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Hesse-Homburg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg
Landgrafschaft Hessen-Homburg
1622–1866
Flag of Hesse-Homburg
Flag
Coat of arms of Hesse-Homburg
Coat of arms
Map of Hesse-Homburg (two parts, beige, with Homburg and Meisenheim) and the Middle Rhine
Map of Hesse-Homburg (two parts, beige, with Homburg and Meisenheim) and the Middle Rhine
CapitalBad Homburg
Common languagesGerman
GovernmentLandgraviate
Landgrave 
• 1622–1638
Frederick I (first)
• 1848–1866
Ferdinand (last)
History 
• Established
1622
• Ceded by Darmstadt
1668
• Ceded to Darmstadt
1806
1815
• Inherited by Grand Duchy of Hesse1
1866
Area
• Total
430 km2 (170 sq mi)
Population
• 1848
22,800
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duchy of Hesse
Province of Hesse-Nassau
1 Meisenheim ceded to the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.
Entrance to Bad Homburg Castle.

Hesse-Homburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, which consisted of the lordship of Homburg at the foot of the Taunus, which was then known as Die Höhe ("the Heights"). The reigning princes belonged to the Darmstadt line of the House of Hesse. It was created in 1622 by the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt to be ruled by one of his sons, but from 1622 to 1768 and again from 1806 to 1815, the territory was part of Hesse-Darmstadt. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and Hesse-Homburg-Bingenheim; but these parts were reunited in 1681. In 1815, it became a sovereign principality, expanded with the addition of Oberamt Meisenheim [de] in the Rhineland to give a total area of 221 km². When the reigning princely family died out in March 1866, the territory returned to Hesse-Darmstadt, but the latter was forced to cede the territory to Prussia in September of the same year after it was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War.

History

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Holy Roman Empire (1622–1806)

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The landgraves of Hesse-Homburg were a cadet branch of the Darmstadt branch of the House of Hesse, which existed from 1622 until 1866. Hesse-Darmstadt, like many principalities, was theoretically inherited through primogeniture. However, in practice, the younger sons were often endowed with a piece of land. Thus, the first landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Frederick I (1585-1638), the youngest son of George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1547-1609), received the territory of Homburg in 1622, after his brother Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt had fallen significantly behind with his appanage payments. Frederick I received the city and amt of Homburg before the heights "with all prestige and authority" but "without princely power" and allowed to draw his appanage payments from the incomes of Homburg. The treaty governing this was concluded on 6 March 1622 and Homburg was handed over to Frederick on 23 July 1622.[1] The landgraves thus remained subordinate to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt under Imperial law, owing it homage, for example. Darmstadt was obliged to pay Homburg 15,000 gulder annually, but generally did not manage to do so. The law of the time did not clearly distinguish between princely authority and a simple transfer of territory for economic purposes. Thus, Hesse-Homburg early began to seek independence. It succeeded in 1768, when a dynastic treaty was agreed, known as the Vergleichspunktuation, in which Hesse-Darmstadt waived its sovereignty over Hesse-Homburg. In this treaty, the territory received wide-ranging internal sovereignty, but whether Hesse-Homburg thereafter possessed Imperial immediacy is doubted by the historian Barbara Dölemeyer [de], among others: "Hesse-Darmstadt reserved for itself only the relationship with the Emperor and Empire; it represented Hesse-Homburg in the Reichstag and in the assembly of the Imperial circle and paid the Imperial and circle taxes for Homburg. Hesse-Homburg thus never possessed Imperial immediacy... Therefore, the incorporation of Homburg into... Hesse-Darmstadt between 1806 and 1816 can... probably not be called 'mediatization'."[2]

Frederick I of Hesse-Homburg

Landgrave Frederick II (1633-1708), the prince of Homburg "with the silver leg," was notable as a Swedish and Brandenburger general, who followed a mercantalist economic policy and carried out numerous developmental projects, based on his experiences in the service of Brandenburg. These included the settlement of Huguenot colonists at Friedrichsdorf. The resulting economic prosperity is evidenced by the early Baroque Bad Homburg Castle.

It is notable that five landgraves (Frederick VI, Louis, Philip, Gustave, and Ferdinand) were members of the Military Order of Maria Theresa.

At the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Hesse-Homburg consisted of the settlements of Dillingen [de], Dornholzhausen [de], Espa, Langgöns [de; Espa], Friedrichsdorf, Gonzenheim [de], Homburg, Köppern [de], Oberstedten, Seulberg [de] and half of Petterweil [de]. By a treaty signed on 26 April 1803, an exchange of territory between Hesse-Homburg and Nassau-Usingen was agreed, which granted the village of Kirdorf to Hesse-Homburg, in exchange for Espa, which had been acquired by Hesse-Homburg in 1785.

German Confederation (1815-1866)

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Bad Homburg in 1851

In 1806, Hesse-Homburg was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt); but in 1815, by the Congress of Vienna, the latter state was compelled to recognize the independence of Hesse-Homburg, which was increased by the addition of Meisenheim. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg consisted of two parts, the district of Homburg on the right side of the Rhine, and the district of Meisenheim, added in 1815, on the left side of the same river. Hesse-Homburg joined the German Confederation as a sovereign state on 7 July 1817. The landgraviate was the only principality that was not one of the founding members of the Confederation, apart from the Duchy of Limburg ruled by the King of the Netherlands (added in 1839) and the Duchy of Schleswig (1848-1851) ruled by the Danish king. In 1848, the landgraviate had a population of 22,800 and a total land area of 166 square miles, thus making it one of the smallest states in the German Confederation.[3] Hesse-Homburg was represented by the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the Inner Council of the Confederate Diet, but had a seat of its own on the Plenary Council. The state joined the Zollverein in 1835.[4]

In 1833, baths were opened in Homburg, which brought unexpected wealth and attention to the landgraviate. A casino and gambling saloons soon opened, which also contributed greatly to the state's burgeoning economy. Several legal overtures were made by the diet in an attempt to end gambling, but all attempts failed until after Hesse-Homburg passed into Prussian hands.[4]

On 24 March 1866, Hesse-Homburg was inherited by the Grand Duke of Hesse, while Meisenheim fell to Prussia. On 20 September of that same year, these territories were taken from Hesse-Darmstadt again, and the former landgraviate was combined with the Electorate of Hesse, Duchy of Nassau, the Free City of Frankfurt and some former parts of the Kingdom of Bavaria to form the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau.[5]

Today, the former Homburg district forms part of the German state of Hesse while Meisenheim forms part of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Government and administration

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Homburg Castle

The most important administrative body in Hesse-Homburg was the Privy Council (Geheimrat), the members of which were appointed by the landgrave. On 18 February 1818, Frederick V founded the State Government, which combined all formerly independent state colleges (consistories, chamber, forestry college, college medicum, and court) into a central authority, divided into three deputations. Hesse-Homburg did not adopt a constitution until 1850, in the wake of the 1848 Revolutions.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Barbara Dölemeyer, "Hessen-Homburg. Eine kurze Geschichte eines kleinen Territoriums." Archivnachrichten aus Hessen 1/2022, pp. 22–29.
  2. ^ Barbara Dölemeyer, "Von der Landgrafschaft Hessen-Homburg zur Nebenresidenz der Hohenzollern." in Bernd Heidenreich, Eckhard G. Franz (Edd.): Kronen, Kriege, Künste. Das Haus Hessen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Societaetsverlag, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-7973-1142-9, pp. 57 f.
  3. ^ A Pictorial Geography of the World: Comprising a System of Universal Geography, Popular and Scientific. Boston: C.D. Strong. 1848. p. 762.
  4. ^ a b The International Cyclopaedia: A Compendium of Human Knowledge, Volume 7. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. 1900. p. 515.
  5. ^ Patrick, David; Geddie, William (1924). Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge, Volume 5. London: W. & R. Chambers, Limited. p. 698.
  6. ^ "Hessen-Homburg: Landesregierung (Bestand)" [Hesse-Homburg: State government (stock)]. Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (in German). Hessian Main State Archives. 1988. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
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