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Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont Fürstentum Waldeck und Pyrmont | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1180–1918 | |||||||||||
 .svg) Top: Flag (before 1830) Bottom: Flag (after 1830)  Coat of arms | |||||||||||
| Anthem: "Mein Waldeck" | |||||||||||
.svg) Waldeck (red) within theGerman Empire. The small northern territory is Pyrmont while the southern lands are Waldeck. | |||||||||||
 Map of Waldeck, showing the border betweenWestphalia andHesse-Nassau | |||||||||||
| Status | State of theHoly Roman Empire State of theConfederation of the Rhine State of theGerman Confederation State of theNorth German Confederation State of theGerman Empire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Waldeck (to 1655) Arolsen (from 1655) 51°22′N9°1′E / 51.367°N 9.017°E /51.367; 9.017 | ||||||||||
| Common languages | German | ||||||||||
| Religion | United Protestant:Evangelical State Church of Waldeck and Pyrmont | ||||||||||
| Prince | |||||||||||
• 1712–1728 | Friedrich Anton Ulrich(first) | ||||||||||
• 1893–1918 | Friedrich(last) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
• Established as aCounty | 1180 | ||||||||||
• BecameReichsgraf (immediate count) | 1349 | ||||||||||
• Succeeded toPyrmont | 1625 | ||||||||||
• Raised toImp.Principality | January 1712 | ||||||||||
• Administered byPrussia | 1868 | ||||||||||
| 1918 | |||||||||||
• Subsumed intoPrussia | 1929 | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1848 | 56,000[1] | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||||
TheCounty of Waldeck (later thePrincipality of Waldeck andPrincipality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of theHoly Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gainedImperial immediacy and in 1712 was raised to the rank ofprincipality. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 it was a constituent state of its successors: theConfederation of the Rhine, theGerman Confederation, theNorth German Confederation, and theGerman Empire. After the abolition of the monarchy in 1918, the renamedFree State of Waldeck-Pyrmont became a component of theWeimar Republic until divided betweenHannover and otherPrussian provinces in 1929. It comprised territories in present-dayHesse andLower Saxony (Germany).
The noble family of theCounts of Waldeck [de] and the later Princes of Waldeck and Pyrmont were male line descendants of theCounts of Schwalenberg [de] (based atSchwalenberg Castle), ultimately descendent fromWidekind I of Schwalenberg [de] (reigned 1127–1136/7).Waldeck Castle, overlooking theEder river atWaldeck, was first attested in 1120. A branch of the family was named after the castle in 1180, whenVolkwin II of Schwalenberg [de] acquired the castle through his marriage with Luitgard, daughter of CountPoppo I [de] ofReichenbach [de] andHollende [de], who was heiress of Waldeck. Over time, the family built up a small lordship in modern dayNorth Hesse.
Initially, Waldeck was afief of theElectorate of Mainz. In 1379, it became the County of Reichslehen.[2] After the death of CountHenry VI in 1397, the family split into two lines: the senior Landau line founded byAdolph III and the junior Waldeck line founded byHenry VII, which sometimes feuded with one another. The two lines came under the sovereignty of theLandgraviate of Hesse in 1431 and 1438 respectively, due to financial difficulties and the final victory of the Landgraviate over Mainz in 1427, which led to the transfer of theCounty of Ziegenhain [de] to Hesse. The Landgraves levied tribute on the Counts of Waldeck in exchange for forgiving their debts to them and taking on all their debts to others.[3]
After the death ofHenry VIII in 1486, the Waldeck line split once more, into the Waldeck-Wildungen and Waldeck-Eisenberg lines. The senior Landau line ended with the death ofOtto IV in 1495 and its possessions passed to the Wildungen and Eisenberg lines. In 1526 and 1529,Philip IV of Waldeck-Wildungen andPhilip III of Waldeck-Eisenberg converted their respective principalities toLutheranism. Several partitions led to the creation of further lines, but these were reunited by the new Wildung line in 1692.
In 1626, the family also inherited theCounty of Pyrmont [de] and thereafter called themselves "Counts of Waldeck and Pyrmont." The two counties of Waldeck and Pyrmont were physically separated and were not united into a single legal entity until the 19th century.
In 1639, Count Philip Dietrich of Waldeck from the new Eisenberg line, inherited theCounty of Culemborg inGelderland along with the counties ofWerth (Isselburg) [de] inMünsterland,Pallandt [de], andWittem. The Lordship of Tonna inThüringen, a fief of the Dukes ofSaxe-Altenburg was inherited by Waldeck-Pyrmont in 1640, but sold to DukeFrederick I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1677. Waldeck remained the main residence of the county until 1655, when the residence was shifted from Waldeck toArolsen. Philip Dietrich was succeeded in 1664 by his brother CountGeorge Frederick, whose full title was "Count and Lord of Waldeck, Pyrmont, and Cuylenburg, Lord of Tonna, Paland, Wittem, Werth." In 1682, he was promoted byEmperor Leopold I to the status of "Prince of Waldeck", withImperial immediacy. His four sons all predeceased him, so on 12 June 1685, he made a contract with his cousin,Christian Louis of the new Wildung line, to transfer the whole Waldeck patrimony to him and for it to be inherited byprimogeniture thereafter. This agreement was confirmed by Emperor Leopold in 1697. After George Frederick's death in 1692, Christian Louis became the sole ruler of the entire principality.
The County of Cuylenburg and the Lordship of Werth were lost in 1714, owing to the marriage of George Frederick's second daughter, Sophia Henriette (1662-1702) toErnest ofSaxe-Hildburghausen.
On 6 January 1712, Frederick Anthony Ulrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont was elevated to prince byEmperor Charles VI. During theAmerican War of Independence from 1775 to 1783, PrinceFrederick Carl Augustus provided a single battalion sizedregiment to the British for thewar in America in exchange for payment. A total of 1,225 Waldeck soldiers fought in America.
The principality was caught up in theNapoleonic Wars and in 1807 it joined theConfederation of the Rhine,[4] but not the NapoleonicKingdom of Westphalia. Waldeck was required to guarantee equal rights of worship to its Catholic citizens and supply 400 soldiers in case of a campaign. For a brief period, from 1806 until 1812, Pyrmont was a separate principality as a result of the partition of the territory between the brothers Frederick and George, but the territories were reunited after Frederick's death.
The independence of the principality was confirmed in 1815 by theCongress of Vienna, and Waldeck and Pyrmont became a member of theGerman Confederation. In 1832 it joined theZollverein. In 1847, onPrussian initiative, the sovereignty ofHesse-Kassel over Waldeck (andSchaumburg-Lippe) was finally revoked by theFederal Convention of the Confederation. This had been the casede facto since Waldeck joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807, but the ruling meant that Hesse-Kassel lost the right to claim the territory inescheat.
Since 1645, Waldeck had been in apersonal union with theCounty (later Principality) of Pyrmont [de]. Beginning in 1813, the prince strove to unite the two territories legally into the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont. However, political opposition meant that this did not take place until 1849. Even after the unification, Pyrmont retained its own tiny Landtag for budgetary matters until 1863/64. In 1849–1850, Waldeck was divided into three districts: theDistrict of the Eder [de], theof Eisenberg [de] and theDistrict of the Twiste [de].
On 1 August 1862, Waldeck-Pyrmont concluded a military convention withPrussia. As a result, Waldeck-Pyrmont fought on the Prussian side in theAustro-Prussian War of 1866 and thus avoided annexation at the war's end – unlike the neighbouringElectorate of Hesse. However, the small, cash-strapped principality could not afford to pay its contributions to the newNorth German Confederation, so the principality's Landtag unanimously voted to reject theNorth German Constitution in order to pressure the prince into signing an accession treaty with Prussia.Bismarck had previously ruled out unification with Prussia on grounds of prestige. Therefore, under the treaty that Waldeck-Pyrmont and Prussia signed in October 1867, the principality remained nominally independent and retained its legislative sovereignty, but from 1 January 1868 Prussian took control of the principality's state deficit, internal administration, judiciary, and schools. Thereafter, Prussia appointed a State Director formally with the agreement of the prince.Appellate jurisdiction for Waldeck was exercised by the Prussian state court (Landgericht) inKassel and for Pyrmont by the state court inHannover. The prince retained control over the administration of the church, theprerogative of mercy, and the right of veto over new laws. He also continued to receive the income from his domains.[5] Prussian administration served to reduce administrative costs for the small state and was based on a ten-year contract that was repeatedly renewed for the duration of its existence. The situation continued in 1871, when the principality became a constituent state of the newGerman Empire. In 1905, Waldeck and Pyrmont had an area of 1121 km2 and a population of 59,000.
The princely house of Waldeck and Pyrmont is closely related to the royal family of theNetherlands. The last ruling prince,Frederick, was the brother ofQueen ConsortEmma of the Netherlands.
On 13 November 1918, at the end ofWorld War I, during theGerman Revolution that resulted in the fall of all theGerman monarchies, a representative of the revolutionaryworkers' and soldiers' council ofKassel came to Waldeck and declared that the monarchy was abolished. The principality became the Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont within theWeimar Republic. However, no new constitution was produced, so the monarchical constitution of 1849/1852 remained in forcede jure until 1929.[6] The terms of the treaty with Prussia also remained in force. Following a referendum, Pyrmont was separated from Waldeck on 30 November 1921 and joined Prussia, becoming part of the newHameln-Pyrmont district of theProvince of Hanover.[7] After this, the territory was simply the Free State of Waldeck.
The remaining territory continued to be governed according to the 1867 treaty with Prussia until it was cancelled in 1926. On 9 April 1927, the federal Financial Equalisation act (Finanzausgleichsgesetz) was amended. For Waldeck, this meant that its allocation of federal tax income was reduced by almost 600,000Reichsmarks. Without a massive rise in local taxes, the Free State was no longer financially viable. Therefore on 1 April 1929, the state was abolished and became part of the Prussianprovince of Hesse-Nassau. This marked the end of Waldeck's existence as a sovereign state.
When Waldeck joined Prussia in 1929, the three districts into which Waldeck had been divided in 1849–1850 (Eder, Eisenberg, and Twiste) were initially retained. Additionally,Höringhausen andEimelrod, which had beenexclaves of Prussia surrounded by Waldeck since 1866, were joined to Eisenberg district. In 1932, the federal government merged Eder and Eisenberg districts. The district of the Twiste was to be merged with the neighbouring district ofWolfhagen on 1 April 1934, but this was delayed after theNazi seizure of power in 1933. A law of 28 February 1934 reversed the merger of Eder and Eisenberg and definitively cancelled the planned merger of Twiste and Wolfhagen.
On 1 February 1942, the three districts of Waldeck were merged into the newWaldeck district [de], which had its capital atKorbach. This new district had roughly the same borders as the old Free State. It was made part ofGreater Hesse in 1945, which became the state ofHesse in the modern Federal Republic of Germany in 1946. On 1 August 1972, the city ofVolkmarsen was separated from the district of Wolfhagen and reassigned to Waldeck. During the reform of the districts of Hesse in 1974, Waldeck was merged with the neighbouring district of Frankeberg to from the new district ofWaldeck-Frankenberg, while the city ofZüschen became a suburb ofFritzlar inSchwalm-Eder-Kreis.
Waldeck had raised a battalion of infantry in 1681 but for much of the subsequent history leading up to theNapoleonic Wars, Waldeckers generally served as what is commonly described as 'mercenaries', but was actually 'auxiliaries' hired out by the rulers of Waldeck for foreign service. Such was the demand that the single battalion became two in 1740 (the 1st Regiment), three battalions in 1744, four in 1767 (forming a 2nd Regiment). Most notably the foreign service was with theDutch (the 1st and 2nd Regiments) and British (after an agreement was signed withGreat Britain in 1776 to supply troops for theAmerican War of Independence, the 3rd Waldeck Regiment, of a single battalion, was raised). The 3rd Waldeck Regiment thus served inAmerica, where they were known under the 'umbrella term' used during that conflict for all Germans—'Hessians'. The regiment, which was made up of 4 'Battalion companies', a 'Grenadier' company, staff and a detachment ofartillery, was captured by French and Spanish troops supporting the Americans and only a small number returned to Germany, where some formed part of a newly raised 5th Battalion (1784).
By the time ofNapoleon's conquest of Germany, the Waldeck regiments in Dutch service had been dissolved when, as theBatavian Republic, the country was made into a kingdom ruled by Napoleon's brother Louis. Reduced to battalion strength, they now formed the 3rd battalions of the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments of theKingdom of Holland. The 5th Battalion was disbanded, and Waldeck was now also obliged to provide two companies to the II Battalion, 6th German Confederation (i.e.,Confederation of the Rhine) Regiment (along with two companies fromReuß) in the service of theFrench Empire. As with all French infantry, they were referred to as 'Fusiliers'. They served mainly in thePeninsular War against theDuke of Wellington. In 1812, the 6th Confederation Regiment was re-formed, with three companies from Waldeck and one from Reuß again forming the II Battalion. By the time of the downfall of the French Empire in 1814 the battalions in Dutch service had disappeared, but Waldeck now supplied threeInfantry and oneJäger Companies to the newly formedGerman Confederation.
By 1866, the Waldeck contingent was styledFürstlisches Waldecksches Füselier-Bataillon, and in theAustro-Prussian War of that year Waldeck (already in a military convention withPrussia from 1862) allied with the Prussians; however the battalion saw no action. Joining theNorth German Confederation after 1867, under Prussian leadership, the Waldeck Fusilier Battalion became the III (Fusilier) Battalion of the Prussian Infantry Regiment von Wittich (3rd Electoral Hessian) No. 83, and as such it remained until 1918. The position of regimental 'Chef' (an honorary title) was held by the Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
UnlikeHesse-Darmstadt,Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) retained no distinctions to differentiate them from the Prussian. The Waldeckers however, were permitted the distinction of carrying the Cockade of Waldeck on thePickelhaube. The Waldeck battalion was garrisoned, at various times, atArolsen/Mengeringhausen/Helsen,Bad Wildungen,Bad Pyrmont andWarburg.
The regiment saw action in theFranco-Prussian War of 1870 (where it acquired the nicknameDas Eiserne Regiment), and during theFirst World War—as part of the22nd Division—fought mainly on the Eastern Front.
![Friedrichstein Castle [de] at Bad Wildungen](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBadWildungen-Friedrichstein2-Asio.JPG)
| County of Pyrmont (1189–1494) | ||||
| County of Waldeck (1107–1486) | County of Schwalenberg (1220–1356) | County of Sternberg (1255–1402) | ||
| County of Landau (1st creation) (1397–1495) | ||||
| Waldeck renamed County of Wildungen (1st creation, Waldeck line) (1486–1598) | ||||
| Inherited by Spiegelberg family (1494-1557); House of Lippe (1557-1583); Gleichen family (1583-1625) | ||||
| County of Landau (2nd creation) (1539–1579) | ||||
| County of Eisenberg (1475–1682) Raised to Principality of Eisenberg (1682–1692) | County of Wildungen (2nd creation, Eisenberg line) (1607–1692) | |||
| County of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1692–1712) (Wildungen (Eisenberg) line) Raised to Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1712–1918) | County of Bergheim (1706–1918) | |||
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1 Part of theThree Bishoprics. 2Nomeny after 1737. 3 withoutReichstag seat. 4 until 1736. 5 JoinedSwiss Confederacy in 1515. Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | |||||
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