The Prussians are coming - The first occupation of Münster by the Prussians (1802 – 1806)

Kochendörffer describes the territorial situation of Westphalia around the turn of the century (1800) as follows: "If we look at a historical map of Westphalia from the beginning of the 19th century, the colourful mixture of territories from which today's Province of Westphalia is composed immediately stands out, many of which were legally sharply separated from one another: there are the two ecclesiastical principalities Münster and Paderborn, which in particular gave Westphalia its character, the former forming mainly today's Regierungsbezirk Münster, reaching to Prussian East Frisia, Paderborn to the east, which during the 17th and 18th centuries was several times, but only through the person of the common bishop, connected with Münster; then the Prussian "provinces" Mark, Minden and Ravensberg, Tecklenburg and Lingen, partly spatially separated from each other, also far removed from the heartlands of the Prussian monarchy and always regarded by its politics only as outposts, as compensation objects, furthermore the Electorate of Cologne's possessions, the Duchy of Westphalia and the Vest Recklinghausen, further south Siegen and the counties of Wittgenstein, then not yet belonging to Westphalia, and sprinkled into these compact territories counties e.g. Steinfurt, Rietberg, Gemen, Limburg, Dortmund, Herford, while from the north the related Osnabrück pressed in like a wedge between the Prussian provinces and the Münster upper and lower prince-bishoprics ...." (pp. 98/99).

As a consequence of the French Revolution, Europe sank at that time into years of wartime turmoil, and the Prince-Bishopric of Münster also became a plaything of overpowering collisions of interest. Initially, after the Peace of Basel of 15 April 1795, the demarcation line was to be secured to protect the North German states against the armies of revolutionary France. Command of the vanguard of the occupying army was held by the later well-known Prussian General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prince of Wahlstatt (* 16 December 1742 in Rostock; † 12 September 1819 in Krieblowitz, Silesia). As early as the Separate Peace of Basel (1795), Prussia had had compensations on the right bank of the Rhine promised in return for the losses of territories on the left bank. Emperor Francis II had also had to agree to the cession of the left bank in the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). Thus the secularisation of ecclesiastical principalities was effectively accepted. In the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) the cession and secularisation were then finally recognised. The affected hereditary German princes were promised compensations in this treaty through ecclesiastical territories and imperial cities; later even princes who had not had to endure territorial losses on the left bank of the Rhine were favoured. Prussia agreed with France on territorial cessions as compensation for the losses beyond the Rhine in the treaties of 25 May and 25 September 1802. With the Imperial Deputation's Final Recess (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) of 25 February 1803, the politically weak Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation officially adopted the compensation plan. Alongside the ecclesiastical territories, all goods of the cathedral chapters and the episcopal domains passed to the favoured princes. Almost all monasteries were dissolved; overall the Catholic Church lost by this intervention 4 archbishoprics, 18 bishoprics and about 80 imperial abbeys and - immediate cities as well as over 200 monasteries. 1,719 square miles with a total of 3,162,576 inhabitants were affected. The loss in annual revenues – excluding the monasteries – is estimated at about 21 million guilders. The Protestant church also lost land.

Blücher took up his quarters in Münster in the autumn of 1795. Prussian troops occupied the city with him and remained at first until mid-1800. The subsequent settlement among the states involved in the war therefore took place at the expense of many smaller and medium-sized possessions, since the states affected by the French occupation of left-bank territories were to be compensated primarily by the expropriation of right-bank and particularly ecclesiastical territories. The secularisation also claimed the traditional Prince-Bishopric of Münster as a victim, whose main portion now became Prussian. On 3 August 1803 Prussia took possession of the Diocese of Münster beyond the Weser, the Diocese of Paderborn, the abbeys of Herford, Essen, Werden and Elten, the Diocese of Hildesheim on this side of the Weser, the Eichsfeld, the city of Erfurt and the imperial cities of Nordhausen, Mühlhausen, Goslar and the abbey of Quedlinburg. These territories meant an increase for the Prussian state of 2,020 square miles with a total of 440,600 inhabitants. From 1802 the city of Münster received a Prussian garrison. At that time the Münster military numbered only 1,859 men, namely 107 officers, 209 non-commissioned officers, 66 musicians and 1,477 rank-and-file¹. This remainder was dissolved and, apart from the civic officers, mostly taken into the Prussian army².

The poet Friedrich Leopold Count zu Stolberg (1750–1819) reports on 3 August 1802: "Today the Prussians marched into the city. It must be thanks to the vigilance and activity of the chapter that the people, who are in the highest degree embittered and loudly cry for permission to drive out force with force, are restrained"³. A detailed report is given by Carolus von Kerssenbrock, the last abbot of Liesborn, in his diary: "Tuesday, the 3rd of August, at 7 o'clock in the morning, various patrols already arrived in Münster; at half past nine the whole corps marched in with ringing music and colours, which immediately relieved the main and other guards, but not the dicasterial [guard], at the main guard on each side were placed 2 cannons and 2 burning fuses and 2 powder-wagons etc., one with a view towards Lamberti and the other towards Egidi cemetery, and likewise 6 cannons were planted on a square. Thereupon our troops (the common soldiers) had to, on a square surrounded by Prussian troops with bayonets fixed and pointed at our soldiers, swear allegiance to the King and immediately became Prussians to their officers; our officers were dismissed by Blücher with the reservation of their pay until further orders. Moreover, our common soldiers were informed that after the expiry of the service time promised to the late Prince they would be free again or could serve under the Prussians or elsewhere again. These scenes in Münster were witnessed not only without the slightest resistance, but tears were seen running from the eyes of many, very many; it is known quite reliably that many houses are in tears. In the afternoon the imperial eagles were hung on all gates, and the penny chamber, court chamber, privy council etc. and even the archives of the cathedral chapter were sealed in the evening at 8 o'clock…"⁴.

The aforementioned Lieutenant General (since 1801) Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (* 16 December 1742 in Rostock; † 12 September 1819 in Krieblowitz) became governor of the newly established Province of Westphalia and henceforth lodged in the palace in Münster. Already in 1795 he had commanded the Prussian troops that remained in Westphalia to protect the demarcation line in accordance with the Peace of Basel. His headquarters were already Münster at that time. Thus he was known to the population of Münster and, in his popular manner, quite liked. In the years 1802–1806 he was also Master of the Lodge "Zu den drey Balken."

The new 3rd Battalion of the Hagken Infantry Regiment was formed in Münster from the usable soldiers found in the Münster regiments v. Wenge, v. Dincklage and v. Tönnemann. These amounted to 677 men. A further 94 soldiers came from Paderborn and Essen. The surplus was distributed to regiments 44, 48 and the fusilier battalions 19 and 20.

The Hagken Infantry Regiment (formerly: Strachwitz) was transferred entirely to Münster in accordance with the order of 0.01.1805. Colonel Christian Alexander Freiherr von Hagken (* 30.09.1744, + 08.08.1808) had taken command of the unit on 5 May 1803 and was promoted to Major General by patent on 27 May 1803. He was later involved in the capitulation of Hameln in 1806, was, like most of the other remaining officers, placed on half pay on 4 November 1807 and died impoverished in Uentrop near Hamm in Westphalia.

According to a cabinet order of 24 January 1803, among other things a new dragoon regiment was to be established in Münster. For this new unit the remnants of the Münster Dragoon Regiment v. Nagel were assigned, namely 41 non-commissioned officers, 6 trumpeters, 398 dragoons with 179 horses. The chief of the new formation became Karl Georg Friedrich von Wobeser (* 27.02.1750, + 23.04.1821). The royal letter of 24 January 1803 on this matter reads as follows: "I have now ordered that as of 1 March this year a new 14th Dragoon Regiment be formed in Münster from the dragoons taken over in Münster and the recruits additionally raised by the General Lieutenant von Blücher. As it is my intention to place at the head of this regiment a man who possesses the qualities to bring a new regiment into a proper state and you unite all such qualities, I have conferred this regiment upon you as chief and instructed the Upper War Collegium to make known to you my orders regarding its organisation and all other measures. For the time being I note that the Life Squadron will be stationed in Münster, the Commander's squadron in Hildesheim and the other three in Warendorf, Warburg and Duderstadt, and that I will inspect the two squadrons in Hildesheim and Duderstadt on my review journey to these places this year. I hope that by this further designation I have given you another sign of my particular favour"⁵. The new regiment already made a good impression at the review in 1805.

With the political and organisational reorganisation in the territories fallen to Prussia, the previous Oberpräsident in Minden, Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (* 25 October 1757 in Nassau, Herrschaft Stein zu Nassau; † 29 June 1831 in Cappenberg, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia) was entrusted. He became Oberpräsident in Münster and directed from Münster between 1802 and 1804 the incorporation of the ecclesiastical lordships into the Prussian state. In doing so he tried largely to take the circumstances of the western territories into account and praised, for example, their landed-assembly constitution. Thus he urgently advised "to leave the estate constitution provisionally. It enjoys the confidence of the inhabitants in Westphalia, and through it the provincial administration acquires a means to make the inhabitants acquainted with the spirit and intentions of its measures, a means to appropriate and use the knowledge and experience of the large landowners, the businessmen not in service and not belonging to the higher colleges, a means to always keep the public in connection with the provincial administration itself" (quoted in: Max Lehmann, Freiherr vom Stein, People's Edition 1921, p. 72). In particular he wanted to avoid an unreflecting adaptation to the conditions in the eastern Prussian provinces. Especially in the area of the military there were massive fears among the population of the new territories. Here too vom und zum Stein pleaded for mitigations, e.g. in the introduction of the canton obligation (see the appended document). Thus he recommended that conscripts be employed in their home area and suggested shortening the service time from 20 to 10 or at most 15 years. He also spoke out against disadvantaging tall heirs, since height was an essential selection criterion for replacements for military-tactical reasons. For economic reasons, industrial districts, for example in the County of Mark, should remain free of cantons. However, the Oberpräsident did not succeed with most of his proposals, as these would have affected the principles of the Prussian military constitution. In a letter to Mrs von Berg vom und zum Stein judged the population of Münsterland as follows: "The Münsterlander is a serious, thoughtful, honest people who love their constitution because they fared well under it, lived peacefully and independently, became prosperous. He loses his independence when he becomes a small part of a great monarchy; he loses the prospect of a comfortable, carefree livelihood that he found in the church; his powers will certainly be strained, his activity stimulated, but will he thereby become happier, better?"⁶.

In 1804 the Prussian system of military replacement (canton system) was then introduced to the great displeasure of the inhabitants of Münster.

The infantry regiment Hagken (mentioned above, No. 44) was assigned a military replacement district in the Münsterland and in the previously canton-free Westphalian areas (Cleve, Mark, Essen, Elten, Werden, Lingen and Tecklenburg).

The canton of the aforementioned infantry regiment was also to provide replacements for the Westphalian (previously: Magdeburg) Fusilier Brigade⁷.

In the 1806 roll of regiments the garrisons of Dragoon Regiment No. 14 are given as the towns Münster, Hildesheim, Duderstadt, Warendorf and Warburg. There it is said regarding the replacements for this formation: "Receives locals from the cantons of Regiments Nos. 44, 48, 59, and from the canton of the Magdeburg Fusilier Brigade".

According to a report of 29 December 1802, there were still 43 artillerymen under a major in Münster; in 1805 there were only 11. The serviceable guns remaining in Münster were transported to Magdeburg⁸.

For various – among others also religious – reasons strong resentments of the Münster population against Prussia and in particular against the Prussian troops as its local representatives existed. The negative attitude, especially of the upper class, was evident in everyday interactions; a young Prussian hussar officer laments: "Life in Münster was then peculiar for Prussian officers. Only two years earlier General von Blücher had taken possession of the Münster lands and had paid no heed whatsoever to the many protests of the archiepiscopal authorities. Laughing, he had offered his hand to the notary who rode up to him with the protest document at the border of the Münster territory and said they would certainly share many a glass of Rhine wine and become good friends, and then crumpled the solemn document together and put it in his sabre pocket without even casting a single glance at it. Under such circumstances it was of course natural that we Prussians were not particularly welcome guests in the Münsterland, and particularly the rich, proud and strongly Catholic nobility here kept as far as possible from any intercourse with the officers. Hospitable country seats of the nobility, as at home in Pomerania where we young officers and noblemen were welcome every day, did not exist here for us, I noticed that in the first week of my stay. Only when there was absolutely no other way did the nobility open the doors of their country seats and old town houses in Münster to us. They received us then with such ceremonial and stiff politeness that despite all the outward splendour of the hospitality one felt very uncomfortable there, and one left such festivities all the sooner, the more gladly, and certainly, if one could avoid it, did not attend them again. Even the young girls and women of the nobility and higher bourgeoisie, insofar as such existed in Münster at that time, shared the proud reserve of the men towards us, although otherwise uniforms have the much-envied privilege of easily winning the favour of female hearts…."^9.

In 1805 Prussia missed joining the alliance between England, Austria and Russia against France and, after the Peace of Pressburg (26 December 1805), despite a Russo-Prussian rapprochement, found itself largely on its own when in late summer 1806 the political conflicts again condensed into a threatening danger of war. Already in July 1806 Napoleon had founded the Confederation of the Rhine as its protector and thus ushered in the end of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. The Prussian troops left the city of Münster in September and withdrew eastwards.