The Canton of Mutterstadt (German: Kanton Mutterstadt, French: Canton de Mutterstadt) was a former administrative division that was in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was created after France captured and annexed the area from the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the First Coalition. Its administrative center was Mutterstadt.
The canton was part France between 1798 and 1814, initially the French First Republic (1798-1804) and then the First French Empire (1804-1814). It was one of ten cantons in the Arrondissement Speyer (French: Arrondissement de Spire) in the Department of Donnersberg (French: Département du Mont-Tonnerre). After the Palatinate was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1816, the cantons were initially retained (with some territorial changes) and were kept as part of its administrative structure until 1852.
The administrative area of the canton lay in today's Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, specifically in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis district as well as in the area of the independent city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein.
Municipalities and town halls edit
According to official tables from the years 1798 and 1811, the following municipalities belonged to the canton of Mutterstadt. They were each administratively assigned to town halls. The columns "community name" and "town hall" use the former spellings of the place names.[1][2] The population figures (column "1815 population") are taken from statistics from 1815.[clarification needed][3] The column "Ruler before 1792" lists the territorial affiliation before the French seized the territory.[clarification needed][4]
History edit
Before France annexed the left bank of the Rhine during the War of the First Coalition (1794), the territory that became the Canton of Mutterstadt mainly belonged to the Electoral Palatinate, with the Bishopric of Worms, Count of Hallberg, and the Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg owning smaller parts.[clarification needed][inconsistent][4]
In 1798, the French Directory reorganized the administration of the Left Bank of the Rhine on the French model, and among other things, divided it into cantons.[clarification needed] The cantons were at the same time peace court districts (German Friedensgerichtsbezirke). From 1798-1800 Gutmann served as justice of the peace (German: Friedensrichter) for the canton in Oggersheim.[clarification needed] The former Catholic clergyman Joseph Igna(t)z exercised the office of the justice of the peace from 1800 to 1812 in Mutterstadt.[clarification needed] From 1812 to 1815 he was succeeded by the sworn canton interpreter Karl Friedrich Koch from Bouxville in Bas Rhin (German: Unterelsaß), and was based in Oggersheim.[clarification needed] The canton of Mutterstadt belonged to the Arrondissement Speyer in the Department of Donnersberg.[clarification needed] The canton was divided into 17 municipalities, managed by twelve town halls.[clarification needed][2]
After the Allies had regained the Left Bank of the Rhine in January 1814, the Department of Donnersberg, and hence the Canton of Mutterstadt, became part of the provisional General Government of the Middle Rhine (Generalgouvernement Mittelrhein) in February 1814.[clarification needed] After the Treaty of Paris, this general government was divided in June 1814 and the Department of Donnersberg was assigned to the newly formed Joint Land Administration Commission (Gemeinschaftlichen Landes-Administrations-Kommission), which was under the administration of Austria and Bavaria.[clarification needed][5]
Bavarian Canton of Mutterstadt edit
Due to the agreements made at the Congress of Vienna, the area came to Austria in June 1815[clarification needed] The joint Austrian-Bavarian administration was maintained for the time being.[clarification needed] On April 14, 1816, a treaty between Austria and Bavaria was concluded, in which an exchange of territory was agreed upon.[clarification needed] On May 1, 1816, the Austrian left bank territories were transferred to Bavaria.[clarification needed][6]
The Bavarian canton of Mutterstadt belonged to the Kreisdirektion Frankenthal in the newly created Circle of the Rhine.[clarification needed][7][8] After the subdivision of the Circle of the Rhine into Landkommissariate (1818), the canton of Mutterstadt belonged to the Landkommissariat Speyer.[clarification needed][9] Wilhelm Wolff lived in Oggersheim and Mutterstadt, from 1816-1817 until 1845, as a justice of the peace (Friedensrichter).[clarification needed] During his term of office, in 1825 the old canton prison in Oggersheim was replaced by the new prison in Mutterstadt.[clarification needed] His successor Carl Joseph Falciola (1805-1866), from Lauterecken, was based in Mutterstadt from 1846 to 1860.[clarification needed] During the German revolutions of 1848–49, Falciola was concerned with the investigation of the revolutionary events, among other things in Rheingönheim by witness interrogations.[clarification needed] The Rentamt, a tax authority with a rent district, which was superior to local tax authorities, remained in Oggersheim.[clarification needed] The head of the Rentamts was the Rentmeister.[clarification needed] For ten years from 1817 to 1827 this was Samuel Erdmann, and his successor for a short time in 1828 was probably Peter Anton Bölz.[clarification needed] He was followed by Philipp Heinrich Joseph Pauli (1828-1881) who was rentmeister for 31 years, from 1828 to 1859.[clarification needed]
After 1817, 17 municipalities belonged to the Bavarian Canton of Mutterstadt:[clarification needed]:[9][10][11]
According to statistics gathered in 1836, the canton had a population of 18,269, of which 6,773 were Catholics, 10,712 were Protestants, 215 were Mennonites, and 558 were Jews.[clarification needed][10]
In the year 1852 all cantons in the Palatinate, including the Canton Mutterstadt became district communities (Distriktgemeinde). A district council (Distriktsrat) and committee composed of representatives of the canton's communities was introduced to the planning and administration (including the maintenance of the district streets).[clarification needed][12]
References edit
- ^ Vollständige Sammlung der Verordnungen und Beschlüsse des Bürger Regierungs-Kommissärs und der Central-Verwaltungen der vier neuen Departemente auf dem linken Rheinufer, Band 1, Ausgabe 2, Wirth, 1798, S. 62, 66 (Google Books)
- ^ a b Statistisches Jahrbuch für das Departement von Donnersberg, 1811, S. 184 (Google Books)
- ^ Statistisches Jahrbuch für die deutschen Länder zwischen dem Rhein, der Mosel und der französischen Grenze: auf das Jahr 1815, Kupferberg, 1815, S. 140 (Google Books)
- ^ a b Wilhelm von der Nahmer: Handbuch des Rheinischen Particular-Rechts, Band 3, Sauerländer, Frankfurt 1832, S. 291, 342, 346, 394 (Google Books)
- ^ F. W. A. Schlickeysen: Repertorium der Gesetze und Verordnungen für die königl. preußischen Rheinprovinzen, Trier: Leistenschneider, 1830, S. 13 ff. (dilibri.de)
- ^ Münchener Vertrag vom 14. April 1816 in G. M. Kletke: Die Staats-Verträge des Königreichs Bayern ... von 1806 bis einschließlich 1858, Regensburg, Pustet, 1860, S. 310 (Google Books)
- ^ W. Tielcke: Schütz´s allgemeine Erdkunde, Band 16, Wien: Doll, 1831, S. 134 ff. (Google Books)
- ^ Philipp August Pauli: Gemälde von Rheinbaiern, Frankenthal: Enderes u. Hertter, 1817, S. 44 (Google Books)
- ^ a b Heinrich Berghaus:Hertha: Zeitschrift für Erd-, Völker- und Staatenkunde, Band 2, Cotta, Stuttgart 1825, s. 660 (Google Books)
- ^ a b Michael Frey: Versuch einer geographisch-historisch-statistischen Beschreibung des kön. bayer. Rheinkreises, Zweiter Theil, Speier: Neidhard, 1836, S. 177 ff. (Google Books)
- ^ Amtsblatt der Königl. baierischen Regierung des Rheinkreises vom 26. November 1817: Bekanntmachung vom 17. November 1817, Kantonal-Eintheilung des Rheinkreises (bavarica.digitale-sammlungen.de)
- ^ Distrikts- u. Landraths-Gesetz vom 28. Mai 1852, Beck, 1856, S. 3 (Google Books)