In the siege of Mainz (german: Belagerung von Mainz), from 14 April to 23 July 1793, a coalition of

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 em ...

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 ...

, and other German states led by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

besieged and captured

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 (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

from revolutionary French forces. The allies, especially the Prussians, first tried negotiations, but this failed, and the bombardment of the city began on the night of 17 June.

Siege

Within the town the siege and bombardment led to stress between citizens, municipality and the French war council, governing since 2 April. The city administration was displaced on 13 July; this increased the stubbornness of the remaining population. Since a relief army was missing, the war council was forced to take up negotiations with the allied forces on 17 July; the remaining soldiers capitulated on 23 July. Nearly 19,000 French troops surrendered at the end of the siege, but were allowed to return to France if they promised not to fight against the allies for one year. Consequently, they were used to fight French royalists in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

region of France. They left the town singing ''

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

'' (also known as the ''Chant de guerre de l' Armée du Rhin''). The

Republic of Mainz The Republic of Mainz was the first democratic state in the current German territoryThe short-lived republic is often ignored in identifying the "first German democracy", in favour of the Weimar Republic; e.g. "the failure of the first Germa ...

, the first democratic state on the later on

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 **Ger ...

territory, was subsequently dissolved. Mainz received a Prussian commander to administer the city. The bombardment had left devastating traces in the townscape: some civil buildings and aristocratic palaces like the comedy house, the electoral pleasure palace

Favorite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...

, the House of the Cathedral Provost, Liebfrauen- and the church of

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

had been destroyed, as well as St. Crucis, the Benedictine abbey St. Jacob on the

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

and the remains of St. Alban's Abbey. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

had been heavily damaged. The biggest impact of the occupation and siege was that the city's part in the old imperial

electoral An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

structure finally came to their end. Thus the events of the year 1793 also marked the end of ''Aurea Moguntia'', the Latin nickname for the city: "Golden Mainz". The city lost its status as the electoral residence. The shelling of Mainz was widely discussed in Europe. Many people gathered round the town in order to view the siege.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

assisted Duke Carl August of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...

during the siege and wrote a famous book about the siege

Related people

Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz (16 February 175525 February 1816) was a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Bülow was born in Falkenberg, in the Altmark, and was the elder brother of Freiherr Dietric ...

Carl von Clausewitz Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von Clausewitz (; 1 June 1780 – 16 November 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral", in modern terms meaning psychological, and political aspects of waging war. His mos ...

* Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia *

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays ''Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amphit ...

* Heinrich Menu von Minutoli *

Karl Ludwig von Lecoq Karl Ludwig von Lecoq or Karl Ludwig von Le Coq, born 23 September 1754 – died 14 February 1829, of Huguenot, French Huguenot ancestry, first joined the army of the Electorate of Saxony. He later transferred his loyalty to the Kingdom of Pru ...

Andreas Joseph Hofmann Andreas Joseph Hofmann (14 July 1752 – 6 September 1849) was a German philosopher and revolutionary active in the Republic of Mainz. As Chairman of the Rhenish-German National Convention, the earliest parliament in Germany based on the princi ...

Antoine Christophe Merlin Antoine Christophe Merlin (13 September 1762 in Thionville, Moselle (department), Moselle – September 1833 in Paris) was a member of several legislative bodies during the era of the French Revolution. He is usually called Merlin de Thionville ...

Jean Baptiste Kléber Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

François Christophe Kellermann François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

Jean Baptiste Meusnier Jean Baptiste Marie Charles Meusnier de la Place (Tours, 19 June 1754 — le Pont de Cassel, near Mainz, 13 June 1793) was a French mathematician, engineer and Revolutionary general. He is best known for Meusnier's theorem on the curvature o ...

Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers (13 August 1764 – 6 January 1813) was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France, and the father-in ...

Claude Pierre Pajol Claude-Pierre, Count, Comte de Pajol (3 February 1772 – 20 March 1844), was a French cavalry general and political during and after the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Early life He was born in Besançon, ...

* Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière * Adam Gottlob Detlef Moltke *

Joachim Moltke Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocrypha ...

References

*Smith, D. ''The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book''.

Greenhill Books Lionel Leventhal is a British publisher of books on military history and related topics, whose eponymous company was established in 1967. History After working in a bookshop (1954–1956), Leventhal joined the publishing company of Herbert Jenk ...

, 1998. * *Schmittlein, Raymond: ''Un Recit de Guerre de Goethe le Siege de Mayence'' II. Éditions Art et Science. Mayence. 1951. *

Arthur Chuquet Arthur Maxime Chuquet (28 February 1853 – 7 June 1925) was a French historian and biographer. He was born in Rocroi, Ardennes. He is now best known for his ''Jeunesse de Napoléon'' appearing in three volumes from 1897 to 1899. He became a mem ...

: ''The Wars of the Revolution: The Siege of Mainz and the French Occupation of the Rhineland 1792–93''. * *

External links

Die Belagerung von Mainz
by Goethe in the

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainz, Siege Mainz, Siege of Mainz, Siege of Mainz, Siege of Battles involving Hesse-Kassel Conflicts in 1793 1793 in France 1793 in Austria History of Mainz Sieges of the War of the First Coalition Battles of the War of the First Coalition Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire Battles in Rhineland-Palatinate