SOUFFLENHEIM CITIZENS IN THE GREAT FLIGHT

The individuals below left Soufflenheim in 1793 during the Great Flight. The information was copied from the book Soufflenheim Une cite (p.147). Source: A.D. B-Rh., Serie Q, Domaines Nationaux, ventaire pp. 813-814 comme emigres sont cites pour Soufflenheim.

· CITIZENS IN THE GREAT FLIGHT

Adam, Joseph	Halter (freres)	Rinck, Jean
Albrecht	Hochendel	Schaeffer, Antoine
Babinger	Hoehn, Casimir-Antoine	Schlosser
Beck, Francois-Antoine	Hummel, Jean (Potier)	Schmuck
Beller	Jaeck	Schoeffler
Bitschi	Kieffer	Schwoerer
Bourg	Kleitz, Brigitte	Simon, Henri
Brotschi, Joseph	Leppert	Steiner
Burger, Catherine	Libert	Stoll
Burger, Ignace	Mary	Strack
Daul, Barbe	Messner, Joseph	Stupffler
Daul, Jean-Michel	Mey, Joseph	Thomen
Eck	Meyer, Antoine (tuilier)	Ulrich, Jean
Eissen	Meyer, Jean-Leonard	Voegele, Antoine
Elchinger, Joseph	Meyer, Pierre	Wagner, Jean
Ernwein	Mohler	Wahlung
Ernwein, Laurent	Monnet	Wendereich
Friedmann, Francois-Joseph	Montbarrey	Wendrich
Friedmann, Jacques	Moser	Wintz, Madeleine
Goetz, Jean	Muller, Andre	Wunsch
Gress	Muller, Jean	Zittwoch
Haberkorn, Marie-Anne	Ostreicher	Zollenmeyer
Haberkorn, Laurent	Poppinger

The people listed below left Soufflenheim in 1793 during the Great Flight. The information is found in the book Soufflenheim: Terre de Potiers, published in 1998 by the Soufflenheim Tourist Office.

Liste des exiles

Adam, Joseph	Herdel, Antoine	Muller, Anne veuve Thomen
Albrecht, Antoine	Himmel, Richarde veuve Obermeyer	Muller, Antoine
Albrecht, Pierre	Hoehn, Michel	Ney, Jacques
Arbogast, Marcel	Illenberger, Balthasard	Obermeyer, Joseph
Babinger, Michel	Jaeck, Elizabeth veuve Barye	Osterreicher, Antoine
Barth, Catherine nee Hager	Jaeck, Laurent	Pfefferkorn, Joseph
Beck, Joseph	Kapp, Armand	Reutner, Catherine ep. Bruger
Beck, Michel	Kapp, Marguerite nee Eisenkirch	Rieder, Madeleine veuve Schwoerer
Beckers, Catherine	Kehrer, Joseph	Roth, Michel
Bitsch, Ignace	Kelhoeffner, Jean	Schaeffer, Antoine
Brotschi, Joseph	Kelhoeffner, Joseph	Schaeffer, Joseph
Burgard, Michel	Kieffer, Antoine	Schaeffer, Francois
Burger, Antoine	Kieffer, Georges	Schmitt, Jean
Burger, Ignace	Kieffer, Joseph	Schmitt, Joseph
Burger, Laurent	Kieffer, Laurent	Schmitt, Michel
Burger, Michel	Kieffer, Marguerite	Schoeffler, Ignace
Burger, Pierre	Kieffer, Marie Anne ep. Halter	Schuller, Marie Anne
Daul, Barbe ep. Arbogast	Kieffer, Michel	Schwoerer, Barbe
Daul, Catherine	Knepfler, Jean	Schwoerer, Marie Anne
Daul, Francoise	Lehman, Georges	Simon, Catherine
Daul, Jacques	Lehman, Jacob	Simon, Sebastien
Daul, Joseph	Leiser, Jacques	Steiner, Joseph
Daul, Marie Anne	Leiser, Schmuler	Strack, Joseph
Ehler, Joseph	Lengert (Linger?) Joseph	Strack, Madeleine nee Schwoerer
Ehler, Marguerite nee Haberkorn	Ludwig, Jean	Thomen, Ignace
Eiskirch, Richarde	Mahler, Jean	Thomen, Michel
Eissen, Ignace	Messner, Antoine	Ulrich, Michel
Elchinger, Joseph	Messner, Jacques	Ulrich, Nicolas
Frank, Egide	Messner, Joseph	Voegele, Frederic
Friedmann, Ignace	Messner, Madeleine nee Frank	Veogele, Ignace
Friedmann, Michel	Messner, Michel	Voegele, Joseph
Goetz, Dominique	Messner, Therese nee Bitschi	Wagner, Antoine
Goetz, Joseph	Metzler, Catherine	Wagner, Jacques
Goetz, Michel	Metzler, Pierre	Wagner, Joseph
Half, Feysel	Mey, Ferdinand	Wagner, Laurent
Harter, Joseph	Mey, Marguerite ép. Duke	Wagner, Michel
Hass, Bernard	Mey, Michel	Wenderich, Madeleine
Hasser, Madeleine ép. Wagner	Meyer, Joseph	Wintz, Madeleine ep. Zittwoch
Hasser, Marguerite	Meyer, Pierre	Zittwoch, Joseph
Hasser, Marie Anne ep. Ludwig	Mockes, Jean	Zittwoch, M.A. ep. Eisenkirch
Hatten, Catherine nee Halter	Moser, Jean	Zinger, Catherine nee Wagner
Hatten, Joseph	Paul Moser	Zinger, Philippe
Helmer, Georges	Muller, Andre

• MICHAEL KIEFFER

Michael Kieffer, a former mayor (Schultheiss) of Soufflenheim, left during the Revolution and went to the "other side of the Rhine" (See Below).

MICHEL KIEFFER Inventory Record

February 24, 1803 (5 Ventôse Year 11) Haguenau 7E20.1 #11, #406

Inventory after death of Michel Kieffer, who died 6 years ago in Soufflenheim and was a mayor of the place. His widow being : Catherine Wenger, assisted by Louis Wenger, burgher of Rohrwiller, her brother. Witnesses : Joseph Messner, mayor and Philipp Kieffer, mayor's help. Children and heirs are : Joseph Kieffer, burgher in Soufflenheim, born of first marriage of Michel Kieffer to Anna Maria Halter, Catharina, aged 17, Ignace, aged 14, the last two born of second marriage to the present widow Catharina Wenger. A marriage contract was passed the 4th February in year 1782 in front of notary of Haguenau, the 6th of February ; and concerned the house granted to the wife during her life ; this house has been sold at time of emigration of the deceased during the Revolution, and bought back on his return. This house with one side Joseph Strack, the other side the Allmend Gässel, upper side the Bischwiller path, and down Joseph Daul's widow is estimated 1300 florins.

JOSEPH KIEFFER / MICHEL KIEFFER Guardianship Record

February 10, 1799 (22nd Pluviose Year 7) Roeschwoog 7E44#15

Compared the guardians : Johannes Moser and Joseph Brotschi, for Joseph and Michel Kieffer, sons of deceased Michel Kieffer of Soufflenheim, concerning their interests and payments of these from the 4th June 1789 (election as guardians) in district Fort Vauban, town Roeppenheim. Refers to one more account passed in year 6 the 22nd of Messidor. The father having emigrated to the other side of the Rhine, his property had been put under sequestration, and the guardians named. They deliver receipt of these accounts.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE CHURCH IN SOUFFLENHEIM

The Church was also under great pressure during these times. The following excerpt is from a baptism in Soufflenheim on July 5, 1793. It was performed by a midwife rather than the priest, and in a house rather than the church. A proper baptism ceremony was held four months later in November of 1793.

JOSEPH STIEGER 05 July 1793: Has been baptized Joseph Stieger, son of DOMINIC STIEGER, volunteer soldier and of MAGDALENA KIEFFER. He has been baptized by the midwife at home in these schismatic times. The ceremony was held in supplement on the 4th of November of the same year. Godfather: JOSEPH MESSNER burgher here. Godmother: MAGDALENA NUBER.

All undersigned with me.

· THE GREAT FLIGHT

The following information is provided courtesy of Vincent Falter and was excerpted with his permission from his website at http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/a/l/Vincent-E-Falter/index.html

THE GREAT FLIGHT OF 1793

The following information was taken in whole or in part from a book titled Paradise on the Steppe: The Odyssey of a Pioneering People by Joseph S. Height and published by the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Bismarck, ND (2/e, 1973). It is difficult to locate publications about the life and times in Alsace during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Although the book Paradise on the Steppe focuses primarily on the Catholic Alsatians who emigrated to the Russian steppes, it also refers to the events and customs of their homeland.

The Great Flight

During the reign of terror, the people of Alsace saw their churches and monasteries suppressed, their priests exiled or imprisoned, their property requisitioned or nationalized, their youth drafted in to the revolutionary armies. They endured the criminal terror organized by the infamous monk, Eulogius Schneider, former professor in Bonn and Episcopal vicar of Strasbourg, who turned Jacobin and became the Public Accuser of the Revolutionary Tribunal in Strasbourg. Under his ruthless regime the terror-stricken Alsatians saw the gruesome guillotine hauled from village to village, and witnessed the death of some of their sons upon it. But the greatest tragedy that befell the inhabitants of Lower Alsace was "la Grande Fuite" of 1793, the mass flight which compelled tens of thousands of Alsatians to forsake their fatherland and find refuge on German soil.

In mid-October 1793, the Austrian and Prussian forces invaded the Lower Alsace in order to defeat the Revolutionary Rhine Army and thereby hasten the restoration of the French monarchy. In a few weeks, the Austrian general Wurmser had driven the French troops back to the ramparts of Strassburg and restored peace and order. The general's plan was to remain in winter quarters in the occupied territory and to continue the attack in the spring. But a counter-offensive by the reinforced Rhine Army compelled him to beat a hasty retreat, and before the end of the year the whole of Lower Alsace was cleared of foreign troops. The French now invaded German soil and in a few weeks succeeded in occupying the entire Palatinate.

In Lower Alsace, the revolutionists threatened to kill all "the cowards and traitors" who had collaborated with the invaders and then fled with them into German territory. On November 22, while the flight of the inhabitants was rampant everywhere, the rabid representative Lacoste wrote to the Comité, "The only measure to be taken is to guillotine one-fourth of the inhabitants of this area, drive out the rest, and confiscate their property". Another Jacobin fanatic, Baudot, threatened to "make a fricassee of the damned Alsatians who had polluted the fair soil of Alsace".

A panic terror gripped the poor people as they fled from their homes and villages in utter confusion and frenzied haste. The Prefect of the Bas-Rhin reported that "everybody fled, forsaking father, wife, children, and all their belongings. People fled without their clothes, the rich without their money, the mother without the baby to whom she had recently given birth. Entire villages became empty and deserted; the shops had no workers; the plows had no farm hands". All the roads leading to the Rhine were crowded with swarms of wretched, confused and terror-stricken humanity. The Rhine crossing at Lauterburg was jammed with a mounting flood of refugees.

It is estimated that some 40,000 people fled from their Alsatian homeland, most of them from the departments of Weissenburg and Haguenau. When the victorious French armies advanced into the Palatinate districts of Bergzabern and Germersheim, another 30,000 fled in terror from their villages to find safety on the right bank of the Rhine. These masses of refugees were scattered far and wide all the way from Heidelberg to Freiburg in the heart of the Black Forest. Here they eked out their wretched existence in direst poverty, exposed to the rigors of winter and the constant threat of starvation.

As early as January of 1794, the notorious Jacobins, St. Juste and Lebas (representatives from Paris) lost no time in confiscating the property of those who fled. Agents pillaged and looted everything from cellar to attic, including the hinges on the doors. The horses and wagons, the hay and the grain were sent to the army depots. The furniture and clothing, the money, the jewelry, and the metal were shipped to Strasbourg. The land and the buildings were auctioned off or simply given away.

The former district officials of Weissenburg and Haguenau were sent in chains to Paris, where they were guillotined. The churches in the two districts were looted, despoiled and closed. The relatives of those who had fled were hunted out and hauled into the dungeons at Strasbourg. Among the 2,000 incarcerated people were many old men and women and some 600 children. Another 2,000 prisoners were comprised mostly of priests, teachers, lawyers and refugees who had secretly made their way back to Alsace.

On January 11, 1795, a decree was issued permitting all refugee "artisans and peasants" to return to Alsace. However, they were required to have 8 testimonials of citizenship attested by 8 witnesses and certified by the village council and the revolutionary committee. They could then reclaim any unsold property upon paying the costs of the confiscation. The authorities made no attempt to make the decree known to the refugees. Those refugees who found out about the decree and tried to return were stopped by border guards posted along the Rhine by the new owners of the ill-gotten property. As well, the greed of the boatmen proved to be an obstacle and only the rich with a handful of coin were able to obtain passage. On March 21st, the "open door" to the fatherland was again slammed shut condemning thousands of poor, innocent people to further years of misery and deprivation on foreign soil. The number of returnees would indeed have been pitifully small, if many of the exiles had not ventured to force their way back under the cover of darkness with the collusion of friends and sympathetic border officials.

In September of 1795, the Convention granted the emegrés an additional 20 days for their return, but the obstructions were even greater than before. Nevertheless, despite dangers and difficulties, numerous refugees kept coming back, determined to "suffer all horrors, even death itself, rather than return to exile in Germany". Religious animosities flared because the vast majority of refugees were Catholics who now discovered that foreign intruders of another denomination had enriched themselves from other people's misfortune and were determined to retain their acquisitions. The refugees were labeled as "spies, vagabonds, insurgents and riff-raff" and it became more and more difficult for them to receive clearance.

After the Fructidorean coup d'etat of September 4, all refugees who had returned illegally were ordered to leave the country within a fortnight. Houses were searched for hidden priests and imigrés. Village mayors and municipal officials were forced to resign from office. All churches were closed and all public services, pilgrimages and even the use of the traditional Church calendars was prohibited.

With the inauguration of the Triumvirate in 1799, the refugees were permitted to return unhindered to their fatherland. The peasants and artisans who had been languishing with their families in the fetid dungeons of Strasbourg for five years were now set free and sent back to their villages. The government did not deem it necessary to make amends nor did it undertake to rehabilitate these poverty-stricken people. Not all of the refugees regained their former homes and land but were fated to eke out a bare living as farm hands, day laborers or sharecroppers.

The aftermath of revolution and war left Alsace in a critical economic condition; the common people had become impoverished and agriculture suffered from chronic neglect. A new wave of inflation depreciated the value of money and raised the cost of living as never before. The people were forced to pay arrears in taxes, subjected to increasing taxes, new taxes on wine and salt and illegal seizure. Forestry agents imposed excessive fines on the poor who collected wood and dead foliage from the communal forests. Thus the mayor of Seltz was forced to protest in 1808: "My people absolutely need the dead foliage to fertilize the potato fields. We are living here on potatoes and cottage cheese." The price of lumber had risen three times its normal cost and there was a shortage of communal plow land because much of it had been appropriated by those who had chosen to remain behind during the Great Flight. The poor refugees faced a disheartening future.

À LA LISIÈRE DE LA FORÊT: SCHIRRHEIN/SCHIRRHOFFEN

The following information has been excerpted from the book À La Lisière de la Forêt: Schirrhein/Schirrhoffen by Rose-Marie Vetter and published by Editions Coprur of Strasbourg in 1995. The book recounts the history of Schirrhein and Schirrhoffen. The translation is by Vince Falter.

The Church of St. Nicolas At The Time Of The French Revolution

Joseph Richard Zipp became the priest of St. Nicolas in 1769 and remained in the parish until 1805. He was born on September 2, 1738 in Haguenau. His father, Georg, was a tanner and his mother was Anna-Marie Mosser. He began his studies of theology in 1756 and was ordained a priest in 1762. He and his nephew were stopped on March 28, 1791 and detained for seditious writings. Released, he emigrated [fled] to the Country of Baden [Germany]. He returned to Schirrhein in 1802 and continued to lead its ministry until his death on March 16, 1805.

On July 12, 1790, the National Assembly voted upon the civil constitution of the clergy, which marked a turning point in the Revolution. Based on this [constitution], the members of the clergy were regarded as functionaries of the State and were thus to be paid by the State. They had to swear an oath to the new constitution and to commit themselves to respecting it scrupulously. Those who refused to swear the oath lost both their office and the right to conduct worship services. They were treated like rebels and disturbers of law and order.

The civil constitution of the clergy also removed the old Episcopal sees and set up one in each Department. Alsace was divided into two; Strasbourg and Colmar. It prescribed, finally, that all the bishops and priests were to be elected by the whole of the citizens, i.e. also by Protestant, Jewish and atheistic citizens. That created a major scandal throughout the country.

Later, Prince Talleyrand stated: "do not fear to recognize that the civil constitution of the clergy, issued by the Constituent Assembly, is the greatest political fault of this assembly, independently of the dreadful crimes which were the consequence."

The reaction against the civil constitution for the clergy was extremely critical in Alsace. As of June 13, 1790, the bishop of Strasbourg, i.e. the Cardinal of Rohan, left his residence in Saverne, where he no longer felt safe. He settled in Ettenheim, which was in Baden, Germany.

Father Zipp was not impressed by the constitution, however. The following Sunday, he publicly denounced it from the pulpit.

AIsace then underwent a major religious crisis. The majority of the priests refused to take the oath [to the state]. And the population supported them. The priests who did swear were badly treated in the parishes. The government increasingly abandoned its revolutionary ideas, but it continued to condemn the recalcitrant priests. At that moment, many priests left the country. Those that remained were forced to hide and work clandestinely. Thus opened a dark period in the history of our country [France].

The contrary declarations and the orders published by the bishop were distributed clandestinely throughout the diocese and put the revolutionists in a rage. They saw these as seditious writings, of which the only goal was to cause a counter-revolution in the province.

The situation became increasingly difficult for him [Father Zipp]. Opinions started to heat up in the

village. The local quarrels became more frequent. The " warlike " conflict of the municipality of

Schirrhein with Schirrhoffen in March 1792 was a typical example of these quarrels. The incident started when a woman reported that some people of Schirrhoffen threatened the priest and that there was over there [in Schirrhoffen] a great conflict between the patriots [peasants] and the aristocrats [landholders]. Immediately, the mayor of Schirrhein, Mr. Halter, sounded the alarm bell and got under way towards Schirrhoffen. The Schirrhein municipal officer and schoolmaster Chrétien Richter accompanied him. Mr. Bertrand confirmed in his report of April 6, the violence of the attackers who had seriously wounded several citizens of the guard of Schirrhoffen, and who appeared to have had their hatred and that of their neighbors excited by the patriotism and opposition to the priests [by the people of Schirrhoffen]. The Director suspended the mayor and the schoolmaster of Schirrhein and directed the remaining primary municipal officers to take over the functions of the mayor at the time of the meeting, held May 18. He denounced the three culprits to the court and required that the court's deliberation be read by one of the [Schirrhein or Schirrhoffen?] municipal officers before the gathered community, and then be transcribed in the registers of the commune. The expenses of the investigation were charged to the culprits, that is to say, 41,10 [sic] pounds. Moreover, the Director wrote a letter to the Ministry of the Interior to denounce to him the illegal and guilty control by these civil servants.

Feeling that their presence in Schirrhein would cause still other disturbances, Father Zipp and his Vicar left the territory on August 14, 1792. They went to Buhl in the Country of Baden [Germany] where, awaiting him was the former Master of Schirrhof, the Baron de Vorstatt, as well as other emigrants of the [Schirrhein and Schirrhoffen] area. The parish did not remain for a long time without a priest after the departure of Father Zipp. On October 2, 1792, the new bishop named as priest of the parish, Father Alexandre Ruch.

Alexandre Ruch - his Christian name was Jean-Baptiste Ruch - was born in Sélestat on January 4, 1768. His father was François, a tanner. His mother was Elisabeth Schaeffer. Jean-Baptiste Ruch entered to the seminary of the Capuchins of Haguenau and took the name of Alexandre. He was ordained a priest in 1791. This seminary counted 20 monks and 5 [religious] brothers at the beginning of the Revolution. All of these monks had been pensioned by the Director who fixed their pension at 700 pounds. But one did not leave them time to enjoy this pension. All of them refused to swear the oath, except Alexandre.

On May 15, 1791, the bishop appointed Alexandre Vicar of Saint-Georges de Haguenau. Then, after the departure of Father Zipp, he was named head of the parish at Schirrhein and Schirrhoffen. He probably did not reside at the presbytery, since this building had been declared property of the nation and had been allocated to Citizen Lux of Schirrhein who then resided in it. The father, Alexandre Ruch did not remain a long time in Schirrhein.

The commune proposed to sell Father Zipp's goods at auction. The Zipp family of Haguenau then addressed a petition to the Director of Bas-Rhin, through a general intermediary who was the guard of the national forest, Joseph Hartrich, to oppose this sale and to claim the goods of their son. According to the family, Father Zipp had departed the territory to go to Switzerland, in conformity with the law of August 26. He could thus by no means be regarded as an emigrant. The Director examined the certificate issued by the commune, checked the passport and stated that it was not necessary for him to declare that he was removing from Schirrhein like an emigrant. He also declared that the inventory drawn up by the municipality was null and void. The Zipp family was authorized to have the goods of her son [Father Zipp].

Father Zipp, actually, did not go to Switzerland, but to Buhl, in the territory of the Margraviat of Baden [German], where he joined other old associates and friends. One year later, he was listed on the roster of emigrants. His goods and rent were put under sequestration and sold at auction.

A short time afterwards, whereas this lease was always in force, the municipality wanted to sell the presbytery, its garden and its other properties. Joseph Halter, Christian Richter and D. Heisserer were prepared to acquire them in court for 4,000 pounds. Outraged [at the proposed sale of the church property], George Lux protested to the Director of Haguenau. Article 6 of the law of November 17, 1794 specified that the presbyteries were to be sold, with the profit to the Republic to be placed at the disposal of the municipalities to be used for housing teachers and to receive pupils. Finally, however, the presbytery was not sold and it remained property of the commune.

It was also during this revolutionary period that part of our [parish] files disappeared. The registers of baptism, of marriage, and of death of all persons before the Revolution are untraceable. The [Haguenau] Departmental records state that these registers would have been destroyed by fire.

THE FRENCH ARMY AND THE REVOLUTION

Written by : Vince Falter

Early in the Revolution many units of the French Army were suspected to be opposed to the Revolution. Many Royal French Army units were commanded by noblemen and aristocrats who were obviously loyal to the King, and they were removed from command. The remainder were commanded by mercenaries such as General Sebastien Steinmetz who worked for the King. Even though he was German and a mercenary, General Sebastien apparently remained in command of the D' Oberhoffen garrison at Schirrhein until the fall of 1791. He was relieved of his command about that time and became, temporarily, "Citizen Steinmetz."

In 1789 the National Assembly