new elections to Parliament, which were to elect a bicameral system in which the upper chamber would be elected by wealthy citizens. This proposal was opposed by the Liberals, while the constitutional monarchists supported it. After that there was no further discussion about elections until September 1850, when the government submitted a new proposal for a twenty-four member chamber elected using the Prussian three-class franchise, modelled on the Erfurt Parliament. There was no further consultation with Parliament about the new elections, since the Duke dissolved Parliament on 2 April 1851. On 25 November, the Duke finally brought regulations into effect for the election of a Parliament similar to the bicameral system that existed before 1848. The political groups and the few remaining societies made no attempt at campaigning. On 14 and 16 February 1852 the landowners and merchants in the highest tax-bracket (less than a hundred people in the whole duchy) voted first for the six members of the upper chamber. The electoral college for the lower house was elected on 9 February and the elected college met on 18 February. The eligible voters for the lower chamber numbered 70,490. Voter turnout was between 3–4%. In some areas, lack of interest meant that the elections could not take place at all. Unlike the previous Parliament, farmers were the largest group in the new lower house. Bitter political strife returned once more in 1864, when the Government made plans to sell
Marienstatt Abbey Marienstatt Abbey (German: Abtei Marienstatt, Latin: ''Abbatia Loci Sanctae Mariæ'') is a Cistercian monastery and a pilgrimage site in Streithausen, Westerwaldkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, in the Nister valley near Hachenburg. The abbey has ...
in the
Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...
. It had been secularised in 1803 and passed into private ownership. In 1841 the site was put up for sale and the government made plans to turn the abbey into the first state-run home for the elderly and poor in Nassau. The Minister of Construction estimated the costs for the required renovations at 34,000
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
s. In 1842, the Duchy bought the Abbey for 19,500 guilders. Shortly after that it was reported the buildings were in too bad a condition for the project. By the 1860s, the buildings had declined even further. The diocese of Limburg began to be interested in acquiring it, in order to make it into an orphanage. The government was also interested in selling it because of the costs of maintaining the unused complex. The abbey was sold on 18 May 1864 for 20,900 guilders. Shortly before this, in the 25 November 1863 elections, the liberals had won a large majority in the lower chamber of Parliament. Their manifesto had proposed, among other things, that the privileges held by the Catholic church should also be extended to other religious groups. On 9 June 1864, the liberals in parliament argued that the sale of the Abbey should not be completed. They argued that the buildings and estate were worth more than the price that they had been sold for, and that Parliament had a right to veto sales of land. The government's officials denied that Parliament had any such right and stressed the social value that the structure would have after its sale. In the course of the debate, which continued over several sittings, a fierce war of words developed between the pro- and anti-clerical members of Parliament. The anti-clerical members disapproved of giving the Catholic church oversight of children. In the end, the sale went ahead despite Parliament's opposition.


End of the Duchy

When the
Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
broke out on 14 June 1866, the Duchy of Nassau took the side of
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. The war was won at the
Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königg ...
on 3 July and the "victory" of Nassau over Prussia at the Battle of Zorn near Wiesbaden on 12 July 1866 did nothing to prevent the of Nassau by Prussia. Nassau become the Wiesbaden Region into the Province of Hesse-Nassau. Before the conclusion of the Prague Peace on 23 August 1866 and two days before the creation of the
North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
, on 16 August 1866, the king announced to both houses of the
Landtag of Prussia The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Represe ...
that Prussia would annex
Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
,
Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the L ...
, the city of Frankfurt, and Nassau. Both houses were asked to give their assent to a law bringing the Prussian constitution into force in those territories on 1 October 1867. The law was passed by both houses of the Prussian Landtag on 20 September 1866 and was published in the gazette. The next step was the publication of the notice of annexation, which made the citizens of the nine annexed regions into citizens of Prussia. After these official actions, further practical actions were taken to bring the annexed regions into full union with the rest of Prussia. Duke Adolphe, the last Duke of Nassau, received 15,000,000 guilders as compensation, as well as
Biebrich Palace Biebrich Palace (german: link=no, Schloss Biebrich) is a Baroque residence (''Schloss'') in the borough of Biebrich in the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. Built in 1702 by Prince Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, it served as the ducal ...
, Schloss Weilburg, and Luxemburgisches Schloss in Königstein. He became Grand Duke of
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
in 1890 after the male line of Orange-Nassau became extinct. In 1868, Nassau, along with Frankfurt and the Electorate of Hesse were united in the new Prussian province of
Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the ...
. The capital of the new province was
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, which had previously been the capital of the Electorate of Hesse. Nassau and Frankfurt became the
administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
. In 1945, the majority of the old Duchy of Nassau fell within the
American occupation zone Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...
and became part of the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
of
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...
. Wiesbaden remained an administrative region within Hesse until 1968, when it was incorporated into
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...
. A small part of the Duchy of Nassau fell within the
French occupation zone The French occupation zone in Germany (, ) was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. Background In the aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin met at the Yalta ...
and became the administrative region of
Montabaur Montabaur () is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to w ...
in the state of
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. In 1956, a referendum on joining the state of Hesse was rejected by voters. Grenzstein Hessen-Darmstadt Oranien-Nassau.jpg, West side of a boundary stone, inscribed with ON for Orange-Nassau Grenzstein Oranien-Nassau Hessen-Darmstadt.jpg, East side of a boundary stone, inscribed with HD for Hesse-Darmstadt Rodenroth - Grenzstein Hz Nassau.jpg, Boundary stone of the Duchy of Nassau and the Kingdom of Prussia Dillenburg, Grenzsäule des Herzogtums Nassau.jpg, Boundary column of the Duchy of Nassau in Dillenburg


Politics


Foreign affairs

In foreign affairs, the Duchy's geographic location and economic weakness greatly limited its room to manoeuvre – in the Napoleonic period, it had no autonomy at all. The Nassau 'army' was at the beck and call of Napoleon. In 1806, they were stationed as occupation troops in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
. Then three
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...
s were stationed at the Siege of Kolberg. Two regiments of infantry and two cavalry squadrons fought for more than five years in the
Peninsular war The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...
; only half of them came back. In November 1813, Nassau joined the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon. Nassau troops fought at the battle of Waterloo: 1/2 rgt. was part of the crew of the fortified Hougemont farm which hold out against Napoleon, 1/1 rgt. was heavily battered after the French taking of
La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (named either after Jesus Christ's crown of thorns or a bramble hedge round a field nearby) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment on the Charleroi-Brussels road in Belgium. It has changed very little since it ...
. Of 7507 men inc. volunteers, 887 were killed in action. After the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...
in 1815, Nassau was a member of the
German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...
.


Military

Nassau's military policy was shaped by Duchy's membership of the German Confederation. Like the rest of the administration, the military was reformed in order to unite the various military forces inherited from Nassau's predecessor states into a single body. The majority of the troops consisted of two regiments of infantry, created in 1808/09. During the Napoleonic Wars, these were supported by squadrons of Jäger. After the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...
, the Duchy raised an artillery company, which became an artillery division with two companies in it after 1833. Further units were added ( pioneers, Jägers, baggage trains, reserves). Further contingents were added as required during wartime. The whole military was placed under a
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...
command structure. At its head was the Duke, but day-to-day operations were organised by an
Adjutant general An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...
. Ordinarily, the Nassau army contained roughly 4,000 soldiers. After the annexation of the Duchy, most of the officers and soldiers joined the
Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
.


Education

The Duchy could not afford its own university, so Duke William I made a treaty with the
Kingdom of Hannover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Hano ...
, which allowed citizens of Nassau to study at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
. In order to finance schools and university scholarships, on 29 March 1817, Duke William established the Nassau Central Study Fund, which still exists today, by consolidating a number of older secular and religious funds, and endowed it with farmland, forests, and bonds. In Göttingen, non-Nassau students occasionally participated illicitly in a free dinner funded by the Central Study Fund. The German term ''nassauer'', meaning 'someone who partakes of a privilege they are not entitled to' is said to derive from this practice, although etymologists report that the word is actually a
Berlin dialect Berlin German, or Berlin dialect (High German: ''Berliner Dialekt'', ''Berliner Mundart'', ''Berlinerisch'' or ''Berlinisch''; derogative: ''Berliner Schnauze'', ), is the dialect spoken in the city of Berlin as well as its surrounding metro ...
term derived from Rotwelsch
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
and that this story was invented after the fact.


Religion

As a result of the disparate territories that were joined together to form the Duchy, Nassau was not a religiously unified state. In 1820, the breakdown of religious groups was: 53% United Protestant, 45% Catholic, 1.7% Jewish, and 0.06%
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...
. However, settlements with more than one religion were unusual. Most villages and cities were clearly dominated by the members of one of the two major Christian groups. As was common in Protestant parts of Germany, the constitution placed the church under state control. The
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
and Reformed churches agreed to unite into the single Protestant Church in Nassau in 1817, at the Unionskirche in
Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'' ...
, making it the first united Protestant church in the German Confederation. Even in 1804 there was an effort to establish a Catholic
diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
of Nassau, but it was only in 1821 that the Duchy of Nassau and the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
came to an agreement on the establishment of the diocese of Limburg, which was formally established in 1827. Alongside the actual church policy, there were other points of interaction between state politics and ecclesiastical matters. The relocation of a religious society, the order of the
Redemptorists The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...
, to Bornhofen led to conflict between the state and the Bishop. The Redemptorists stayed in Bornhofen. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, founded in Dernbach were another religious society, which soon took charge of care for the sick within the diocese. After some initial problems at lower levels, they were tolerated by the government of the Duchy and even tacitly supported, because they had received enthusiastic commendation by doctors. In many places 'hospitals' or mobile medical stations were established, the fore-runners of modern .


Dukes

The Dukes of Nassau derived from the Walram line of the
House of Nassau The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
. Members of the Walram line of the House of Nassau still reign in the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
(Nassau-Weilburg). The reigning Grand Duke still uses Duke of Nassau as a
courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some con ...
. The royal family of the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
derives from the Ottonian line of Orange-Nassau, which split from the Walramian line in 1255.


Chief ministers


Economy

The economic situation of the small Duchy was precarious. The majority of the land area of the country was
Mittelgebirge A ''Mittelgebirge'' (German: ''Mittel'', "middle/medium"; ''Gebirge'', "mountain range") is a type of relatively low mountain range or highland area typical of the geography of central Europe, especially central and southern Germany; it refers to ...
, which had little agricultural value and represented a substantial barrier to internal transport. Even so, more than a third of the population worked on their own farmland, which was broken up into small areas as a result of partible inheritance. This smallholdings generally had to supplement their income from other sources – often in the Westerwald, this was by service as a
peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used f ...
. Among tradesmen, the overwhelming majority were artisans.


Currency

The Duchy belonged the south German currency area. The most important denomination was therefore the
guilder Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' " gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Emp ...
. This was minted for use as currency money. Up to 1837, there were 24 guilders to the Cologne silver marks (233.856 grammes). The guilder was divided into 60 kreutzer. Small change was minted in silver and copper, at 6, 3, 1, 0.5, and 0.25 grammes.Otto Satorius: ''Nassauische Kunst- und Gewerbeausstellung in Wiesbaden 1863''; Seite: 43; Wiesbaden 1863. From 1816, there were also Kronenthaler of 162 kreutzer (i.e. 2.7 guilders). Between 1816 and 1828, the mint of the Duchy was located in buildings in Limburg, which are now the Bishop's
curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
. From 1837, the Duchy was one of the members of the Munich Currency Treaty, which set the silver mark (233.855 g) at 24.5 guilders. After the conclusion of the Dresden Coinage Convention in 1838, the
Thaler A thaler (; also taler, from german: Taler) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...
was also legal tender and was minted in small quantities. Two dollars were equivalent to 3.5 guilders. In 1842, the Heller, valued at a quarter of a kreutzer, was introduced as the smallest denomination. After the Vienna Currency Treaty of 1857, the Duchy also minted the
Vereinsthaler The Vereinsthaler (, ''union thaler'') was a standard silver coin used in most German states and the Austrian Empire in the years before German unification. The Vereinsthaler was introduced in 1857 to replace the various versions of the North Ge ...
. A Pfund (500 g) of silver was equivalent to 52.5 guilder or 30 taler. The Heller was replaced by the Pfennige, also worth a quarter of a Kreutzer. Banknotes, known as Landes-Credit-Casse-Scheine were produced at Wiesbaden by the Landes-Credit-Casse from 1840. They had a face value of one, five, ten, and twenty-five guilders.


References


Bibliography

* * * * *Michael Hollman: ''Nassaus Beitrag für das heutige Hessen.'' 2nd edition. Wiesbaden 1994. * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nassau (State) States of the Confederation of the Rhine States of the German Confederation Former states and territories of Rhineland-Palatinate 1806 establishments in Europe 1866 disestablishments in Europe Taunus Former countries