28 February 2012

French Empire

Rhine & Hanseatic Departments

1811

map of the Hanseatic Departments of the First French Empire, 1811
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Rhine and Hanseatic Departments of the First French Empire, 1811

Rhine and Hanseatic Departments, 1811

source: Adapted from Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher, Studies in Napoleonic Statesmanship: Germany (Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1903), facing page 334. Color added.
Color Name
Hanseatic Departments of the First French Empire
 
  • Département des Bouches de L'Elbe   [French]
  • Departement der Elbe-Mündung   [German]
  • Department of the Mouths of the Elbe   [English]
 
  • Département des Bouches du Weser   [French]
  • Departement der Weser-Mündungen   [German]
  • Department of the Mouths of the Weser   [English]
 
  • Département de l’Ems-Supérieur   [French]
  • Departement der Oberen Ems (or, Ober-Ems; or, Oberemsdepartement)   [German]  
  • Department of the Upper Ems   [English]
Other States
 
  • Département de la Lippe   [French]
  • Departement der Lippe   [German]
  • Department of the Lippe   [English]
 
  • Grand-duché de Berg   [French]
  • Großherzogtum Berg   [German]
  • Grand Duchy of Berg   [English]

Compare the Grand Duchy of Berg in this map with the map of its situation from 1808 to 1810.

1810

In 1810, large parts of northwest Germany were incorporated into the First French Empire in order to better monitor the Continental System, Napoleon's trade embargo with Great Britain.

1811

Département Ems-Supérieur (German: Departement der Oberen Ems or, Ober-Ems ) was the name of one of the three Hanseatic départements of the First French Empire. Named after the Ems River, with the capital at Osnabrück, it was formed in January 1811, when the region was annexed by France. Its territory had been part of the Grand Duchy of Berg, which included the former Grafschaft Tecklenburg (i.e., the village of Ladbergen); the Duchy of Oldenburg (Herzogtum Oldenburg ); the Kingdom of Westphalia (French: Royaume de Westphalie; German: Königreich Westphalen ); and, the Duchy of Arenberg-Meppen (Herzogtum Arenberg-Meppen ). The département was subdivided into the following arrondissements (German: Distrikt or Unterpräfektur ) and cantons (German: Kantone ):

Arrondissements Cantons
Lingen Bevergern, Freren, Fürstenau, Haselünne, Ibbenbüren, Lingen, Meppen, Papenburg and Sögel.
Minden Bünde, Enger, Levern, Lübbecke, Minden, Petershagen, Quernheim, Rahden, Uchte and Werther.
Osnabrück Bad Essen, Bad Iburg, Bramsche, Dissen, Lengerich, Melle, Osnabrück, Ostbevern, Ostercappeln, Tecklenburg and Versmold.
Quakenbrück Ankum, Cloppenburg, Diepholz, Dinklage, Friesoythe, Löningen, Quakenbrück, Vechta, Vörden and Wildeshausen.

After Napoleon was defeated in 1814, most of the département became part of the Kingdom of Hanover.

Département des Bouches du Weser (German: Departement der Weser Mündung ) was one of the three Hanseatic départements of the First French Empire. It was formed in January 1811 and had its capital at Bremen (French: Brême). Prior to the annexation, the territory had been part of the Freie Hansestadt Bremen (Free Hanseatic City of Bremen); the Duchy of Oldenburg; and the Duchy of Bremen and Principality of Verden (in personal union to Hannover). The département was subdivided into the following arrondissements (German: Distrikt or Unterpräfektur ) and cantons (German: Kantone ):

Arrondissements Cantons
Bremen Achim, Bremen, Lilienthal, Ottersberg, Rotenburg, Syke, Thedinghausen and Verden.
Bremerlehe Beverstedt, Bremerlehe, Dorum, Hagen im Bremischen, Osterholz and Vegesack.
Nienburg Bassum, Bruchhausen, Hoya, Liebenau, Nienburg, Rethem, Stolzenau, Sulingen and Walsrode.
Oldenburg Berne, Burhave, Delmenhorst, Elsfleth, Hatten, Oldenburg, Ovelgönne, Rastede, Varel and Westerstede.

After Napoleon's defeat, most of the département became part of the Kingdom of Hanover, the Duchy of Oldenburg, and the Freie Hansestadt Bremen (Free Hanseatic City of Bremen).

Département des Bouches d'Elbe (German: Departement der Elbe Mündung ) was one of the three Hanseatic départements of the First French Empire. It was formed in January 1811 and had its capital at Hamburg. Prior to its annexation, the territory had been part of the Duchy of Bremen and Principality of Verden (in personal union to Hannover); the Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg; the Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck; and, the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg. The département was subdivided into the following arrondissements (German: Distrikt or Unterpräfektur ) and cantons (German: Kantone ):

Arrondissements Cantons
Hamburg Bergedorf, Hamburg, Hamm and Wilhelmsburg.
Lübeck Lauenburg upon Elbe, Lübeck, Mölln, Neuhaus upon Elbe, Ratzeburg, Schwarzenbek and Steinhorst (Lauenburg).
Lünenburg Bardowick, Buxtehude, Garlstorf, Harburg, Hittfeld, Lüneburg, Tostedt and Winsen upon Luhe.
Stade Bremervörde, Freiburg upon Elbe, Himmelpforten, Horneburg, Jork, Neuhaus upon Oste, Otterndorf, Ritzebüttel, Stade and Zeven.

After Napoleon's defeat, most of the département became part of the Kingdom of Hanover, the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg and the Free Hanseatic Cities of Hamburg and Lübeck.

Département de la Lippe (German: Departement der Lippe ) was a département of the First French Empire. It was named after the Lippe River and had its capital at Münster. It was formed in April 1811 from land annexed from the Grand Duchy of Berg and other départements of the Empire. The arrondissements of Rees and Münster had been part of Yssel-Supérieur; the arrondissement of Steinfurt had been part of Bouches-de-l'Yssel and the arrondissement of Neuenhaus had been part of Ems-Occidental.

The Département de la Lippe was subdivided into the following arrondissements (German: Distrikt or Unterpräfektur ) and cantons (German: Kantone ):

Arrondissements Cantons
Münster Dülmen, Haltern, Münster, Nottuln and St. Mauritz.
Neuenhaus Bad Bentheim, Heede, Neuenhaus, Nordhorn and Wesuwe.
Rees Bocholt, Borken, Emmerich, Rees, Ringenberg and Stadtlohn.
Steinfurt Ahaus, Billerbeck, Coesfeld, Ochtrup, Rheine and Steinfurt.

After Napoleon's defeat, most of the département became part of the Kingdoms of Prussian and of Hanover.

[Wikipedia [en]. Lippe (department). Accessed in August 2011].

1814 - 1816

From the time of Emperor Napoleon's defeat until the reorganization of the Kingdom of Prussia, former Prussian territory liberated from the French Empire (from the Grand Duchy of Berg, from the Kingdom of Westphalia, and held directly by the Empire) was governed by a provisional Prussian administration known as the Generalgouvernement zwischen Weser und Rhein. This land included:

  • Grafschaft Mark
  • Grafschaft Ravensberg
  • Stadt Lippstadt (Prussian section)
  • Fürstentum Paderborn
  • Fürstentum Minden
  • Grafschaft Lingen
  • Grafschaft Tecklenburg
  • Erbfürstentum Münster
  • Stift Herford
  • Fürstentum Essen
  • Fürstentum Werden
  • Herzogtum Kleve
  • Fürstentum Ostfriesland

1815

By royal decree on 30 April 1815, the Kingdom of Prussia (German: Königreich Prueßen ) was organized into 10 provinces: Brandenburg, Jülich-Kleve-Berg, Niederrhein, Ostpreußen, Pommern, Posen, Sachsen, Schlesien, Westfalen, Westpreußen (in 1822, Jülich-Kleve-Berg and Niederrhein were combined to create a new province, Rheinprovinz ).

In the new Provinz Westfalen, three Regierungsbezirke (government or administrative districts) were created: Hamm, Minden, and Münster.

1816

On 31 July 1816, the provisional administration of the new Province of Westphalia (German: Provinz Westfalen ) came to an end. On the following day, 1 August 1816, provincial authorities took office.

Ladbergen, the same village it had been for quite some time, now found itself located in Kreis Tecklenburg, Regierungsbezirk Münster, Provinz Westfalen, Königreich Prueßen. This geo-political identity can be see on the gravestone of Johann Heinrich Fiegenbaum in the cemetery of Immanuels United Church of Christ, at Holstein, Warren County, Missouri.

1817

By the summer of 1817, a new government structure was in place throughout the Province of Westphalia.