Scheideck • Günterstal • Freiburg • Dossenbach
Struve Putsch (21–25 September 1848): Staufen
Baden Mutiny (9 May – 23 July 1849):
Heppenheim • Weinheim • Wald-Michelbach • Ludwigshafen • Käfertal • Ladenburg I • Hirschhorn • Waghäusel • Ladenburg II • Sinsheim • Ubstadt • Durlach • Gernsbach • RastattThe Baden Revolution (German: Badische Revolution) of 1848/1849 was a regional uprising in the Grand Duchy of Baden which was part of the revolutionary unrest that gripped almost all of Central Europe at that time.
As part of the popular liberal March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation the revolution in the state of Baden in what is now southwestern Germany was driven to a great extent by radical democratic influences: they were striving to create a Baden republic—subordinated to a greater Germany—under the sovereignty of the people, and aligned themselves against the ruling princes.
Their high points were the Hecker uprising in April 1848, the Struve Putsch of September 1848 and the rebellion as part of the Imperial Constitution campaign (Reichsverfassungskampagne) in May 1849 which assumed civil war-like proportions and was also known as the May Revolution. The rebellion ended on 23 July 1849 with the military defeat of the last revolt and the capture of Rastatt Fortress by federal troops under Prussian leadership.
Historical overview
At the Hambach Festival of 1832 the signs of political upheaval, known as the Vormärz ("pre-March") were evident. Among the participants at the festival was Struve Putsch (21–25 September 1848): Staufen
Baden Mutiny (9 May – 23 July 1849):
The Baden Revolution (German: Badische Revolution) of 1848/1849 was a regional uprising in the Grand Duchy of Baden which was part of the revolutionary unrest that gripped almost all of Central Europe at that time.
As part of the popular liberal March Revolution in the states of the German Confederation the revolution in the state of Baden in what is now southwestern Germany was driven to a great extent by radical democratic influences: they were striving to create a Baden republic—subordinated to a greater Germany—under the sovereignty of the people, and aligned themselves against the ruling princes.
Their high points were the Hecker uprising in April 1848, the Struve Putsch of September 1848 and the rebellion as part of the Imperial Constitution campaign (Reichsverfassungskampagne) in May 1849 which assumed civil war-like proportions and was also known as the May Revolution. The rebellion ended on 23 July 1849 with the military defeat of the last revolt and the capture of Rastatt Fortress by federal troops under Prussian leadership.
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Their high points were the Hecker uprising in April 1848, the Struve Putsch of September 1848 and the rebellion as part of the Imperial Constitution campaign (Reichsverfassungskampagne) in May 1849 which assumed civil war-like proportions and was also known as the May Revolution. The rebellion ended on 23 July 1849 with the military defeat of the last revolt and the capture of Rastatt Fortress by federal troops under Prussian leadership.
At the Hambach Festival of 1832 the signs of political upheaval, known as the Vormärz ("pre-March") were evident. Among the participants at the festival was Johann Philipp Becker. After the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1848 in Paris and the proclamation of the Second Republic in France, the revolutionary spark initially jumped to Baden before the other countries of the German Confederation gave way to revolutionary unrest and uprisings.
The German March revolution not only started in Baden, but also ended here when Rastatt Fortress, the last bastion of the revolutionaries, was captured by Prussian troops on 23 July 1849.
The Baden Revolution had two phases: between the beginning of March 1848 and September 1848 there were two attempts to form a republic in southwestern Germany: the Hecker Uprising and the rebellion led by Gustav Struve in Lörrach. With the defeat of Friedrich Hecker and his followers at Kandern and his flight into exile, and the arrest of Gustav Struve in September, this first phase ended.
The second phase began—after the rejection of the Constitution of St. Paul's Church by the most of the royal houses of the German Parliament—with the May insurrections of 1849, not only in Baden, but also in other German states (especially in the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate). They represented an attempt to enforce the constitution (the so-called Imperial Constitution Campaign). This second phase ended in Baden with the defeat of the rebels at the last battle in July 1849 in Rastatt.
Characteristic of the Baden Revolution, unlike other uprisings in the German Confederation, was the persistent demand for a democratic republic. By contrast, the revolutionary councils and parliaments of the other principalities of the Confederation favoured a constitutional and hereditary monarchy.
Radical democratic and early socialist revolutionaries were strongly represented in Baden. Some of the most prominent leaders were Friedrich Hecker, Gustav Struve and his wife Amalie, Gottfried Kinkel, Georg Herwegh and his wife Emma. Furthermore, Wilhelm Liebknecht, who at that time was relatively unknown but later co-founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP), the predecessor party of SPD (the socialist party in Germany), participated in September 1848 in the uprising in Lörrach and in May 1849 in the Baden Revolution as Struve's adjutant.
The socialist Friedrich Engels who, during the March revolution wrote for the Neue Rheinische Zeitung published in Cologne by Karl Marx, also took an active part in 1849 in the final phase of the Baden Revolution in the fighting against counter-revolutionary Prussian troops. Finally, the married couple Fritz and Rastatt Fortress, the last bastion of the revolutionaries, was captured by Prussian troops on 23 July 1849.
The Baden Revolution had two phases: between the beginning of March 1848 and September 1848 there were two attempts to form a republic in southwestern Germany: the Hecker Uprising and the rebellion led by Gustav Struve in Lörrach. With the defeat of Friedrich Hecker and his followers at Kandern and his flight into exile, and the arrest of Gustav Struve in September, this first phase ended.
The second phase began—after the rejection of the Constitution of St. Paul's Church by the most of the royal houses of the German Parliament—with the May insurrections of 1849, not only in Baden, but also in other German states (especially in the Bavarian Rhenish Palatinate). They represented an attempt to enforce the constitution (the so-called Imperial Constitution Campaign). This second phase ended in Baden with the defeat of the rebels at the last battle in July 1849 in Rastatt.
Characteristic of the Baden Revolution, unlike other uprisings in the German Confederation, was the persistent demand for a democratic republic. By contrast, the revolutionary councils and parliaments of the other principalities of the Confederation favoured a constitutional and hereditary monarchy.
Radical democratic and early socialist revolutionaries were strongly represented in Baden. Some of the most prominent leaders were Friedrich Hecker, Gustav Struve and his wife Amalie, Gottfried Kinkel, Georg Herwegh and his wife Emma. Furthermore, Wilhelm Liebknecht, who at that time was relatively unknown but later co-founded the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP), the predecessor party of SPD (the socialist party in Germany), participated in September 1848 in the uprising in Lörrach and in May 1849 in the Baden Revolution as Struve's adjutant.
The socialist Friedrich Engels who, during the March revolution wrote for the Neue Rheinische Zeitung published in Cologne by Karl Marx, also took an active part in 1849 in the final phase of the Baden Revolution in the fighting against counter-revolutionary Prussian troops. Finally, the married couple Fritz and Mathilde Franziska Anneke from Cologne joined the Baden rebels.
The basis of the revolution in Baden was based on the Volksvereine or popular associations.
The following table shows the connexion between the revolution in Baden, the events in the German Confederation and Europe.
Hungary: Hungarian Revolution/1849; March 1848 to August 1849
February Mannheim Popular Assembly France: French Revolution March Heidelberg Assembly March Revolution Berlin: Barricade Uprising; March Revolution victims; Vienna: Revolutions in the Austrian Empire; Revolution in Sigmaringen
April Hecker Uprising Barricade Uprising; March Revolution victims; Vienna: Revolutions in the Austrian Empire; Revolution in Sigmaringen
April Hecker Uprising Battle on the Scheideck; Battle of Günterstal; Storming of Freiburg; Battle of Dossenbach
June Battle of Staufen Rebellion in Frankfurt Slovakia: Slovak Uprising to November 1849 October Vienna Uprising Reichsverfassungskampagne; Kaiser Deputation Dresden Uprising; Palatine Uprising; Iserlohn Uprising; Elberfeld Uprising
ChronologyDresden Uprising; Palatine Uprising; Iserlohn Uprising; Elberfeld Uprising
Chronology
From 27 July to 27 October 1849, courts martial took place in Mannheim, Rastatt and Freiburg. A total of 27[5] death sentences were pronounced and carried out – four other death sentences were not carried out.[6][7]
In Rastatt
In Rastatt, 19 death sentences were pronounced. Otto von Corvin, who had also been given the death sentence, was reprieved and his sentence commuted to imprisonment.
- Gottfried Bauer (d. 4 October 1849) – private soldier, Gissigheim
- Karl Bernigau (d. 20 October 1849) – major, Mühlhausen
- Ernst Gustav von Biedenfeld (d. 9 August 1849) – battalion commander, Bühl
- Georg Böhning (d. 17 August 1849) – clockmaker, commander of the refugee legion, finished as colonel, Wiesbaden
- Andreas Counis (d. 15 September 1849) – private soldier, Pforzheim
- Ernst Elsenhans (d. 7 August 1849) – publisher, Feuerbach
- Josef Günthard (d. 22 September 1849) – private soldier, Konstanz
- Konrad Heilig (d. 11 August 1849) – former Baden NCO, finished as major and commander of the fortress artillery at Rastatt, Pfullendorf
- Karl Jakobi (d. 3 September 1849) – major of the labour battalion, Mannheim
- Peter Jäger (d. 22 September 1849) – private soldier, Assamstadt
- Jean Josef Jansen (d. 20 October 1849) – surveyor, Cologne
- Josef Kilmarx (d. 8 October 1849) – sergeant, Rastatt
- Ludwig Kohlenbecker (d. 8 October 1849) – private soldier, Karlsruhe
- Konrad Lenzinger (d. 25 August 1849) – corporal, Durlach
- Theophil Mniewski (d. 25 August 1849) – Polish officer, Wodzierady (Russian Poland)
- Ludwig Peter Wilhelm Schade (d. 12 September 1849) – lieutenant, Karlsruhe
- Friedrich Wilhelm Schrader (d. 20 October 1849) – deserter from the 8th Prussian Artillery Brigade, Mansfeld
- Gustav Nikolaus Tiedemann (d. 11 August 1849) – former Baden dragoon lieutenant, finished as colonel and commander of Rastatt Fortress, Landshut
- Philipp Zenthöfer (d. 25 August 1849) – gunsmith and private soldier, Mannheim
In Freiburg
Following court martial-like proceedings three revolutionaries were sentenced to death in 1849 in Freiburg and executed by firing squad at Wiehre Cemetery on the dates shown:
- Johann Maximilian Dortu: Prussian NCO, during the revolution major in the Baden Volkswehr – sentenced on 11 July by the military court; d. 31 July
- Friedrich Neff: student of philosophy, participant in the uprisings led by Hecker and Struve; d. 9 August
- Gebhard Kromer: corporal in the Baden revolutionary army; d. 21 August
In Mannheim
In Mannheim five death sentences were pronounced. Theodor Mögling, who was also sentenced to death in Mannheim, was reprieved and his sentence commuted to a term of imprisonment. The Mannheim court martial issued gaol sentences of 10 years in 15 other cases.[8]
- Karl Höfer (d. 16 August 1849):[9] teacher, Brehmen/Altneudorf
- Valentin Streuber (d. 11 October 1849)
- Adolf von Trützschler (d. 14 August 1849)
- Peter Lacher (d. 28. August 1849)
- Gottlieb Heinrich Dietz (d. 20 August 1849)
In popular culture
Theatre
- The Geschichtstheatergesellschaft[10] On 4 July 1998 Stuttgart acknowledged the Baden revolutionaries in a performance in period uniforms and with historical props for the 125th anniversary of the address by Friedrich Hecker on 4 July 1873.
Film
- The Lenz Papers. Four-part TV film. Revolutionary drama about the Baden Revolution of 1849. After the eponymous translation of the original English historic novel by Stefan Heym. Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1986, 4 × 90 min., directed by: Dieter Berner.
See also
- Enno Sander (in German)
- Otto von Corvin
References
- ^ Karl-Heinz Söhner: Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit. Augenzeugenbericht eines Soldaten der badischen Revolutionsarmee. In: Kurpfälzer Winzerfest Anzeiger 2010, pp. 40–44
- ^ Internet page Bürgermiliz Sipplingen
- ^ Historische Freiburger Bürgerwehr e.V.: Die Badische Revolution von 1848/49 in Freiburg
- ^ von L. (1877), "Fickler, Karl Alois", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), 6, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 777–778
