The French Revolution (1789-1799) is certainly well known to most people. But the German Revolution that took place 50 years later (1848/1849) is less well known.

In July 2023, the Heimatbund Lippstadt published a new volume of the "Lipp­städ­ter Spuren", which for the first time gives a coherent description of what happened in Lippstadt during the revolution of 1848/49. The historian and author Dr Wolfgang Maron, who has lived in Lippstadt for more than 40 years, has combed through around 150 local and national sources.

Since the book is new and available, I (Jörg Rosenthal) do not want to post a summary here, but I can give a rough overview of that time according to my own knowledge ...

In the middle of the 19th century Germany did not yet exist as a state, instead there was the German Confederation (1815-1866), which consisted of about 40 states - depending on how you count them and ongoing changes due to hereditary division. The largest states were the Kingdom of Prussia (Westphalia was a province of Prussia; the provinces do not count individually here), the Kingdom of Bavaria and the Empire of Austria.

The remaining approximately 37 states of the German Confed­eration were smaller kingdoms, duchies and principalities, such as the Principality of Lippe (until 1918). Hence the catchword of German "Kleinstaaterei" (small-scale statehood-ery), which had been denounced 100 years earlier since the early Enlightenment.

In the feudal structure, Lippstadt as a town forms an interesting special case: Because of the Lippe's war debts, only half of Lippstadt had been the property of the Principality of Lippe since 1445. The other half of the property had been pledged to the Counts of Mark and was later transferred to the Kingdom of Prussia. This also reveals an aspect of the feudal system since the Middle Ages: all land is the property of the king, including the people on it.

In order for the king to be able to enforce his power in the area, he granted lands to vassals (hereditary fiefs), who then implemented the power locally. This gave rise to the nobility as a second estate. Peasants were subject to the Schollenzwang, i.e. a peasant had to stay on his leased land and had to perform services for his landlord.

The king and all noble feudatories passed on their rights and claims to their sons (hereditary monarchy). Anyone who did not belong to the nobility had practically no chance of getting in. The cake had already been divided up from the early Middle Ages onwards.

After 1000 years of feudalism:
In the preceding years of the German Revolution, there had been crop failures. From 1840, a potato fungus spread through Europe, causing major crop failures from 1845. In Ireland, which was particularly affected, 2.5 million people died of hunger, 1.5 million fled from the famine, especially to North America.

In addition to the potato blight, Germany (or more precisely, the German Länder) suffered a cereal crop failure in 1846, caused by heavy rain in April and subsequent drought. The prices of foodstuffs rose in some cases 3 to 5 times. The entire daily wage of a worker was then only enough to buy a single loaf of bread. The Prussian government did not react until the following year, when it ordered grain in Russia at the beginning of 1847. The grain was of inferior quality and when it arrived at the port of Szczecin it was spoiled.

The new book by the Lippstadt Heimatbund begins in 1848 with the precarious situation of the commoners. Of the approximately 4.000 inhabitants of Lippstadt, only 300 households counted as citizens (Bürger), i.e. only they owned land or had a high income. When, at this time of famine, the wealthy citizens of Lippstadt wanted to organise a masked ball, the anger of the impoverished citizens was unleashed. When, at this time of famine, the rich citizens of Lippstadt wanted to organise a masquerade ball, the anger of the impoverished workers was unleashed and there were riots - in Lippstadt and elsewhere with similar triggers.

The workers demanded adequate wages and that they be allowed to graze their sheep (high self-sufficiency) on communal meadows for free again (north of the city, Mentzelsfelde). But there were also political currents demanding the abolition of the feudal system. A united German nation state, governed democratically, should emerge from the 40 or so monarchies.

Of course, it was not only the kings and princes who disagreed with this idea, but also all those who profited from the existing system, including the bourgeoisie. e.g. were in the civil service, owned property or held positions. The uprisings of the German Revolution were put down by the armies of the Prussian king and the Austrian emperor.

But the unsuccessful German Revolution nevertheless left its mark: the first elections for a parliament were held, there was the liberation of the peasants and freedom of the press was introduced. That is why the Lippstadt newspaper "Der Patriot" was founded in 1848, supporting the idea of a nation state and democracy. The patriots were thus politically left-wing at the time, as they opposed the old-establishment feudal system.

However, radical democrats were imprisoned or executed in Germany, which is why there was an unprecedented wave of emigration from 1848 onwards, mainly to the USA. This is why the German and Irish descendants made up the largest proportion of the population in the U.S. Shipping companies also offered their crossings in the "Patriot" newspaper. At this time, the Protestant community called Lippstadt have been founded in Missouri (Map). Analogous to the peasant liberation in Germany, German emigrants campaigned for the end of slavery in the USA (abolished in 1865).

My text contains hardly any information from the text of the new book. So if you are interested in what was happening in Lippstadt at the time, you can buy the book for €15 at the city archives and "Der Patriot" offices or order it from the Heimatbund Lippstadt website.