Origins The
Hohenstaufen family controlled the duchy of Swabia until the death of
Conradin in
1268, when a considerable part of its lands fell to the
count of Württemberg, the representative of a family first mentioned about
1080, a certain
Conrad von Beutelsbach, having called himself after his ancestral castle of Württemberg.
The earliest historical details on a Count of Württemberg relate to one
Konrad II of Württemberg, who ruled from
1241 to
1265. He served as marshal of Swabia and advocate of the town of
Ulm, and had large possessions in the valleys of the
Neckar and the
Rems. Under his sons,
Ulrich II and
Eberhard I, and their successors, the power of the family grew steadily. Eberhard I (died
1325) opposed, and not always unsuccessfully, three German kings; he doubled the area of his county and transferred his residence from Württemberg Castle to today's city center of
Stuttgart. His successors seem not perhaps equally important, but all added something to the area of Württemberg. The family shared out their lands amongst collateral branches several times, but in
1482 the
Treaty of Münsingen reunited the territory and declared it indivisible and united it under Count
Eberhard V, called
im Bart. This arrangement received the sanction of the
Holy Roman Emperor,
Maximilian I, and of the
imperial diet, in
1495.
Counts of Württemberg to 1495 Eberhard V proved one of the most energetic rulers that Württemberg ever had, and in 1495 his
county became a
duchy. He now was Duke
Eberhard I. At his death in
1496 his cousin, Duke
Eberhard II succeeded for a short reign of two years, terminated by a deposition.
The long reign (
1498-
1550) of Duke
Ulrich, who succeeded to the duchy while still a child, proved a most eventful period for the country, and many traditions cluster round the name of this gifted, unscrupulous and ambitious man. The extortions by which he sought to raise money for his extravagant pleasures excited a rising known as that of the
arme Konrad (poor Conrad), not unlike the rebellion in
England led by
Wat Tyler. The authorities soon restored order, and in
1514 by the
Treaty of Tübingen the people undertook to pay the duke's debts in return for various political privileges, which in effect laid the foundation of the constitutional liberties of the country. A few years later Ulrich quarrelled with the
Swabian League, and its forces (helped by
William IV, duke of Bavaria, angered by the treatment meted out by Ulrich to his wife
Sabina, a Bavarian princess), invaded Württemberg, expelled the duke and sold his duchy to
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor for 220,000 gulden. Charles handed over Württemberg to his brother, the German king,
Ferdinand I, who served as nominal ruler for a few years. Soon, however, the discontent caused by the oppressive
Austrian rule, the disturbances in Germany leading to the
Peasants' War and the commotions aroused by the
Reformation gave Ulrich an opportunity to recover his duchy. Aided by
Philip, landgrave of
Hesse, and other
Protestant princes, he fought a victorious battle against Ferdinand's troops at
Lauffen in May
1534, and then by the
treaty of Cadan he again became duke, but perforce duke of the duchy as an Austrian fief. He subsequently introduced the reformed religious doctrines and proceeded to endow
Protestant churches and schools throughout his land. Ulrich's connection with the
League of Schmalkalden led to another expulsion, but in
1547 Charles V re-instated him, although on somewhat onerous terms.
Ulrich's son and succeesor,
Christopher (
1515-
1568), completed the work of converting his subjects to the reformed faith. He introduced a system of church government, the
Grosse Kirchenordnung, which endured in part into the
20th century. In this reign a standing commission started to superintend the finances, and the members of this body, all of whom belonged to the upper classes, gained considerable power in the state, mainly at the expense of the towns.
Christopher's son
Louis, the founder of the
Collegium illustre in
Tübingen, died childless in
1593 and a kinsman,
Frederick I (
1557-
1608) succeeded to the duchy. This energetic prince disregarded the limits placed to his authority by the rudimentary constitution. By paying a large sum of money he induced the emperor
Rudolph II in
1599 to free the duchy from the
suzerainty of Austria. Thus once again Württemberg became a direct fief of the Empire.
Unlike his predecessor, the next duke,
Johann Frederick (
1582-
1628), failed to become an absolute ruler, and perforce recognised the checks on his power. During this reign, which ended in July 1628, Württemberg suffered severely from the
Thirty Years' War, although the duke himself took no part in it. His son and successor
Eberhard III (
1628-
1674), however, plunged into it as an ally of
France and
Sweden as soon as he came of age in
1633, but after the
battle of Nordlingen in
1634 Imperial troops occupied the duchy and the duke himself went into exile for some years. The
Peace of Westphalia restored him, but to a depopulated and impoverished country, and he spent his remaining years in efforts to repair the disasters of the lengthy war.
During the reign of
Eberhard Ludwig (
1676-
1733), who succeeded as a one-year-old when his father Duke
William Louis died in
1677, Württemberg made the acquaintance of another destructive enemy. In
1688,
1703 and
1707 the French entered the duchy and inflicted brutalities and sufferings upon the inhabitants. The sparsely populated country afforded a welcome to fugitive
Waldenses, who did something to restore it to prosperity, but the extravagance of the duke, anxious to provide for the expensive tastes of his mistress,
Christiana Wilhelmina von Grävenitz partly neutralised this benefit.
Charles Alexander, who became duke in
1733, had become a
Roman Catholic while an officer in the Austrian service. His favourite adviser was the
Jew Josef Süss Oppenheimer, and suspicions arose that master and servant were aiming at the suppression of the diet and the introduction of Roman Catholicism. However, the sudden death of Charles Alexander in March
1737 put an abrupt end to any such plans, and the regent,
Charles Rudolph of Württtemberg-Neuenstadt, had Oppenheimer hanged.
Charles Eugene (
1728-
1793), who came of age in
1744, appeared gifted, but vicious and extravagant, and he soon fell into the hands of unworthy favourites. He spent a great deal of money in building palaces at
Stuttgart and elsewhere, and took the course, unpopular with his Protestant subjects, of fighting against
Prussia during the
Seven Years' War of 1756 - 1763. His whole reign featured dissension between ruler and ruled, the duke's irregular and arbitrary methods of raising money arousing great discontent. The intervention of the emperor and even of foreign powers ensued, and in
1770 a formal arrangement removed some of the grievances of the people. But Charles Eugene did not keep his promises, although in his old age he made a few further concessions. He died childless, and was succeeded by one brother,
Louis Eugene (d.
1795), and then by another,
Frederick Eugene (d.
1797). This latter prince, who had served in the army of
Frederick the Great, to whom he was related by marriage, educated his children in the Protestant faith. Thus, when his son
Frederick II became duke in
1797, Protestantism returned to the ducal household, and the royal house adhered to this faith thereafter. During Frederick Eugene's short reign the French invaded Württemberg, compelled the duke to withdraw his troops from the imperial army and to pay reparations.
Frederick II (
1754-
1816), a prince who modelled himself on Frederick the Great, took part in the war against France in defiance of the wishes of his people, and when the French again invaded and devastated the country he retired to
Erlangen, where he remained until after the conclusion of the
peace of Lunéville on
9 February 1801. By a private treaty with France, signed in March
1802, he ceded his possessions on the left bank of the
Rhine, receiving in return nine imperial towns, among them
Reutlingen and
Heilbronn, and some other territories, amounting altogether to about 850 square miles (2,200 km²) and containing about 124,000 inhabitants. He also accepted from
Napoleon in
1803 the title of
elector. The new districts were not incorporated with the duchy, but remained separate; they were known as "New Württemberg" and were ruled without a diet.
In
1805 Württemberg took up arms on the side of
France, and by the
Treaty of Pressburg in December 1805 the elector received as reward various Austrian possessions in
Swabia and other lands in the neighbourhood.
The Duchy of Württemberg (1495–1805) On
January 1,
1806 Duke Frederick II assumed the title of king as King
Frederick I, abrogated the constitution and united old and new Württemberg. Subsequently he placed the property of the church under the control of the state. In 1806 he joined the
Confederation of the Rhine and received further additions of territory containing 160,000 inhabitants; a little later, by the
peace of Vienna in October
1809, about 110,000 more persons came under his rule. In return for these favours Frederick joined
Napoleon Bonaparte in his campaigns against Prussia, Austria and
Russia, and of 16,000 of his subjects who marched to
Moscow only a few hundred returned. Then, after the
Battle of Leipzig (October 1813), King Frederick deserted the waning fortunes of the French
emperor, and by a treaty made with
Metternich at
Fulda in November
1813 he secured the confirmation of his royal title and of his recent acquisitions of territory, while his troops marched with those of the allies into France. In
1815 the king joined the
German Confederation, but the
Congress of Vienna made no change in the extent of his lands. In the same year he laid before the representatives of his people the outline of a new constitution, but they rejected this, and in the midst of the commotion Frederick died (
October 30,
1816).
At once the new king,
William I (reigned 1816 - 1864) took up the constitutional question and after much discussion granted a new constitution in September
1819. This constitution, with subsequent modifications, remained in force until
1918 (see
Württemberg). A period of quietness now set in, and the condition of the kingdom, its education, its agriculture and its trade and manufactures, began to receive earnest attention, while by frugality, both in public and in private matters, King William I helped to repair the shattered finances of the country. But the desire for greater political freedom did not entirely fade away under the constitution of 1819, and after
1830 a certain amount of unrest occurred. This, however, soon passed away, while the inclusion of Württemberg in the German
Zollverein and the construction of
railways fostered trade.
The revolutionary movement of
1848 did not leave Württemberg untouched, although no actual violence took place within the kingdom. King William had to dismiss
Johannes Schlayer (
1792-
1860) and his other ministers, and to call to power men with more liberal ideas, the exponents of the idea of a united Germany. King William did proclaim a democratic constitution, but as soon as the movement had spent its force he dismissed the liberal ministers, and in October
1849 Schlayer and his associates returned to power. By interfering with popular electoral rights the king and his ministers succeeded in assembling a servile diet in
1851, and this surrendered all the privileges gained since 1848. In this way the authorities restored the constitution of 1819, and power passed into the hands of a
bureaucracy. A
concordat with the
Papacy proved almost the last act of William's long reign, but the diet repudiated the agreement, preferring to regulate relations between church and state in its own way.
In July
1864 Charles (
1823-
1891, reigned 1864 - 1891) succeeded his father William I as king and had almost at once to face considerable difficulties. In the duel between
Austria and
Prussia for supremacy in Germany, William I had consistently taken the Austrian side, and this policy was equally acceptable to the new king and his advisers. In
1866 Württemberg took up arms on behalf of Austria in the
Austro-Prussian War, but three weeks after the
Battle of Königgratz (
3 July 1866) her troops suffered a comprehensive defeat at
Tauberbischofsheim, and the country lay at the mercy of Prussia. The Prussians occupied the northern part of Württemberg and negotiated a peace in August 1866; by this Württemberg paid an indemnity of 8,000,000 gulden, but she at once concluded a secret offensive and defensive treaty with her conqueror. Württemberg was a party to the
St Petersburg Declaration of 1868.
The end of the struggle against Prussia allowed a renewal of democratic agitation in Württemberg, but this had achieved no tangible results when the great
war between France and Prussia broke out in
1870. Although the policy of Württemberg had continued antagonistic to Prussia, the kingdom shared in the national enthusiasm which swept over Germany, and its troops took a creditable part in the
Battle of Worth and in other operations of the war. In
1871 Württemberg became a member of the new
German Empire, but retained control of her own
post office,
telegraphs and railways. She had also certain special privileges with regard to
taxation and the army, and for the next ten years Württemberg's policy enthusiastically supported the new order. Many important reforms, especially in the area of finance, ensued, but a proposal for a union of the railway system with that of the rest of Germany failed. After reductions in taxation in
1889, the reform of the constitution became the question of the hour. King Charles and his ministers wished to strengthen the conservative element in the chambers, but the laws of
1874,
1876 and
1879 only effected slight reforms pending a more thorough settlement. On
October 6,
1891 King Charles died suddenly; his cousin
William II (
1848-
1921, reigned 1891-
1918) succeeded and continued the policy of his predecessor.
Discussions on the reform of the constitution continued, and the
election of
1895 memorably returned a powerful party of democrats. King William had no sons, nor had his only Protestant kinsman,
Duke Nicholas (
1833-
1903); consequently the succession would ultimately pass to a Roman Catholic branch of the family, and this prospect raised up certain difficulties about the relations between church and state. The heir to the throne in
1910 was the Roman Catholic
Duke Albert (b.
1865).
Between
1900 and
1910 the political history of Württemberg centred round the settlement of the constitutional and the educational questions. The constitution underwent revision in
1906, and a settlement of the education difficulty occurred in
1909. In
1904 the railway system integrated with that of the rest of Germany.
The Kingdom of Württemberg (1806–1918) In the course of the revolutionary activities at the close of
World War I in November
1918, King William II abdicated and republican government ensued.
Württemberg became a state (
Land) in the new
Weimar Republic. After
World War II in
1945, Württemberg was split between the newly founded states of
Württemberg-Baden and
Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Both of these finally became part of
Baden-Württemberg in
1952.
Post-Royal Württemberg Württemberg Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic Württemberg Rulers of Württemberg Presidents of Württemberg Literature http://www.schlossgarten.de/personen/herrscher/herzoege.html
In Canada
Summary of both passages
See also
Polish and Hungarian Revolutions of 1956
2004 - present
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Propeller aircraft
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