Principality of Erfurt
The Principality of Erfurt was a small state in modern Thuringia, Germany, that existed from 1807 to 1814, comprising the modern city of Erfurt and the surrounding land. It was subordinate directly to Napoleon, the Emperor of the French, rather than being a part of the Confederation of the Rhine. After nearly 3 months of siege, the city fell to Prussian, Austrian and Russian forces. Having mainly been Prussian territory before the Napoleonic Wars, most of the lands were restored to Prussia by the Congress of Vienna.
Background and establishment
In the wake of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Treaty of Lunéville, the Holy Roman Empire underwent a process of substantial territorial reorganisation known as the German mediatization, under which Erfurt, since the 10th century a subject of the Electorate and Archbishopric of Mainz, was transferred to the Kingdom of Prussia, to compensate for territories Prussia lost to France on the Left Bank of the Rhine.Fearing the rise in the power of Napoleon's First French Empire after their defeat of Austria and establishment of the French-sponsored Confederation of the Rhine, Prussia and Russia mobilized for a fresh campaign, and Prussian troops massed in Saxony as a part of the War of the Fourth Coalition. The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale, between the Grande Armée and the forces of Frederick William III of Prussia. The decisive defeat suffered by the Prussian Army subjugated Prussia to the French Empire until the Sixth Coalition was formed in 1813.
After Jena and Auerstedt, a large number of refugees appeared at the Prussian fortress of Erfurt. At first they were refused entrance, but later the gates were opened and soon the city thronged with at least 12,000 demoralized soldiers. Attempts were made by some officers to return the troops to their regiments, but the men refused to cooperate. Joachim Murat, Marshal of France, sent French Colonel into Erfurt under a flag of truce. The Frenchman demanded an immediate surrender, which the Prussian commandant initially refused. Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, waited near Erfurt in the hope that large numbers of troops would join the retreat; when few did so, he withdrew toward Langensalza. Without support from Prussian Generalfeldmarschall Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf, collapsed from injuries suffered at Auerstedt, the fortress commandant signed articles of capitulation; included in the terms were the surrender of the Petersberg Citadel and large quantities of gunpowder and munitions. Altogether, about 12,000 Prussian and Saxon troops under William VI, Prince of Orange-Nassau, became prisoners and 65 artillery pieces were captured. At the time of the capitulation, Murat had about 16,000 troops near Erfurt. Historian Francis Loraine Petre remarked that Erfurt was the first of a series of "pusillanimous capitulations" by Prussian fortress commanders, writing that Napoleon's plans might have been delayed had the city held out for just a few days. Instead, the French emperor was able to immediately launch the entire army after his fleeing enemies.
French rule
Erfurt was administered by a civilian and military Senate under a French governor, based in the :de:Kurmainzische Statthalterei, previously the seat of city's governor under the Electorate. Napoleon first visited the principality on 23 July 1807, inspecting the citadels and fortifications.On 4 August 1807, Napoleon attached the Saxe-Weimar territory of Blankenhain and declared the Principality of Erfurt to be directly subordinate to himself as an "imperial state domain", separate from the Confederation of the Rhine, which the surrounding Thuringian states had joined.
On 27 September 1808, Napoleon was ceremonially presented the keys to the city at the Brühler-Tor before going to meet Tsar Alexander I on the road to Weimar to re-enter the city with the tsar. Between 27 September and 14 October 1808, Napoleon hosted the Congress of Erfurt in the principality, intended to reaffirm the alliance with the Tsar, which had been concluded the previous year with the Treaties of Tilsit at the end of the War of the Fourth Coalition. The meeting became a great conference involving an array of kings, princes, dukes, barons and notables from all over Europe, including the kings of Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg and Westphalia. The resulting convention recognised the Russian conquests of Finland from Sweden and the Danubian Principalities from the Ottoman Empire and stated that, should France go to war again with Austria, Russia should, though the tsar's support in the War of the Fifth Coalition was minimal.
During their administration, the French introduced street lighting and a tax on foreign horses to pay for maintaining the road surface. The :de:Peterskirche suffered under the French occupation, with its inventory being auctioned off to other local churches — including the organ, bells and even the tower of the Corpus Christi chapel — and the former monastery's library being donated to the University of Erfurt. Similarly the Cyriaksburg Citadel was damaged by the French with the city-side walls being partially dismantled in the hunt for imagined treasures from the convent, with workers being paid from the sale of the building materials.
In 1811, to commemorate the birth of the Prince Imperial, a ceremonial column of wood and plaster was erected on the common, on the instigation of the French administration and funded by the city treasury. Inaugurated on 20 March 1811; it was burned and destroyed by the citizenry on 6 January 1814 when the Sixth Coalition finally entered the city after over 2 months of siege. Similarly, the Napoleonshöhe — a Greek-style temple topped by a winged victory with shield, sword and lance and containing a bust of Napoleon sculpted by Friedrich Döll — was erected in the Stiegerwald woods on the direction of the senate-president von Resch; the design included a grotto with fountain and flower beds, using a large water basin removed from the Peterskirche. Inaugurated with ceremony on 14 August 1811 after extravagant celebrations for Napoleon's birthday, with a eulogy on Napoleon being given by Resch to little celebration from the citizenry, the French administration commissioned a painting of the temple from in 1812, but it was burned on 1 November 1813 and completely destroyed by Erfurters and their besiegers in 1814. The celebrations of Napoleon's birthday were repeated in 1812, with a concert in the Predigerkirche, conducted by Louis Spohr.