Alsace And The 1848 Revolution - By Rebecca Mccoy
Excerpts
From The History Of Alsace - By Peter
D'aprix
The Migration from Alsace to the Black Sea Region - Jean Schweitzer
By
Rebecca McCoy
In recent decades, historians have begun to view the 1848 revolution as a
turning point in the history of France because this period crystallized
patterns of political geography that have persisted into the twentieth century.
American historians, however, have tended to focus on regions that turned to
the left during the second republic because organization and protest are more
easily quantifiable. Most often, historians have explained a vote for the démoc-socs as evidence of political awareness and national
integration. By implication, regions such as Alsace that voted for Louis
Napoleon or Cavaignac have been dismissed as
"backward," unaware of national political trends, and lacking in any
meaningful identification with France as a whole.
The
particular experience of the two Alsatian departments during the revolution of
1848 suggests how local culture and regional definitions of French identity
have informed responses to national politics. Two features of Alsatian regional
culture are important in understanding the complex reaction of the inhabitants
to the revolution of 1848. First, the local culture of Alsace differed markedly
from that of the rest of France in its religious and linguistic diversity. As a
result, Alsatians confronted not only the usual social and economic fault
lines, but a series of cultural divisions as well. Secondly, despite the
relatively late transformation of Alsace from a pays réputé
étrangé to an integral part of France in 1789 and
their Germanic heritage, Alsatians identified as Frenchmen. At the same time
they interpreted national events such as the revolution of 1848 in light of
their local experience and collective memory of the revolutionary and
Napoleonic period. Nationalism and the complexity of overlapping divisions
within Alsace explain the reaction of the Alsatians to political events in
Paris during the period 1848 to 1851.
During
the first half of the nineteenth century, the population of Alsace was
overwhelmingly Catholic and German. Nonetheless, the two Alsatian departments
had a significant proportion of Protestants (10.3%). The Jewish presence in
Alsace was small (.03% of the population), but the province included more than
one-half of the Jews in France. The cities such as Strasbourg, Colmar, and Mulhouse had large
concentrations of Protestants and experienced an influx of Jews after
emancipation, but the rural areas of Alsace also had numerous enclaves of these
minority groups. Most of the population spoke German, although the
arrondissement of Belfort in the Haut-Rhin and some of the villages in the Vosges
were French-speaking.
In
addition to the divisions imposed by religious and linguistic heterogeneity,
Alsace had a very diverse economy, and therefore, complex social divisions.
Geographically, Alsace consisted of three agricultural zones; the rich plain
along the Rhine where the peasants grew cereal crops, the hilly transition zone
that depended on viticulture, and the impoverished subsistence agriculture of
the Vosges mountains. Alsace was also one of the most
industrialized regions of France in the early nineteenth century. In the first
decade of the century, the textile mills of Mulhouse
began to mechanize the spinning and the calico printing process.
Manchester-style mills began to characterize Mulhouse
and its immediate region earlier than any other textile center in France. In
the 1820s, the smaller town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines began to produce
specialty hand-woven cottons for the Parisian market, thereby creating
thousands of jobs for handloom weavers in the countryside, especially in the Vosges mountains. As a result, Alsace had a burgeoning
class of both urban workers and protoindustrial
peasants. As Alsace industrialized, the artisan trades burgeoned both in the
countryside and in the cities to serve the expanded demand for services. The
economic, religious, and linguistic fault lines overlapped. Whereas the textile
magnates were primarily Protestant, the workers were more likely to be
Catholic. The artisanry and petite bourgeoisie tended
to be mixed, depending on the cultural configuration of the locality. The
majority of peasants were also Catholic, but Alsace had numerous Protestant
villages. Jews usually followed commercial pursuits, especially because prior
to emancipation in 1791, laws had prohibited them from landholding. The
complexity of religious and linguistic diversity aggravated the economic and
social tensions that were typical of many regions of France.
The
revolution of 1848 evoked minimal reaction from the people of Alsace. For most
Alsatians, the religious alignment of the government was of greater importance
than were the constitutional issues. In this respect, the change of government
in 1830, when the July Monarchy challenged the alliance between the Bourbons
and the Catholic church, had far more impact. Until 1848, the haute bourgeoisie
tended to be Orleanist. The members of this group,
especially among the textile entrepreneurs, were most often Protestant.
Furthermore, due to their textile interests, they welcomed the government's
protectionist policies. Nonetheless, many of these entrepreneurs, like other
Protestants in France, often became moderate republicans after 1848, and
ultimately supporters of Cavaignac.
To
the extent that rural Alsatians reacted to the revolution in Paris, they did so
primarily in terms of their economic interests and traditional religious
rivalries. The revolution evoked anti-Jewish demonstrations in some regions in
1848. At the outbreak of the revolution, the Alsatian peasantry had not
experienced a good harvest since 1844. The potato blight, poor weather, and
inadequate harvests had led to widespread misery in the two Alsatian
departments. The hardship of these years evoked traditional resentment against
the Jewish population. The role of the Jews as money lenders and cattle dealers
as much as church teaching, explains the anti-Semitism in Alsace during this
period. In times of economic hardship, Alsatian peasants found a scapegoat in
the Jews, often their main source of credit and main contact with the market.
Even so, only about 20% of the communities with Jewish populations engaged in
outbreaks of violence. Therefore, most of the Alsatian peasantry had little
reaction to the revolution of 1848.
Although
various historians describe the primarily-Catholic Alsatian peasantry as
uneducated and illiterate, and indifferent to politics, much more research is
needed. According to one source, Alsatian conscripts in 1848 had the third
highest literacy rate in France. Furthermore, literacy cannot be completely
identified with religious affiliation. In the Catholic village of Ammerschwihr, located in the viticultural
region of Alsace where commercial contacts were especially important, it
appears that that the literacy rate may have been substantially higher than the
national average. Thus the support for Louis Napoleon cannot be explained
entirely in terms of a "backward" and illiterate Catholic peasantry
that merely followed the directives of the local priest.
The
workers in Alsace also tended to interpret the revolution in local terms. Much
of the Alsatian working class consisted of peasant-workers scattered in the
countryside. By mid-century, the textile establishments of
Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, for example, employed approximately 14,500 workers
scattered throughout three departments (the Haut-Rhin,
Bas-Rhin, and Vosges). In
1848, many of these weavers worked in small workshops in their villages rather
than at home. Many of the other small factories in Alsace operated in the same
manner. The dispersal of much of the working class meant that its opportunities
for solidarity were minimal. Many of these workers were far less informed about
national politics than their compatriots who lived in urban centers such as Mulhouse, Strasbourg, or Sainte-Marie. Even within the
manufacturing centers of Alsace, the working class varied a great deal in its
reaction to national politics. In Mulhouse for
example, the unskilled textile operatives tended to be immigrants from the
countryside, Catholic, and illiterate. In contrast, skilled workers such as
metallurgical workers and printers, who were also more active in politics and
apt to support the left, tended to be French, Protestant, and more literate.
The other artisan trades tended to be more mixed in their religious and
linguistic backgrounds. Riots against the hardships imposed by the agricultural
crisis and then strike activity to protest the inability of the paternalistic
policies of the industrial patronat to shield workers
from the effects of the economic downturn took place primarily in industrial
centers such as Mulhouse, Guebwiller,
and Thann.
Analysis
of voting patterns shows, however, that despite the efforts of the démoc-socs to mobilize public opinion in Alsace, workers as
well as the peasants voted for Louis Napoleon in December of 1848. In the
textile centers, protest against the industrial patronat,
which supported Cavaignac, partly explains the vote.
But the peasants, with different economic interests, also supported Louis
Napoleon. Neither did the vote appear to split along religious or linguistic
lines. Therefore the configuration of socio-economic and cultural divisions
alone cannot account for the voting patterns of the Alsatians.
A
second reason for the popularity of Louis Napoleon was the overwhelming
nationalism of the Alsatians forged from the collective memory of their
experiences during the years 1789-1815. Prior to the French Revolution, Alsace
had been a foreign province and the government had made only sporadic efforts
to integrate the province linguistically and economically. In 1789 and 1790,
the revolutionary government dismantled all of the economic barriers between
Alsace and the French interior. During the 1790s, the Alsatians, while
disaffected by dechristianization, had generally
supported the Montagnards against the Federalists.
With the emphasis on equality and on the rights and responsibilities of the
citizenry, Alsatians fought in the numerous wars of the revolutionary and
Napoleonic era, and indeed, their territory was often the site of battles and
occupation by various foreign armies. Therefore, the warfare of the period 1792
through 1815 was more than an abstraction for the Alsatians; one of the first
and most important sources of French identity was their role in defending la patrie, and their memories of the glory brought to France
by the first Napoleon.
Throughout
the years 1815 to 1870, the Alsatians asserted their loyalty as Frenchmen even
as they clung to their German language and heritage. After 1789, national
identity became defined culturally, and uniform language became more important,
although with little immediate local effect. Policies formulated under the
Convention, Napoleon, and even during the Restoration and July Monarchy had
been relatively ineffective in spreading the French language among the masses
in Alsace. The Alsatians demonstrated their French identity through
participation in political rituals that were part of the civic ceremonies of
the first half of the nineteenth century. Even Catholics, who objected to the
policies of the July Monarchy, could assert their loyalty to the monarch
precisely by affirming their religious affinities with the rest of France and
their support for legitimism. Protests by German-speaking building workers at
Sainte-Marie-aux-mines in 1849 against Austrian workers demonstrated the
intensity of Alsatian loyalties to France. In this instance, despite the
cultural similarities between the local workers and the Austrians, the latter
represented outsiders, and particularly the hated forces of Austria that had
occupied the region from 1815-1818. For the Alsatians, although the clergy may
have played a role in shaping political opinions, their particular brand of
national identity as well as class grievances against the textile manufacturers
in urban centers were critical in influencing the way in which local and
national politics intersected in Alsace in 1848 to produce a majority of 62.8%
of the vote for Louis Napoleon.
Although
support for Bonapartism during the course of the
second republic became less enthusiastic, Alsace was one of the more quiescent
regions during the coup of 1851. In the 1849 legislative vote, the démoc-socs received from 40-50% of the vote in both
Alsatian departments. This development suggests that the social democrats did
make substantial inroads among the peasantry as well as among urban workers in
Alsace. The appeal of the left demonstrates the ways in which the grievances of
a variety of groups could be exploited. Although more research remains to be
done, the left found support among urban workers in cities such as Mulhouse and also played on rural economic grievances,
mobilizing anti-Semitism by criticizing usury. As Edward Berenson
has argued, the appeal of the left may also have been related to the affinities
between démoc-soc ideology and popular religiosity.
Yet, despite the successes of the left in parliamentary contests nationalism
and the weight of collective memory remained decisive. In 1851, the two
Alsatian departments supported Louis-Napoleon, approving the referendum
overwhelmingly in an election in which the turnout was relatively high.
By
Peter D'Aprix
213:
Alamans appear for the first time on the Hand.
230
- 233: They cross first once the Rhine and come to Alsace.
352:
Alamans settle in Alsace and in the North-East of Gaule.
350:
The emperor of the East Constancy II offers Alsace to Alamans.
For the second time, the German ones are confirmed rightful owners of Alsace.
355:
Invasion by the Francs of the north-western part of Gaule
and Germanie lower.
357:
Victoire of Julien on Alamans close to Strasbourg.
375:
Alamans, with the Francs, come to end from the Roman
imperialism. Alsace is then in the center of their surface of expansion and
bears the name of Alémanie. It is the language alémane which is essential on the very whole population.
The Alsatian dialect is thus a heritage of Alamans
and will be preserved, until our days, in its various alternatives going of Palatinat in Switzerland.
377:
Gratien beats Alamans close
to Horbourg.
406:
Alamans settle.
409:
Organization of the strengthened network of Strasbourg.
451:
Invasion of Attila, last destruction of Argentorate, Alamans complete the occupation of Alsace.
496: Victoire de Clovis on Alamans with Tolbiac. The
Francs settle in Alsace Bossue. Alémanie,
with Alsace in its center, passes then under the dependence of the Mérovingiens Francs.
Medium
of VIème century: Arbogast
saint, bishop of Strasbourg.
Beginning
of VIIème century: Appearance of the name of Alsace.
Between
640-740: Birth of the duchy of Alsace. Alsace will be then a political
entity and will enjoy a statute close to independence for more than one
century.
Between
670-693: Adalrie duke of Alsace, founder of the
abbey of Sainte-Odile.
Towards
800: Cutting of Alsace in dioceses by Saint Boniface and Pépin the Brief. These modifications will remain in force
during nearly 1000 years, until the Legal settlement.
842
(February 14): Oath of Strasbourg per Louis the Germanic one and Charles
the Bald person against their Lothaire brother.
843:
The Treaty of Verdun put an end to the war between the 3 grandsons of
Charlemagne who share the Empire. Alsace belongs from now on to the Empire of Lothaire.
870:
Treaty of Meersen. Lotharingie
disappears and is divided in two territories: Francie
Western and Francie Eastern whose Alsace will form
part during nearly eight centuries.
917,
926: Invasion of Magyars.
925:
Alsace attached to the kingdom of Germanie.
110-1028:
Werner de Habsbourg, bishop of Strasbourg,
manufacturer of the Romance cathedral.
1048-1054:
Pontificate of Leon IX (Bruno d' Eguisheim)
1075-1122:
Quarrel of the Nominations.
1082-1100:
Otton de Hohenstaufen,
bishop of Strasbourg.
1105-1147:
Frederic the One-eyed one, duke of Alsace and Souabe.
1123:
Foundation of the Cistercian abbey of Lucelle.
About
1125: Habsbourg acquire the title of landgrave
of High-Alsace.
About
1130-1150: Drafting of the first municipal statute of Strasbourg.
1164:
Privilege of Frederic Barberousse for the town of Haguenau.
1205:
Philippe de Souabe grants his protection to the town
of Strasbourg.
About
1214: Second municipal statute of Strasbourg.
1217-1237:
Woelfelin, representative of Frederic II in Alsace
strengthens several cities with stone enclosures.
1223:
Foundation of the convents of Franciscans of Haguenau
and Strasbourg.
1224:
Foundation of the convent from Dominican in Strasbourg.
The
time of Hohenstaufen marks the first golden age of
Alsace and brings to the area most of its cultural inheritance (cathedrals,
ramparts...). The arrival with the head of the empire, in 1273, of Rudolf von
Habsburg puts an end to the reign of the dynasty of Hohenstaufen.
The Time Of Alsaces
1254-1273:
With the Great Interregnum, the Alsatian territory starts to be dislocated and
will be parceled out in many seigniories.
1262
(March 8): Battle of Obershausbergen. The
militia of Strasbourg demolish the troops of the bishop and put thus fine at
its capacity. Strasbourg reaches the free statute of city thus Alsace and more
particularly the free city of Strasbourg thus had three centuries in advance on
the French institutions which until 1789 remained marked by feudality.
1268:
Execution of Conradin, last member of Hohenstaufen.
1273:
Election of the Empire of Rodolphe de Habsbourg. It creates large Bailliage
de Haguenau to manage the imperial fields, to take
care of the rights and the goods of the Empire in Alsace.
1279
(February 3): Beginning of the construction of the castles of Hohlandsberg by Siegfried de Gundolsheim
with the authorization of Holand' S Burg.
1331-1360:
Revolution in the cities which put an end to the domination patriciat
and ensure the municipal capacity the corporations.
1334:
First charter of oath (Schwoerbrief) in Strasbourg.
1347:
Décapole (Mulhouse, Colmar, Munster, Turckheim, Kaysersberg, Sélestat, Obernai, Rosheim, Haguenau and Wissembourg). This
alliance aims at: to ensure public peace, to found a military collaboration and
policy enters the 10 cities, to settle the monetary and legal questions and to
protect themselves from the foreign incursions.
1349:
The Black Death in Alsace. Massacre Jews.
About
1350: Colmar, Haguenau
and Sélestat give the capacity to the craftsmen.
1354:
Acceptance by Charles IV of the league of the imperial cities (Décapole).
1358:
The noble ones are expelled of Colmar.
1365-1375:
Invasion of the " English " and the lorry drivers.
1388: Construction of the bridge from the Rhine in
Strasbourg.
About
1400: The cities of Décapole gain their
sovereignty, strike their currency, sign treaties, decide wars and are represented
directly with the Diet of empire by Haguenau or Colmar.
1415:
Council of Constancy which launches the interdict on the town of Strasbourg.
1419-1422:
War enters the town of Strasbourg and the nobility of Low-Alsace.
1434:
Invention of printing works by Gutenberg.
1439:
Beginning of the invasions of the Armagnacs and
flayers in Alsace. Completion of the cathedral of Strasbourg by Jean Hultz. Beginning of the Latin school of Sélestat.
Gutenberg In Strasbourg.
1445:
Expulsion of noble of Mulhouse and Basle.
1460:
J. Mentelin prints the Bible.
1469-1474:
Possessions of Habsbourg engaged with the duke of
Burgundy.
1478:
Geiler de Kaysersberg
appointed preacher in Strasbourg.
1493:
First conspiracy of Bundschuh.
1494:
S. Brant publishes Narrenschift
1510-1515:
Mathias Grünenwald carries out the retable of Issenheim.
1515:
Mulhouse leaves the décapole
to join the confederated Swiss ones which has a more significant military
power.
1520:
Beginning of Protestantism in Alsace.
1524:
The first mass in German language is celebrated in the cathedral of
Strasbourg. Appearance of the German Kirchenlied
psalm .
1525
(April-May): War of the Bundschuh "
Peasants ". In all, nearly 40 000 peasants were killed at the time of Bundschuh.
1528:
First meeting of the States of Alsace.
1529:
Abolition of the catholic worship in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
1538:
Foundation from the high school in Strasbourg.
1539-1541:
Calvin In Strasbourg. It will direct a French parish to Strasbourg. Created
even a French school and will print the first books in French language. Alsace
was then ground of a religious and linguistic tolerance.
1617:
The college of Molsheim becomes university. First
jubilee of the Reform.
1618-1648:
Thirty Year old war, result of religious conflicts and strong political
oppositions. German civil war in the beginning, it will gradually become a
European war with the intervention of other peripheral powers.
1621
(November): Ernst von Mansfeld besieges Lauterbourg and soon all the cities of Décapole.
1621
(August 14): Inauguration of the Protestant university of Strasbourg.
1622:
The Friedrich emperor drives out von Mansfeld of
Alsace.
1624:
Ferdinand II expels the Protestants of Haguenau and Colmar (1628).
1625:
The archduke Léopold Guillaume de Habsbourg
bishop of Strasbourg.
1629:
Edict of restoration promulgated by the emperor.
1632
(June 7th): Faced with alliance between Strasbourg and Gustave-Adolphe, king of Sweden, the Swedes enter Alsace to
propagate the Protestantism.
1634:
First French activities(occupations) in Alsace. Defeat of the Swedes to Nordlingen. France enters then the Protestant alliance and
"inherits" all the Alsatian territories conquered by the Swedes.
1635
(May 19th): Louis XIII declares the war to Habsbourg
with the alliance of the Protestant army.
During
the War of 30 years, Alsace will lose more than 60 % of his inhabitants and its
houses.
1635
(October 27th): Saint Germain's treaty between
king of France and duke Bernard of Saxony-Weimar.
1648
(October 24th): Treaties of Westphalia which mark the end of the insults.
At the conclusion of this treaty, Alamans of Alsace
was going to be reduced to the submission and delivered for several centuries
to a policy of force and violence while their brothers of Switzerland(Swiss) .
were
solemnly recognized independent. The Republic free of Strasbourg keeps(guards)
its status and the city free of Mulhouse is not
evoked in this treaty.
French Alsace
1649
(April 26th): The count of Harcourt is named big royal bailli of the prefecture of Haguenau
and governor of High Alsace. He) will work secretly to make of Alsace an
independent principality, but he) will fail.
1655:
Arrived in Alsace of the bursar Colbert (of Croissy).
1658
(autumn): Official Inauguration of the sovereign council of Alsace to Ensisheim.
1662:
Léopold Guillaume, prince-bishop of Strasbourg died,
replaced by François Egon de Fürstenberg.
1662
(January 10th): The duke of Mazarin will make
accept of force to the representatives of the Décapole
an oath of allegiance to king.
1662
(April): Colmar and Sélestat
make cancel the coercive oath of January 10th.
1672
- 1678: War of Holland. Louis XIV destroys the bridge on the Rhine on
October 14th, 1672 to cut the communications with the Empire. But the bridge is
reconstructed in 1674.
1673
(autumn): First journey of Louis XIV in Alsace, reduction of Décapole in the obedience of king of France.
1675
(January 5th): Victoire de Turenne
to Turckheim.
1677
(January): The city of Haguenau is ravaged by
the French troops and the population is hunted (chased away). Only convents
and churches of the city remain. The ancient (former) capital of Hohenstaufen is now totally annulled. The French army
destroyed some more of Alsatian cities and numerous castles.
1679
(February 5th): Treaty of Nimègue which signs
the peace between the Germanic Empire and France. Alsace belongs now in France
except the Republic free of Strasbourg, the cities of Décapole
and the Helvetian Republic of Mulhouse. Jacques de La
Grange, bursar of Alsace.
1679
(September): The cities of Décapole give up and
take oath of obedience to king of France.
1680
(March 22nd): The Court of King makes a ruling by which all the
territories of Alsace are declared property of king. From now on, Alsace will
not play more than a role of shield for France.
1681
(September 30th): Reunion from Strasbourg to France.
1682:
Death of François Egon de Furstenberg; his brother,
Guillaume Egon, bishop of Strasbourg.
1684
(August 15th): The Empire signs the armistice of Ratisbonne
/ Regensburg which consolidates Louis XIV as ruler of the Alsatian territories
for a duration of 20 years.
1697
(October 31st): The emperor is so-so resolved in the meeting of Alsace in
FRANCE, it is the treaty of Ryswick. The Rhine border
between France and the Empire.
1698:
The new " sovereign council of Alsace " sit in Colmar.
Besides its status of administrative capital, Colmar
is now promoted judicial capital of Alsace.
1700:
Pelletier de La Houssaye bursar (treasurer) of
Alsace.
1702:
Transfer in Strasbourg of the episcopal university of
Molsheim.
1704:
Death of bishop Guillaume Egon de Furstenberg, Armand
Gaston de Rohan-Soubise succeeds him.
1716:
André Silbermann ends the church organs of the
cathedral of Strasbourg.
1718:
Reconstruction of the civil hospital of Strasbourg.
1728:
Beginning of the construction of the castle of Rohan
by R. de Cotte.
1739:
Johann Jacob Stambaugh leaves Kutzenhausen
bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in America.
1740:
Frédéric II in Strasbourg.
1744:
"Pandours" (foot soldiers) in Alsace. Louis
XV in Strasbourg.
1746:
First factories of Indian in Mulhouse.
1753:
Voltaire in Strasbourg.
1768:
Jean-Frédéric Oberlin, minister of the Banns of the
Cliff.
1770:
Goethe and Marie-Antoinette in Strasbourg.
1777:
Session of the first provincial assembly of Alsace.
1789:
Editorial staff of registers of grievances and elections in the general states.
1789
(July 20th): Beginning of the city hall of Strasbourg.
1789
(end of July - August): Great fear in Alsace (Saint-Amarin,
Masevaux, Guebwiller, Sundgau, Vineyard, Forest, Outre-Forêt).
1789
(September 19th): Under the pressure of the representative Reubell, decrees in favour of the
sacrifice of the privileges of Alsace are promulgated by king.
1789
(December 30th): The name "Alsace" disappears and the province
of Alsace stops existing. She(it) will be replaced by both departments of the
Height-Rhine and the
Bottom-Rhine.
1790
(January 14th): The constituent National Assembly decides on the translation
of all its decrees in the different minority languages but the revolutionaries
oppose to it pleading that the revolutionary language is French and that from
now on everything has to be made in this language.
1790
(February 5th): Election of F. de Dietrich in the city hall of
Strasbourg.
1790
(June 12-16th): Holiday of the Union from the Rhine to Strasbourg.
1790
(October 30th): The customs borders of Alsace are moved by Vosges in the Rhine, what obliges Alsace to give up its
commercial links with the other alémaniques regions
and with Germany.
1790
(end of December): Beginning of the sales of ecclesiastical possessions.
1791:
Election of the constitutional bishops.
1791
(September 30th): The Alsatian Jews, become citizens of full exercise.
1792
(April 25th): France declares the war in the Prussia and in Austria and
thus in whole Europe. The year I of the Republic also marks the beginning of
the Terror.
Alsace
is anxious because it appears that it is again going to be in the first lines
of the war.
1793
(September-December): The Austrian troops seize Wissembourg
and Haguenau and arrive at some kilometres
from Strasbourg. By entering Alsace of the North, the Austrian troops are
applauded. On December 27th, 1793, the Austrian army, forced to curl up in
front of the French troops, takes with her between 40 000 and 50 000 Alsatians.
It is the " Big Flight ". Inhabitants between Wissembourg and Haguenau
preferred exile rather than having to undergo the French yoke and the
revolutionary terror.
1793
(October): Saint-Just and Lebas representatives
in mission.
1794
(April 12th): The Directory of the Bottom-Rhine, at instigation of
Saint-Just and Lebas, orders that French is
the official language.
1793-1794:
The Jacobins think of deportation to Gallicize (to make or become French in
character) Alsace. The Alsatian farmers prefer to take refuge with the German
countries rather than to be allowed transplant in France.
1793
(December 29th): Saint-Just and Lebas orders
that in every municipality or canton is created a free school of French
language. It is clarified that the financing of these establishments will be
made on capital resulting from the loan on the rich. The Alsatians are thus
condemned to finance the eradication of their language.
1795
(October 25th): Little success with the French school (in the
Bottom-Rhine, only 29 persons were capable of teaching in French and in the
Height-Rhine, there were not more than about forty), we authorize again, but as
average auxiliary (aid), the use at the school of the idiom of the country it
is in German.
For
the first time, an overall and accurate policy had been to elaborate to gallicize the Alsatians and break definitively their cultural
and linguistic inheritance which hindered the French language in its claim in
the dominion and in the exclusivisme. The Terror
urged thousands of Alsatians to emigrate in a panic. They will be 2,700
emigrated for the Height-Rhine and 21,000 for the Bottom-Rhine which became the
first French department by the number of emigrated. The Jacobins left
behind them Alsace materially, economically and morally on
it's knees: crammed prisons, undone economy, people traumatized by
the terrorism Jacobin, destruction, churches and plundered public buildings....
The ditch separating Alsace of France through the differences of the
mentalities, the languages, the traditions, the social orders, the economic
orientations always remained so deep and had hardly filled at the conclusion of
the Revolution, on the contrary even!
1795
(October 26th): Directory
1798
(January 28th): Reunion from Mulhouse to
France.
1800
(February): Integration of the Mont-Terrible (Terrible Mountain) in the
department of the Height-Rhine. (Delemont and Porrentruy)
1801:
Rehabilitation of emigrated Alsatians by Napoleon. Return of 30,000 of them.
1801
(July 16th): Concordat (in papal history, an agreement between the
papal see and a secular power for the settlement and regulation of
ecclesiastical affairs) or a Public Act of Agreement.
1802:
Saurine becomes the first certified bishop of Alsace.
1808:
Organization of the Jewish cult and the measure against the " Jewish wear
".
1810-1814:
Lezay-Marnésia, prefect of the Bottom-Rhine.
1810:
The first normal school of France is created in Strasbourg.
1811
(January 10th): Inauguration of the Academy of Strasbourg.
1812:
Installation of the first steam engine in a factory of Dornach
1813
(December 3rd): The invasion.
Professor Jean Schweitzer
Strasbourg, France
Updated: 3-25-2004
Let
us have a look at the map of the Black Sea German colonies. We can easily
recognize several place names of Palatinate: Landau, Kandel,
Speyer, Worms; of the duchy of Baden: Rastatt, Karlsruhe, Mannheim,
Heidelberg; and moreover of Alsace: Elsass, Strassburg, Selz, Sulz.
I - Alsace, The
Homeland
A) Geography Of The
Emigration Area.
To
begin, I want to destroy a kind of myth. Too often we hear or read about,
'Alsace-Lorraine'. I think it is indispensable to give a clear definition of
the reality.
Contrary
to the opinion of many people even in France, Alsace and Lorraine are two
distinct provinces, each having its own political evolution.
The
twin expression Alsace-Lorraine began in the period of 1871-1918 when these two
provinces came back to Germany under Bismarck and had a common German
administration. Anyway, it's not the whole province called Lorraine that we are
concerned with, but only the northern part of Lorraine around the capital town
Metz which is in the département de Moselle, the other three départements,
the French speaking area, remained with France.
As
for Alsace, it is the name of an eastern province of France, rather small in
size, about 3,200 sq. miles. It stretches almost 200 km (125 miles) in length
along the western bank of the Rhine River from Basel, Switzerland, to South
Palatinate in the north. This river officially separates France from Germany.
In the east it is limited by a mountain range called the Vosges,
(Vogesen or Wasgau in
German), the Northern extension being the Pfalzer Wald. The twin range of mountains on the eastern bank of
the Rhine is called Schwarzwald, Black Forest or Foret-Noire (in French).
For
our thesis, it must be added that only the most northern part of Alsace near
the Palatinate border was concerned with the emigration to Russia. Only this
extreme northern nook of Alsace was involved, roughly speaking, the district of
Weissenburg, where the population is of franconian descent, whereas the larger part of Alsace is of
Alemanic origin. This explains some characteristic
features of its dialect.
B) Historical
Background And Administration Today.
Because
of its geographical location Alsace has always been a crossing country and has
seen many invaders come and go during the 2,500 years of its known history.
The
first known invaders were the Celts, followed by the Romans who occupied Alsace
for about 500 years (58 BC -ca 450 AC).
The
Romans were "rolled back" by Germanic tribes. The first ones were
the, Alemannen ' followed by the 'Franken' in the
late 5th century.
This
later event will be of greater importance for Northern Alsace, where the
emigrants to Russia came from, because it explains the characteristic features
of this area where the political and religious parameters had been changing for
centuries, and where the dialect limits were fixed over a thousand years ago.
Here in this little area of Northern Alsace, the dialect is a franconian one like in Palatinate, whereas, in all the
other parts of the province, they speak the Alemanic
dialect (about 85% of the population).
The
most important historical period relating to the emigration to Russia is the
French Revolution. A period of confusion, big changes and great turmoil, which
caused an important emigration across the Rhine, but not yet to Russia. The fatal
date was December 23, 1793 when over 20,000 people (some historians estimate
even 30,000) only from Northern Alsace, the region of the future emigration to
Russia, fled when Revolutionary armies invaded the territory. Its deeply
religious population now feared the anti-religious revolutionary troops and the
guillotine.
Upon
returning home some years later, many of these exiled people were ruined
because their goods had been confiscated by the new political regime. Moreover
the troops too often plundered the country: the peasants had to furnish
provisions and animals, give extra horses and wagons, perform enforced labor,
pay war tribute, suffer the quartering of soldiers etc. There is no doubt that
there was a great dissatisfaction in the country. Thousands and thousands of
families felt depressed and discouraged. Another inequity was the confiscation
and selling of church properties. This brought many a family a shortage of
farmland. Catholic families were forbidden by the ecclesiastical authorities to
buy confiscated church property, which consequently was bought cheaply by the
local protestant farmers. For those Catholic farmers working mainly on rented
church-owned land this meant economic ruin.
The
Revolution years were followed by the conquests of Napoleon who ruled over a
great part of Europe from 1805-1814. His campaigns and conquests added much to
the turmoil in this region. And it is easy to imagine why many young men
avoided enlisting.
These
few main reasons added to many others were combined with overpopulation, which
periodically causes an important emigration. It must be pointed out that these
reasons -political and economical -were closely interrelated. And in many cases
we may add secondary reasons, such as domestic, family or law troubles etc.
Some
important remarks to conclude this historical paragraph:
The
Alsatian emigrants at that time were not Germans but French citizens. But
though of French citizenship, these people were not at all conversant with the
French language.
Moreover
in these times the South Palatinate, comprising 30 communities, came under
French rule, being annexed to Alsace till 1813-1815. Therefore, the people
living in this area were a French population too, and also ignorant of the
French language.
The
immigration to Russia at that time was not merely an event of Alsatian history;
it affected a much larger area of the Upper Rhine including South Palatinate,
and Central and North Baden on the Eastern side of the Rhine as well.
You
must consider that there has always existed relationships of many kinds with
these two neighbors, such as economical, social, and even family relations. And
mostly they all spoke, and still speak, the Franconia dialect which they took
with them to the Black Sea region, the same as their descendants did in the
late 19th century when homesteading in the New World.
C) Administrative
Organization.
Many
descendants of Alsatian emigrants have but a hazy idea of the former and the
present administrative divisions of Alsace when writing their family history.
Just a rough outline on this matter.
Before
the French Revolution in 1789 France was divided into about 20 provinces such
as Alsace, Lorraine, Brittany etc. The French Revolution abolished the
provinces, which were replaced by 83 smaller departments (about 90 now). Though
still a geographical notion, today Alsace is divided into two departments, a
type of little counties:
·
Bas-Rhin = Unterelsass = Lower Rhine,
·
Strasbourg being
the administrative center;
·
Haut-Rhin = Oberelsass = Upper Rhine,
·
Colmar being the
administrative center.
Each
department has a governmental representative called 'prefet.
' The chief administrative official is appointed by Paris.
Each
department is divided into several intermediate districts called 'arrondissements' = Kreise in
German = circles county in English, e.g. Weissenburg
and Hagenau in Northern Alsace.
The
intermediate middle districts are divided into little districts called
"canton". Thus the district of Weissenburg
is composed of the cantons of Selz, Weissenburg, Lauterburg, Sulz, Woerth. (Beware: a Kanton in Switzerland may be compared to a French
department or sometimes to an old province).
Nearly
all the Alsatian emigrants to Russia came from the northern circle of Weissenburg, and a lesser number from the district of Hagenau.
As
to the emigration itself, two years must be remembered: 1804 and 1808. Because
emigration was forbidden in those days by the French government, the Alsatians
had to leave secretly. When the authorities got wind of the mass exodus in
1804, they tried desperately to stop the emigration. For a while, it seemed
that the Alsatian exodus had ended in a fiasco. It was only a setback. The
second wave in 1808 was much more important. Many of these emigrants got their
passports from the Jewish banker Bethmann in
Frankfurt/Main, who was appointed the Russian consul in this big city.
A
good overview of the exodus and the routes of the emigrants through Central
Europe is given in Height's book, Paradise on the Steppe. Many examples of
passports of Alsatian emigrants are to be found in Stumpp's
Die Auswanderung aus
Deutschland nach Russland
in den Jahren 1763-1862.
Nearly
all the Alsatians were settled in the Black Sea region: Beresan,
Liebenthal and chiefly in the Kutchurgan
district. Therefore, it is not amazing that a many colonies were given Alsatian
names: three of five Kutchurgan colonies had Alsatian
names: Elsass, Selz, Strassburg; Kandel belongs to
south Palatinate and Mannheim was taken over from Baden. And when nearly a
century later their descendants came over to the new world, they brought many
an Alsatian place name with them such as Strasburg and Selz
in North Dakota and in Saskatchewan.
II The Sources
A) Printed Sources
1.0 General
Information
1.1 Biographical Works
1.1.1
Michael M. Miller, Researching the Germans from Russia: Annotated Bibliography
of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection. North Dakota Institute for
Regional Studies, North Dakota State University, 1987, 224 p.
1.1.2 Dr. Karl Stumpp: Schrifttum Uber das Deutschtum
in Russland.
2nd.
Edition enlarged, Tübingen, 1970, 74 p.
Chapter
C, Schwarzmeerdeutsche p. 42-58
1.2 General Historical Background
Adam
Giesinger (ancestors of Alsatian origin): From
Catherine to Khrushchev: The Story of Russia's Germans. 2nd. ed. 1980
This
is the basic general history of Germans in Russia, as Michael M. Miller states
in his bibliography.
1.3
General Repertory
Dr. Karl Stumpp: Die Auswanderung aus Deutschland
nach Russland in den Jahren 1763-1862. English
edition: The Migration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862. With
maps. 1018 p. Tübingen, 1972.
A
'must', Michael M. Miller writes about No.21 p. 5 in Researching the Germans
from Russia: "This monumental work is the fruition of 40 years of research;
invaluable to the genealogical researchers. "
But
we sometimes must be cautious. In a work of this size we inevitably meet with
lots of mistakes and misspellings.
2.0 Titles on Black
Sea Germans
2.1 Older Titles
2.1.1 Johannes Brendel: Aus deutschen Kolonien im
Kutschurganer Gebiet:
Geschichtliches und Volkkundliches. Stuttgart,
1930, 108 p. (Miller No.13 p.4)
It
includes the 1811 census lists of the people in the villages of Baden, Kandel, Elsass, Selz, Mannheim, except Strasbourg, we don't know exactly
why; (maybe lost during the Revolution years?)
This
booklet is out of print. Anyway it has been translated by Father Thomas Welk under the title: "The German colonies in the Kutschurgan Region", in Heritage Review starting in
April 1979.
2.1.2 Father Konrad Keller: Die deutschen Kolonien
in Südrussland. 2 vol. 1804
1.904.
Vo1.I: The Liebental district: Kleinliebental,
Josefstal, Mariental, Franzfeld
Vol. II: The Beresan district: Landau, Sulz,
Katharinental, München, Speyer, Karlsruhe, Rastatt
It
has been translated by Anthony Becker in 1968. The second edition, partially
revised by Dr. Adam Giesinger, was published in 1980
by the Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln, Nebraska.
2.1.3 Mgr. Anton Zerr: Einwanderungsgeschichte der
Familie Zerr in Russland. Odessa 1914.
This
pamphlet by the retired bishop Zerr of Tiraspol deals with his ancestors' emigration from Neeweiler near Lauterburg in
Alsace to Franzfeld. It includes the colonists' listing
in this village with dates of baptism, marriages and deaths to 1835. Several
mistakes concern the ancestors of Neeweiler.
2.2 Recent Titles
Essentially
the three books of Professor Joseph Height are worth mentioning:
2.2.1
Paradise on the Steppe. A cultural history of the Kutschurgan,
Beresan and Liebental
Colonies. 1804-1945.
Several
editions (Miller No.36 p. 8)
It
deals in considerable details with the Catholic mother colonies in the Odessa
area. Much interesting information with the listings of the founders of the
different colonies.
2.2.2
Homesteaders on the Steppe: Cultural history of the Evangelical Lutheran
colonies in the region of Odessa 1804-1945. Bismarck, North Dakota, 1975
(Miller No.31 p. 7). It also includes the listings of the founders of the
different colonies.
2.2.3
Memories of the Black Sea Germans: Highlights of their History and Heritage.
Chelsea, Michigan 1979, 372 p. (Miller No.75 p. 17)
His
last work, published posthumously, includes the listings of the families emigrated
from different villages of Alsace. Unfortunately, the emigrant village of Scheibenhard is missing.
2.3 Alsatian Emigration To USA
Finally
it would be interesting to mention a recently published book, which may
indirectly be useful to those who want to enlarge their genealogical research.
Cornelia Schrader-Muggenthaler: Alsace Emigration
book. Part One.
This
book lists 12,500 emigrants from France and Germany to the USA with places of
origin researched from microfilms, pass lists, ship lists and private sources.
Time period 1817-1867. (NB -Meanwhile a second volume has been published).
Why
this book may be useful to Russian Germans descendants? The best way to explain
it, is to give an example: The Black Sea colonist Salvey/Solvay
of Selz (census list No.5) came from Mothern in Northern Alsace. Several, or maybe many, Salvey families living in the Dakotas are descended from
this Alsatian Russian ancestor.
Now
in Cornelia Schrader's book, they may notice six Salevey/Salvey
from Mothern who all immigrated from Mothern directly to the States in 1868 or 1869. Distant
cousins who immigrated to the New World at different times on different routes.
The same could be said on the Keller family of Winzenbach
where the ancestors of the most popular descendant of Russian Germans in the
States, Lawrence Welk, came from.
3.0 Varia
3.1
Bulletin Du Cercle Généalogique d'Alsace
This
is the title of the magazine published every three months by the Genealogical
Association of Alsace in Strasbourg. (With its seat at the Archives départementales = General Record Office). It is one of the
most important societies of this kind in France nearly 1,500 members, over 20
of the United States, several of Canada, but neither one of Russian Alsatian
origin nor one of the Dakotas.
We
publish this quarterly review in French, some articles are also written in
German and from time to time a few notes are in English.
3.2
Christian Wolf: Guide Des Recherches Genealogiques En
Alsace. 2nd Edition. Strasbourg 1975, 272 P. + Annexes.
It
is a basic work, well documented with much information, but remember it is only
a guide and must be used accordingly.
3.3 Claude
R. Roll: Manuel Illustre Pour La Généalogie Et L'histoire Familiale En
Alsace.
Edit. Le Verger, Strasbourg 1991,464 P.
A
monument which includes the new techniques such as computerization.
3.4
Norbert Layburn (A Journalist):
L'émigration Des Alsaciens Et Des Lorrains Du 1& Au 2lk Siècle. Strasbourg
1986, 2 Volumes.
An
interesting book for Alsatian history, picturesque glance at the Alsatian
emigration all over the world, chiefly to the western hemisphere. A too vast
enterprise. Thus his chapter on the emigration to Russia, merely based on Stumpp's and Height's books, brings nothing really new.
3.5 Encyclopédie
De l'Alsace. 12 Volumes.
Strasbourg, From 1982 To Present
A
monumental work entirely in French, with many hundred articles. The volumes
have the size of those of the British Encyclopedia. Every village has its
little monography. The chapter on Alsatian
emigration to East Europe (Danubian countries and
Russia) is outlined by the present-day Alsatian speaker.
B) Archive Sources
You
can easily imagine that many American citizens in search of their ancestors on
the border of the middle Rhine area -not only of Russian-German origin -write
to Alsace. As anyone knows, the main sources are (without any contest) the
church registers or parish books, continued by civil registers.
1.0 The Main Sources
1.1 Church Registers (Ecclesiastical
Records)
They
are centralized at the" Archives départementales"
in Strasbourg for Lower Alsace and in Colmar for
Upper Alsace.
They
begin most rarely in the late 16th, much more frequently in late 17th century,
about 1680. It must be said that the reason of introduction of the parish books
was never a genealogical but a purely ecclesiastical one: To have records of
baptism, marriage and burial of persons living within a certain parish.
There
is a very good detailed repertory in 3 volumes of all the parishes of Lower
Alsace in the reading room of our Record Office, but it may also be purchased
for about 100 francs.
These
parish books may be consulted under the mark (série)
3 E + the index number of the parish. Let us take for example Beinheim (where nearly 20 families emigrated from, chiefly
to Mannheim or Elsass such as Vetter, Weber Tuchscherer etc.). Its reference is: 3 E 25, 6 volumes
beginning in 1689 and ending in 1793. On the other side the Protestant parish
of Cleebourg (where several families: Hausauer, Haller, Hagelberger
etc. emigrated from) bears the mark 3 E 73 with only 3 volumes (from
1756-1792).
Nearly
all the church registers of Alsace were being filmed by the Latter Day Saints
(LDS). A copy of each film is kept in our Record Office and is easily
accessible. The reading apparatuses allow instant photocopies. On the whole the
Protestant parish books written in old style German give more information than
the Catholic registers written in Latin.
1.2 Civil Registration
1.2.1 In Alsace
In
Alsace, whereas the old parish books were physically transferred to the 'mairie' (municipal house or town hall) and later to
the" Archives départementales" in
Strasbourg, the civil registration was introduced in Alsace like in all other
provinces of France in September 1792. Under the control of the political
power, municipal officials were entrusted with writing the different acts of
birth, marriage and death into different books.
With
this new system called 'Etat civil ' each act is
written down into two identical registers. The first copy remains at the office
of the civil registrar in the municipal house forever. At the end of each year,
the second copy must be deposited at the law court of the department where it
is kept and withheld for hundred years. Then this second copy is transferred
definitively to the" Archives départementales"
in Strasbourg, available for consulting, under the mark (série)
4 E 1793-1890. Beinheim e.g. is No.4 E 25 for B-M-D
from 1793-1890.
The
Archives have also several hundreds of microfilms taken by the Salt Lake City
genealogical Society, very easy to consult.
Death
acts now must state date and place of the deceased.
1.2.2 In Germany
Civil
registration, called 'Standesamt' was introduced much
later. On the west side of the Rhine river the French introduced general civil
registration already in May 1798, whereas it was adopted but in 1870 in the
Grand Duchy of Baden on the east side, where most of the parish books are still
kept in the parish houses.
2.0 Secondary Sources
2.1 Alsace
The
diligent genealogist cannot be confined merely to parish or civil registration.
A variety of resource material may help him to complete his genealogical
research or his family history.
2.1.1 Inventories After Death
(Solicitor's Or Notary's Acts)
At
the" Archives départementales. " They
enumerate the heirs, who normally are the children of the deceased person and
may be of great assistance in pinpointing an ancestor family. With this list
you sometimes might take your family tree back a couple of generations at
least. Moreover it is very important to consult them, if the parish book is
lost.
2.1.2 Title Deeds (Titres De Propriété)
In
certain circumstances they may also replace church registers.
2.1.3 Archives Of The Notaries Public
They
may be consulted at the" Archives departementales.
" They date back to the middle or the end of the 18th century and
sometimes will give help. Here is a good example concerning an Alsatian
emigrant to Russia, who settled his affairs at home before leaving his
homeland:
The
notary office of Selz, Alsace, contains the selling
act of the properties of Egidius Schwengler,
"ackersmann zu Selz, ebenfalls erschiene Caspar Schwengler von Schaffuausen, Des Verkaufers Vater" (the
seller's father) Date 15 ventose An 11 (6 March 1803)
Egidius
Schwengler is the colonist No.61 in Elsass/Odessa, where he is declared as a tiler (Ziegler).
Unfortunately
there is neither repertory nor index, so it is very time consuming to consult
these documents.
2.1.4 Répertoire
Desémigrants De Décembre
1793
A
typewritten book with hundreds of names from Northern Alsace and South
Palatinate presented in alphabetical order. A second volume presents in
alphabetical order the different villages with the alphabetical lists of its
emigrants. These repertories are very interesting, because we find many a name
of these people in the census lists in the Black Sea region. These two volumes
are available in the reading room of the ABR, but only for domestic use.
Unfortunately you cannot get photocopies of them.
2.1.5 Registers Of Law Courts
Deliberations (ABR)
These
records of the court deal mainly with disputes, for instance over inheritance.
Just an example also concerning colonist families: In 1809 the family Bosch
from Salmbach in Northern Alsace emigrated to Karlsruhe/Odessa, with his unmarried relative Georg Bosch. In 1812 this Georg
was allowed to return to Alsace for a while. In 1815 he introduced at the civil
court in the district town of Weissenburg a dispute
for two colonist families. He was delegated by Henri Weber, colonist in Selz Odessa (census list No.16 and by Senger
Damien, colonist in Strasburg (census list No. I) whose interests he defended
in front of the judge.
2.1.6 Parish Records
Before
the French Revolution, the parishes had periodically to draw up a
description of the parish with the land they owned and the population. The
wealthy parishes often lent money to their parishioners who in return pawned
several of their acres. A good example is given in the description of the
parish of Salmbach in 1747, which lists each family
of the village (ABR série G 5828)
2.1.7 Confirmation And Communion Lists
In
many an old parish record or register, it is possible to find nominal lists of confirmation
or communion (Catholic as well as Protestant).
2.1.8 Allegiance Lists
In
ancient times after the death of the sovereign, the population of his territory
had to swear allegiance to his successor. Let us take the Protestant parish of Cleebourg as an example.
Before
the French Revolution, the area around this village belonged to the Duke of Zweibrücken. After the death of the older ruler, the
population had to swear allegiance to the new duke. Lists of each village were
established. They mention but the family heads and the sons over 18. The list
of Cleebourg includes several families Hailer and Hausauer. Descendants of these two families were: Hailer Georg, colonist in Bergdorf/Odessa, census list No.51, Hausauer Jacob in Glückstal
No.110 and Hausauer Balthasar
in Kassel No. 4.
2.1.9 Census Returns
Many
of you expect information about census returns. Indeed, they start with the
year 1800 and take place every 5 years. Needless to say that they are highly
interesting for genealogical research. Unfortunately, they are far from being
complete before the year 1836.
2.2.0 Documents After 1790-1810
Documents
after 1790-1810 (when the emigration stopped) at the ABR, there is a very
extensive range of manuscripts concerning this period classified under the
letters K to Z. It is not possible to give here a detailed enumeration of all
the content of each series. Just remember series Q e.g. which deals with
confiscated goods of the emigrated persons during the French Revolution.
2.2 Secondary Sources In Paris
2.2.1 Archives Nationales
(ANP)
Some
years ago, I discovered in the AN in Paris a reference concerning the
emigration to Russia in early 19th century. At that time the regional police in
Strasbourg referred regularly to the 'Ministère de l'Intérieur' (Home Office) in Paris. They became alarmed at
the secret emigration problem. Sometimes they joined (to) their reports a list
of persons intending to emigrate. They also mention people of south Palatinate.
I think I will be able to publish an article on this matter in 'Heritage
Review' with different lists of names.
2.2.2 Archives Historiques
De Vincennes
If
you find a French soldier among your distant Alsatian ancestors you may apply
to the historical archives of the army in Vincennes, near Paris. It is indispensable
to indicate the regiment and the period concerned. Almost all military papers
are listed by regiments. So if you are unaware which regiment is involved you
will have to do some allied research first.
2.3 Secondary Sources In The Border
Areas In Germany
2.3.1 Palatinate
2.3.1.1
Landesarchiv in D 67346 Speyer
(Otto Meyer Strasse 9)
They
moved from downtown to the edge of the city in 1987
Bibliography: H. Hess: Die Stadtarchive von
Rheinhessen und der pj'alz in DAs Landesarchiv Speyer`, 1987.
2.3.1.2 Bistumsarchiv Speyer (Diocesan Archives)
D 67346 Speyer, Domplatz
Unlike
in Alsace, the parish books often remain in the parish itself. Presently there
is a tendency to microfilm and centralize all these books.
2.3.1.3 Evangelische Landeskirche D 67346 Speyer,
Domplatz 6 Bibliography Eger: Verzeichnis der protestantischen Kirchenbücher
der pjalz; Koblenz.
2.3.1.4
Heimatstelle der Pfalz D 67657 Kaiserslautern
(Cultural
Center o Palatinate)
It
has many files concerning the emigration in general.
2.3.1.5 Pfalzische Familienkunde in D 67061
Ludwigshafen
(Stadtarchiv, Rottstrasse 17)
This
is the review of the genealogical association of Palatinate.
2.3.2
Hessen : D 60311 Frankfurt am Main (Stadtarchiv)
The
Bethmann-Holweg Archives are kept here. He was the
Russian consul who delivered the passports for many Alsatian emigrants in the
years 1804 and 1808 Unfortunately the big capital register concerning all these
names has disappeared during the last war.
2.3.3 Baden- Wurttemberg
2.3.3.1
Generallandesarchiv (= GLA) D 76133 Karlsruhe (Gross Hildepromenade)
It keeps also lots of documents concerning the Palatinate, chiefly of the diocese
of Speyer which at that time stretched out on
both sides of the Rhine.
Bibliography
(for historical background) Habler R.G., Badische Geschichte. Karlsruhe 1956. (a team) Unser Land
Baden-Wiirttemberg, 1986. Konrad Theiss, Stuttgart. (for emigration)
Hassler Joseph: Die Auswanderung aus Baden nach
Russland und Polen IM 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. 1959 Hacker Werner: Die
Auswanderung aus Baden und dem Breisgau. Stuttgart
1980
2.3.3.2
Landsmannschaft der Russlanddeutschen, Raitelsbergstrasse
49, 70188
Stuttgart
1, Germany
This
organization is associated with the Germans from Russia Heritage Society.
2.3.3.3 Institut fur Auslandsbeziehungen,
Charlottenplatz 17, 70173 Stuttgart 1,
Germany)
2.3.3.4 Landsmannschaft der Bessarabiendeutschen,
Florianstrasse 17, 70188
Stuttgart
1 (Florianstrasse 17) (includes museum)
Beware,
in Germany, the zip code will change from top to bottom on July 1, 1993.
III Difficulties And
Practical Advice
1.0 Some Of The Various Difficulties
If
a relative or a friend succeeded easily in tracing his ancestors you imagine
your enterprise could be realized in the same manner: Far from the country o
your ancestors and records regarding them you cannot be aware of the
difficulties we too often meet while searching. Remember the period of
emigration followed the French Revolution, which was a time of considerable
turmoil.
1.1 Geography
The
former and the present boundaries have not much in common. Remember territorial
changes at the time of emigration: South Palatinate belonged to Alsace. More
than one declared Alsatian emigrant was born in a village beyond the Alsatian
border.
The
diocese boundaries also changed. Northern Alsace belonged over thousand years
to the diocese of Speyer. Only in 1803, when the
limits altered it became part of the diocese of Strasbourg.
1.2 History
Many
a place name vanished, chiefly isolated farms. A good example is given with the
Bechhof, near Kaidenburg
and Trimbach, where the RIEHL family lived, maternal
ancestors of the Giesinger emigrant from Kaidenburg to Mannheim/Odessa
The
name of a village could have changed. Fort-Louis, from where several families
emigrated to the Black Sea region was called Fort-Vauban
during the Revolution period.
1.3 The Republican Calendar
What
a mess! A real headache for most genealogist, or better say, for everyone. The
Republic era begins with the first vendemaire of the
year one of the Republic one and indivisible (22 September 1792). It lasted
over 13 years till the end of 1805. Fortunately we do have good conversion
tables or repertories.
Add
to this puzzle the fact that from September 1798 to April 1800 the marriages
had to take place at intervals in the little district centers such as Lauterbourg, where they were performed on a certain day in
series for several couples of the neighboring villages. These acts are
registered in special books called 'Registres cantonaux'.
1.4 Beginning Of Civil Registration
1.4.1 Presentation
The
registrars have mostly been appointed because of their political opinion and
not for their qualifications. Many of them in the villages were not accustomed
to drawing up this kind of acts. So you find sometimes a meaningless squiggle.
All
the acts of that period are completely handwritten and can be difficult to
decipher, partly also because of poor or old-fashioned writing and partly
because they have sometimes faded. Many records are very eye straining, and on
the whole research becomes a very tiring job.
1.4.2 Content
Many
acts of that period are stuffed with fanciful dates when compared to the dates of
parish books. What is the right or the wrong date? In most cases we never know.
Remember
most of the priests in this era had emigrated for a certain time. The supply
priest did not or could not always register the acts. And when the civil
registration was introduced there were inevitably some omissions for various
reasons. Some declarations or some acts have been omitted. We find them neither
in the parish nor in the civil registration. Moreover a younger emigrant of the
Revolution was married in a neighboring village or even beyond the Rhine.
1.4.3 The Collection
Unfortunately,
not all records survived for several reasons (wars, negligence etc.). Just a
few examples concerning some parishes from where people emigrated to South
Russia:
Cleebourg
(3 E 73): The first parish book (Reformed) from 1685 to 1755 was still kept in
the municipal house in 1863; it is lost since.
Siegen-Kaidenbourg (home parish of the Heit, Giesinger, Brinster kinships) The
parish books begin 1733. The first volume contains the acts till 1757. The next
volume (1757-87) is missing, we don't know why. Thus it is very difficult to
bridge this gap of 30 years.
Mothern.
Nearly 30 families emigrated from here: Baumgartner, Bechtel, Bertsch, Fettig, Hochmuth, Mastel, Schlosser, Solvay, Streifel, Weissenburger etc.)
This
parish offers the worst case. Its whole collection with baptisms, marriages and
deaths from 1696-1792 has been lost, although these registers existed before
WWII.
Take
all these factors in account and you can deduce that it is not always easy to
arrive to the hoped result.
2.0 Practical Advises
2.1 Wrong Addresses
2.1.1 Diocese archives
Unlike
in Germany, our diocesan archives in Strasbourg were plundered during the
French Revolution. They have no ancient documents left concerning the
emigration nor genealogical information.
2.1.2 University
Some
American citizens of Alsatian ancestry write to our University. This
institution does not deal with genealogy. Anyway for some historians, Northern
Alsace is not worth studying and more or less treated shabbily.
2.2 The Right Address
2.2.3
It is no doubt the" Archives departementales"
4, rue Fischart
6710 Strasbourg, France
2.2.2 Cercle généalogique d'Alsace (Genealogical Society of Alsace.) Its seat is at the "Archives departementales"
(cf 211) with the same address as indicated above.
It
should be remembered that the Archives cannot do any genealogical research for
private people, but can give only basic information on what the researcher may
find.
2.3 Correspondence
Many
a correspondent gives but too hazy indications for starting research. It must
always be repeated: Please provide us with background information. And don't
forget to mention your ancestor's religion because we have many mixed parishes
in this emigration area and every religion has its own parish books.
2.4 The Possibilities
2.4.1
Consulting the archives is free of charge. If you come for the first time you
have to show your passport and fill out a registration form.
2.4.2
All documents older than 99 years may be consulted.
2.4.3
Photocopying:
There
is no longer a possibility to get photocopies from parish or civil registration
books to preserve them from damage. Nor is there any possibility of getting
photocopies from old documents in book form or of the library books in the
reading room.
You
can get instant photocopies of microfilms (e.g. nearly all the parish books
which were microfilmed by the Mormons).
You
may also take pictures of many documents with your own camera, but without
flash.
2.4.4 Private Research
If
you cannot come to Alsace, the Archives can give you addresses of private
genealogists who can do research for you. They will answer your letter in
English and inform you on the possibilities of engaging in your research along
with their charges and conditions.
2.4.5 Queries
Our
genealogical review, Bulletin du Cercle
généalogique d 'Alsace, has leads on queries and
answers. The queries are free of charge for every member.
Conclusion
Nearly
every genealogist passes through ups and downs while collecting information of
his family history. If genealogical research may be disappointing in some
cases, there are also examples of great satisfaction.
The
little story I would like to tell you now is a wonderful illustration how a
mere number may be of capital importance in tracing an ancestor.
Several
years ago, an American citizen wrote to the" Archives departementales"
in Strasbourg. His only reference was a draft number of his Alsatian ancestor
Jacques Gros who emigrated from' Alsace' to America
in the 19th century. When this ancestor was nearly 20 years old, the military
service was not compulsory .At that time the young men had to draw lots. Only
the low numbers were enrolled to the army. These numbers were printed on little
sheets with the indication of the district, e.g. canton de Hochfelden
and the class 1828. These mere indications gave an utmost trace. Referring to
this conscription list of 1828, one could quickly pinpoint the true emigrant.
Moreover were also indicated his birthday and his physical constitution. Now it
was a rather easy task for the American correspondent to complete his pedigree
chart. Needless to say he was lucky .To all my American friends, I wish such
happy moments with their genealogical hobby.
Jean Schweitzer, Professor Emeritus, Strasbourg,
France
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