French-German history alongside the Rhine
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Places
Napoleon and Baden
Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden gained substantially from Napoleon’s new division of German territories. He acquired nine times as many subjects east of the Rhine as he lost west of the Rhine.
Only Austrian Breisgau with Freiburg prevented him from forming a geographically connected empire.
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The Peace of Basel, 1795
In 1795, France and Prussia signed a peace treaty in Basel. This marked a turning point in the balance of European power.
Rhine romanticism and national identity
Ever since the Napoleonic wars, the perception of the Rhine as the point of origin for German history had been a source of national identity.
The Rhine is burning
In 1688, the French king Louis XIV sent his troops into the Palatinate. The reason he gave was provided by his sister-in-law: a Princess of the Palatinate whose inheritance he claimed. French troops demanded the conquered cities pay reparations. The cities who refused were burned.
Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle
From late July 1945, Baden-Baden was the seat of the central military government of the French Zone of Occupation and the headquarters of French troops in Germany.
The division of the Kingdom of the Franks
In February 842, the two nephews of Charlemagne, Ludwig the German and Karl the Bald, met in Strasbourg. In the Strasbourg Oath, they swore to support each other aganist their older brother Lothair.
A memorial to the German unification of 1871
Since 1883, the Niederwald memorial overlooking the city of Rüdesheim has marked German victory against the French in the Franco-German war of 1870-71.
The election of the emperor in 1519 – the struggle for supremacy in Europe
On 28th June 1519, a month-long electoral contest finally ended in the Electoral Chapel (Wahlkapelle) of the Frankfurt Cathedral. This was one of the most enthralling contests witnessed in the Holy Roman Empire’s centuries-old tradition of electing emperors.
Gustav Stresemann and Aristide Briand
The Stresemann Memorial was inaugurated in 1931 on the Fischertor-Platz in Mainz.
The end of the First World War and the Allied occupation of the Rhineland
The Allied occupation of German territories west of the Rhine was a condition of the ceasefire of 11th November 1918. In May 1919, the Treaty of Versailles confirmed that the occupation would last until 1935:
The Hindenburg myth in Kreuznach
The large headquarters was the mobile strategic command centre in the First World War. It changed location many times during the war, but was in Kreuznach from January 1917 to March 1918.
Occupation and Germanisation
On 15th June 1940, German troops crossed the Rhine at Marckolsheim. On 17th June, they captured Colmar. Two days after this, Strasbourg was taken. The armistice signed in Compiégne on 22nd June 1940 was tantamount to French capitulation.
Maginot Line and Siegfried Line – French and German defensive lines along the Rhine
From the Sector of Mulhouse to Beinheim, the Maginot Line ran on the western side of the Rhine, within a few kilometers of the river.
Cross-border environmental activism
In the 1970s, international campaigns against nuclear power and a planned chemical plant were organised between Marckolsheim and Fessenheim in France, Wyhl in Germany, and a neighbouring Swiss border region.
“Nai hammer gsait!” Wyhl, Germany, 1975
The new location of a nuclear power plant in Germany became known on 19th July 1973 – Wyhl. The Alemannic anti-nuclear movement organised themselves, and Hubert Hoffmann designed a banner using the “Nai hämmer gsait” (“We said no!”) motto from Marckolsheim in France.
The influence of Versailles in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe is one of the most significant absolutist residential cities in southern Germany. The fan-shaped city plan was drawn up from scratch after Margrave Karl III Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach wanted to replace his old residence in Durlach.
The Franco-German War, 1870-1871
On 4th August 1870, in Wissembourg, a northern gateway to Alsace, the first battle of a unified German army led by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia (later Friedrich III) took place.
From erratic river to waterway
In the 18th Century, the village of Plittersdorf, located between the Rhine and Rastatt, was particularly endangered by the high tide of the Rhine.
The river was unpredictable due to both rainfall and melting snow in the Alps, often flooding its banks.
A controversial castle restoration in the Alsace
The Haut-Koenigsbourg lies ten kilometers west of Sélestat. It is one of the most visited sights in France.
Europäische Grenzen ohne Schlagbäume
Am 6. August 1950 wurde der kleine deutsch-französische Grenzübergang in der Südpfalz Schauplatz eines revolutionären, europäischen Ereignisses:
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Persons
Friedrich Wilhelm II – the liberator of Frankfurt
Friedrich Wilhelm II was the nephew of the childless Friedrich II, also known as ”the Great”. He became King of Prussia after the death of Friedrich II in 1786.
Napoleon I, emperor of the French
In this state portrait, Napoleon presents himself as emperor of the French in the full coronation regalia he wore in 1804.
Victor Hugo and the Rhine
The writer Victor Hugo took his second journey through the Rhine from 29th August to 1st November 1840. He used the experience to write the two-volume work “Le Rhin. Lettres á un ami”, published in France and Germany in 1842. It stands today as a classic work of Rhine romance literature.
Louis XIV and the expansion of his power
The state portrait functions as a representative of the French king himself, here depicted as supreme judge. His claim to power can be recognised by the sceptre wielded in a commanding manner, the laurel wreath crown, and the coronation robe bedecked in golden lillys.
Cardinal Richelieu and the Thirty Year’s War
Cardinal Richelieu was the First Minister (Principal Ministre) of the French King Louis XIII (1601-1643) from 1624. In the Thirty Year’s War, he committed to an alliance against the Habsburgs with Sweden, the Netherlands and England.
Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte and the Palatine War of Succession
Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte had to leave her beloved home for nineteen years and marry the Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV. Her father believed that this marriage would guarantee a good relationship between the Palatinate and France.
A French king as contender
The French King François I wanted to avoid the Spanish King Charles V increasing his sphere of influence.
Charles V and his enemies
In this painting, Charles V embodies the christian universal emperor who is caring for the unity of the christian world. He is dressed as a Roman emperor, holding the imperial orb and the sword.
Hindenburg, the German moloch
In the bible, ‘moloch’ describes sacrifical rituals that stipulated the burning of children. Figuratively, it is a terrible power that continually demands more victims, and threatens to devour everything.
Gustav Stresemann and the occupation of the Rhineland and the Ruhr
One of Stresemann’s main objectives was to cooperate with France so that Germany could return to the circle of European powers as a sovereign state.
Aristide Briand
In the ever-changing cabinets of France’s 3rd Republic, Aristade Briand (1862-1932) was a minister 23 times.
Speech by Georg Forster “On the Relationship of the People of Mainz to the Franks”
Georg Forster was one of the most prominent members in the Jacobin Club of Mainz.
Robert Schuman
Der französische Außenminister Robert Schuman wurde 1886 geboren. Seine Mutter war Luxemburgerin, sein Vater Lothringer. Erst mit dem Ende des Ersten Weltkrieges, mit 32 Jahren, erhielt er statt der deutschen die französische Staatsangehörigkeit. Er gilt als einer der Gründerväter der Europäischen Union.
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Conflict
20th September 1792 – the Revolutionary Army’s first victory
On 22nd April 1792, France declared war on Austria and on 8th July declared war on Prussia.
The Confederation of the Rhine – The end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806
In July 1806, sixteen west German and south German princes formed the Confederation of the Rhine, a military alliance under the protection of Napoleon.
Napoleon loses everything
The alliance of Prussia, Austria and Russia defeated Napoleon in October 1813. After the Battle of Leipzig from 16th to 19th October 1813, the French army retreated westwards
Peace, though not for the Zehnstädtebund
The Thirty Year’s War ended with the peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster. They regulated the relationship of the empire to Sweden and to France.
Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte and the Palatine War of Succession
Princess Palatine Elisabeth Charlotte had to leave her beloved home for nineteen years and marry the Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV. Her father believed that this marriage would guarantee a good relationship between the Palatinate and France. However, after the death of her childless Elector of the Palatinate brother, Louis XIV laid claims – in her name - to her family’s estate.
The war of the poets, 1840-1841
After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, the territories west of the Rhine annexed by Napoleon were once again German. However, in 1840, the French government again laid claim to them.
Patriotism on the Rhine
In the first half of the 19th Century, anti-French sentiment and enthusiasm for the Middle Ages were combined in an admiration for the text as a thoroughly German folk tale. The literary historian Schlegel and other romantics stylized Siegfried the dragon-slayer as the representative of a glorious, unified people.
Germania or ‘The Watch on the Rhine’
Representing Germania as the personification of the German nation was popular in the 19th Century, particularly after the founding of the German Empire.
The black stain
For the Lorrainese painter Bettanier and a large section of French society, there had been a black stain on the map of France since 1871: the ceded region of Alsace and parts of Lorraine.
The natural boundaries of France ?
Even in the 17th Century, France’s borders were protected by seas and mountains – apart from to the east. Geographically, the Rhine lent itself to being an eastern border.
Away with the welsch rubbish
The word welsch is derived from the German term for Romans or Celts, just as the English word “welsh” describes the language spoken in Wales.
The Maginot Line
Schoenenbourg was a large arrangement of bunkers with 600 soldiers. The six bunkers were separated from their supporting facilities with barracks, a kitchen, a sick bay, and a power station. The parts were connected 18 to 30 meters below ground via a tunnel system that measured three kilometers.
The Siegfried Line
In 1936, Adolf Hitler gave planning orders to build the Siegfried Line. It was constructed between 1938 and 1940, and spanned 630 kilometers from Kleve in the Lower Rhine to Basel.
An ominous prophesy
On 18th January 1871, Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and the Treaty of Frankfurt ended the Franco-German War in May 1871.
In this French painting, Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck are receiving war reparations.
The propaganda campaign „black dishonour“
From 1918, 85,000 French soldiers occupied the left bank of the Rhine. 25,000 came from French colonies, mainly from Senegal and North Africa.
Understandig
The reordering of Europe in 1803
The map presents the situation as it looked in 1803: the Rhine is the eastern border of France from Basel to Kleve. French victories had made reordering the Holy Roman Empire a necessity. In response to France’s initiative, a ‘Principle Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation’ (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) was set up.
The Oaths of Strasbourg
The Oaths of Strasbourg are the first documents written in Old French and one of the first ever documents written in German. They stand as one of the very first bi-lingual treaties.
3rd October 1929 – France mourns
On the 3rd October 1929, Stresemann died. The German writer Harry Graf Kessler described in his diary how news of the German statesman’s death was received in Paris:
A new ‘Watch on the Rhine’
The German songwriter Walter Mossmann wrote a variation of the ‘Watch on the Rhine’ under the pseudonym Joss Fritz. Fritz was a peasant leader who fought against the supression of the rural population in the 16th Century. Walter Mossmann preformed the song on the occupied square in Marckolsheim, and later commented:
The first Republic on German soil
On 21st October 1792, the city of Mainz capitulated to the French Revolutionary Army. The short-lived Mainz Republic was founded in the few months between the victory of allied German forces over the French and the city being reconquered in June 1793.
Versailles – residential city par excellence
In 1661, Louis XIV ordered the creation of a residential palace from his father’s small hunting lodge near Paris that was to become much admired and imitated throughout Europe.
Die Jungen Europäischen Föderalisten
Die JEF ist eine internationale Jugendorganisation, die sich für einen Zusammenschluss der europäischen Völker einsetzt. Gegründet wurde der deutsche Verband als „Bund Europäischer Jugend“ BEJ im Jahre 1949 – sie benannten sich 1957 um in „Junge Europäische Föderalisten“.
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