TheBaden Revolution (German:Badische Revolution) of 1848/1849 was a regional uprising in theGrand Duchy of Baden which was part of therevolutionary unrest that gripped almost all of Central Europe at that time.
Their high points were theHecker uprising in April 1848, theStruve Putsch of September 1848 and the rebellion as part of theImperial Constitution campaign (Reichsverfassungskampagne) in May 1849 which assumedcivil 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 ofRastatt Fortress byGerman Federal Army troops underPrussian leadership.
Stylised portrait ofFriedrich Hecker (1811–1881), on the leftGustav Struve
At theHambach Festival of 1832 the signs of political upheaval, known as theVormärz ("pre-March") were evident. Among the participants at the festival wasJohann Philipp Becker. After the outbreak of theFrench 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 theGerman Confederation gave way to revolutionary unrest and uprisings.
The German March revolution not only started in Baden, but also ended there whenRastatt 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 arepublic in southwestern Germany: theHecker Uprising and the rebellion led byGustav Struve inLörrach. With the defeat ofFriedrich Hecker and his followers atKandern 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 theConstitution of St. Paul's Church by most of the royal houses of the German Parliament—with theMay insurrections of 1849, not only in Baden, but also in other German states (especially in theBavarian Rhenish Palatinate). They represented an attempt to enforce the constitution (the so-calledImperial Constitution Campaign). This second phase ended in Baden with the defeat of the rebels at the last battle in July 1849 inRastatt.
Characteristic of the Baden Revolution, unlike other uprisings in the German Confederation, was the persistent demand for a democraticrepublic. By contrast, the revolutionary councils and parliaments of the other principalities of the Confederation favoured aconstitutional andhereditary 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 wifeAmalie,Gottfried Kinkel,Georg Herwegh and his wifeEmma. Furthermore,Wilhelm Liebknecht, who at that time was relatively unknown but later co-founded theSocial Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP), the predecessor party ofSPD (the socialist party in Germany), participated in September 1848 in the uprising in Lörrach and in May 1849 in the Baden Revolution as Struve'sadjutant.
September 1847 flyer with the "demands of the people", which formulated the goals of the radical democrats at the Offenburg AssemblyMap of the region affected by the April uprising of 1848Contemporary lithograph, from the perspective of the revolutionaries, of the Battle of Kandern on 20 April 1848, at which theHecker Uprising was put downMonument at the Kandern Scheideck for General Friedrich von Gagern and the fallen soldiers and revolutionaries
12 September 1847: In theOffenburg Assembly of the key supporters of the constitution, Friedrich Hecker takes the 13 "demands of the people in Baden" for citizens' rights, social security and equality, which Gustav Struve consolidated into four "pressing demands of the deputations inCarlsruhe":1. Arming of the people with open elections of officers. 2. Unrestricted press freedom. 3. Jury courts based on the English model. 4. Immediate formation of a German parliament.
27 February 1848: TheMannheim People's Assembly take up the 13 demands of the people again and send them as a petition to the Second Chamber of the BadenLandstände.
28 February 1848: In Freiburg in the house known asZur Tannen, the gathering elects a people's committee, puts a catalogue of revolutionaries' demands together and sends it with a delegation to Karlsruhe. The delegation arrives at the state capital on 1 March.
1 March 1848: 20,000 men demonstrate in front of theStändehaus of theparliament (Badische Ständeversammlung). Several demonstrators enter the building. Hecker demands the removal of the privileges of the nobility and theliberation of the peasants, thus removing the last vestiges of medievalfeudalism.
2 March 1848: The First Chamber (Ständekammer) adopts a bill to abolish the remnants of feudalism, to make the army swear loyalty to the Baden Constitution and to establish religious equality for members of non-Christian faiths.
4 March 1848: Peasants' revolt in North Baden. The revolution spreads to other states in the German Confederation.
19 March 1848: Great People's Assembly inOffenburg which is attended by 20,000 people. Hecker and Struve speak to the crowd. They accuse the government of Baden of having indeed agreed to the 13 demands of the people of the past year in September in the wake of the popular movement in early March, but in delaying their implementation only wanting to win time to withdrawal of concessions again at the earliest opportunity.
26 March 1848:Karl von Rotteck junior opens a public meeting in Freiburg in the presence of Struve, where the organizers call for the safeguarding of personal liberty by a special law ("Habeas Corpus Act") and the complete separation of church and state. In the intoxication of enthusiasm, the assembly on theMünsterplatz approved a letter to the Prussian king, in which Struve criticises Frederick William's behaviour in the March days as a "royal actor and citizen killer".
12 April 1848: InKonstanz Hecker and Struve proclaim the republic and call on the people to take up arms in the name of a provisional government. The Hecker Uprising makes its way to the Rhine Plain where it intends to unite with a procession led by Georg Herwegh, the "German Democratic Legion" from France, in order to march on the state capital ofKarlsruhe.
20 April 1848:Battle on the Scheideck. At Kandern in theBlack Forest the rebels of the Hecker contingent are defeated and routed by Hessian troops. Friedrich Hecker flees into exile, initially in Switzerland and finally to the USA.
24 April 1848: Volunteers (Freischaren) underFranz Sigel march toFreiburg, which is occupied by rebels, in order to break through the ring of government troops. The relief operation fails. Instead, government forces storm the last barricade at theSwabian Gate and bring about a bloodbath among the volunteers.
21 September 1848: At an uprising inLörrach, under the cry of "Health, Education, Freedom for All!", Struve again proclaims a republic, but only gets as far as Staufen in his subsequent journey northwards. At theBattle for Staufen Bade troops defeat the rebels. Struve is apprehended a few days later (seeStruve Putsch).
29 January 1849: In Freiburg Karl von Rotteck junior founds the Republican People's Union. As a counter-movement, on 18 February, his cousin, Mayor Joseph von Rotteck, and other constitutional liberals announce the founding assembly of a Fatherland Union, loyal to the sovereign. Both unions fight one another in a stubborn propaganda war.
20 March 1849: In Freiburg, the trial begins of Gustav Struve and Karl Blind in theBasler Hof before a jury court. Following their sentencing to eight years' imprisonment the criminals are taken to Rastatt Fortress.
9 May 1849: During the course of the May uprisings of 1849, by which people attempt to enforce the recognition of the changes to the imperial constitution brought about by the revolution in the individual states of the German Confederation, soldiers of theBaden Armygarrison in thefederal fortress at Rastatt mutiny and fraternize with some of the revolutionary vigilantes in a "show of loyalty and love for the people".
11 May 1849: Fraternization of Republicans with the 2nd Baden Infantry Regiment in Freiburg
12/13 May 1849: At the delegate's conference of the Baden People's Unions in FreiburgAmand Goegg asks "the question about the proclamation of the republic" but finds no support.
13 May 1849: A people's assembly inOffenburg agrees a 16-point programme, whichinter alia demands the unconditional recognition of the imperial constitution and the formation of a new—albeit still grand ducal—government under the liberal politician,Lorenz Brentano. The official grand ducal government refuses the demands of the Offenburg Assembly. On the evening of 13 May the revolutionary state committee of people's unions drives to Rastatt, where Amand Goegg announces the Offenburg agreement from the balcony of the town hall and Brentano swears in militia and soldiers to the imperial constitution. That same night of 13/14 MayGrand Duke Leopold flees from hisresidenz in Karlsruhe into exile at Koblenz.
14 May 1849: The Hoffmann / Bekk Ministry is declared dismissed and anExecutive Commission of the State Committee, which initially takes over the government business in the absence of the grand ducal government which has fled, establishes itself with Amand Goegg,Joseph Ignatz Peter andCarl Joseph Eichfeldt under their president, Lorenz Brentano.
May 1849:Johann Philipp Becker is tasked with the creation and organisation of theVolkswehr militia. His first order of the day is dated 21 May.
30 May 1849: A battle takes place between theVolkswehr and Hessian troops near Heppenheim.
1 June 1849: Under Lorenz Brentano a provisional democratic government is formed, in which the conservative-liberal forces dominate; the state committee disbands itself.
3 June 1849: The men of Baden eligible to vote agree to the Electoral Code of the German National Assembly on the composition of a constituent national assembly. However, the Baden Constituent Assembly of 1849 only lasted from 10 June to 30 June 1849.
5 June 1849: In Karlsruhe, a "Club of Resolute Progress" ('Klub des entschiedenen Fortschritts) forms under the leadership of Struve, now released, and Becker and demands from the government decisive revolutionary measures. The delegation had them arrested by the delegation, but they had to be released under pressure from the volunteers stationed in the town.
15/16 June 1849: Baden forces win battles on the line of the River Neckar at Mannheim, Käferthal, Ladenburg and Hirschhorn
20 June 1849: After ousting the revolutionary troops, theFirst Prussian Corps underMoritz von Hirschfeld leaves the Palatinate over the Rhine nearGermersheim
21/22 June 1849: Hirschfeld gains victory in theBattle of Waghäusel forcing the Baden troops to retreat in order to escape being surrounded.
25 June 1849: Battle of Durlach, at which Becker'sVolkswehr cover the withdrawal of the army at the line of the Murg. The revolutionary government flees to Freiburg im Breisgau and with it, the revolutionary troops.
28 June 1849: The constitutional assembly meets in the Basler Hof at Freiburg. At the direction of Struves they agree to continue the war against "the enemies of German unity and freedom" with all means at their disposal. Whereupon Brentano stands down as head of the government and Amand Goegg together with Minister of War, Werner, form the "provisional government of Baden with dictatorial powers“.
29/30 June 1849: Bloody fighting on theMurg at theBattle of Gernsbach on 29 June.[1] Ludwik Mierosławski appoints MajorGustav Tiedemann from Struve's circle as Governor of Rastatt Fortress. Revolutionary units withdraw to South Baden. TheSecond Prussian Corps underKarl von der Groeben destroys Rastatt.
1 July 1849: A final contingent of about 4,000 men marches past to the representatives of the revolutionary government and their supreme commander, Franz Sigel in Freiburg.
7 July 1849: The Prussians march into Freiburg unopposed.
9 July 1849 The citizen's militia (Bürgerwehr) ofSipplingen arrest insurgents inBodman and transfer them toPfullendorf.[2]
12 July 1849 Revolutionary troops cross the border intoSwitzerland atBaltersweil and Konstanz and ask for asylum.[3]
23 July 1849: After being surrounded for three weeks Rastaat surrenders to Groeben. The Governor of Rastatt becomes the Prussian general,Heinrich von Holleben.
The revolution had failed. TheBaden Army was disbanded and later rebuilt under Prussian leadership. Many of the rebels escaped into exile including Struve, Brentano,Carl Schurz, Friedrich Engels andFriedrich Beust; others were arrested and brought beforecourts martial with Prussian and Baden boards. Following the fall of Rastatt, the Prussian commander,Karl Alois Fickler, the brother of Baden agitator,Joseph Fickler, was charged with the defence of the accused.[4] The courts sentenced 27 rebels to death byfiring squad (including the last fortress commandant of Rastatt, Gustav Tiedemann) and pronounced long goal sentences in Prussian prisons against other revolutionaries. In thecasemates of Rastatt, where many revolutionaries were held prisoner,typhoid fever broke out and caused many deaths.
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]
Surrender of the revolutionary garrison of Rastatt to the troops of the German Confederation on 23 July 1849
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
InMannheim 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
TheGeschichtstheatergesellschaft[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.
The Lenz Papers [de]. Four-part TV film. Revolutionary drama about the Baden Revolution of 1849. After the eponymous translation of the original Englishhistoric novel byStefan Heym. Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 1986, 4 × 90 min., directed by: Dieter Berner.
^Karl-Heinz Söhner:Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit. Augenzeugenbericht eines Soldaten der badischen Revolutionsarmee. In: Kurpfälzer Winzerfest Anzeiger 2010, pp. 40–44
^In Mannheim only 5, not 6, death sentences were carried out which is why the total figure of 28 (on the Naturfreunde home page) has been reduced to 27
Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe (publ.):1848/49. Revolution der deutschen Demokraten in Baden. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 1998,ISBN3-7890-5201-9.
Alfred Georg Frei, Kurt Hochstuhl:Wegbereiter der Demokratie. Die badische Revolution 1848/49. Der Traum von der Freiheit. Verlag G. Braun, Karlsruhe, 1997,ISBN3-7650-8168-X.
Stefan Heym:Lenz oder die Freiheit. (novel, old title:Die Papiere des Andreas Lenz), btb Verlag, new edition, September 2005,ISBN3-442-73457-6.Belletristik
Wolfgang von Hippel:Revolution im Südwesten. Das Großherzogtum Baden 1848/49. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 1998ISBN3-17-014039-6 (=Schriften zur politischen Landeskunde Baden-Württembergs Vol. 26)
Der Rhein-Neckar-Raum und die Revolution von 1848/49. Revolutionäre und ihre Gegenspieler. Publ. by the working party of the Archives in the Rhine-Neckar Triangle. With annexes by Hans Fenske and Erich Schneider. Verlag Regionalkultur Ubstadt-Weiher, 1998.ISBN3-929366-64-9
Otto Wermuth:„Wir haben´s gewagt“, Die badisch-pfälzische Revolution 1849. Rombach Verlag, 1981,ISBN3-7930-0367-1.
Klaus Gaßner/Diana Finkele:Der Aufstand der badischen Demokraten. Verlag Regionalkultur,ISBN3-929366-97-5
Susanne Asche und Ernst Otto Bräunche (eds.):Die Straße der Demokratie. Info Verlag, Karlsruhe, 2007
