On January 1, 1811, Hamburg is incorporated into the French Empire. Marshal Davout is now in charge on the Elbe. Hamburg has been under siege since 1806. Until 1814 there is rampant destruction and expulsion.
by Janine Kuehl
The siege reached a devastating climax on December 7, 1813:Hamm was on fire. A part of the Hamburg suburb falls victim to the flames. The residents of the small village have to gather their belongings and look for a new home - not an easy task in the extremely cold winter of 1813/14. The fire is part of the defensive measures taken by the French occupiers of Hamburg, who built a so-called glacis in front of the moat:a mound of earth rising slightly from the enemy side of the field without any vegetation or buildings. Because the Allied troops, especially Russians, tighten a siege ring around the Hanseatic city. In order to have a clear field of fire in front of the ramparts, the French had suburbs demolished or burned down. At the same time, they deprive the enemy of the opportunity to lodge here.
Hamburg belongs to France
Hamm has to give way so that Napoleon can hold Hamburg Fortress. Hamburg has been under French occupation since 1806 - with a few interruptions and in different forms. The ban on trade with England leads to the bankruptcy of some Hamburg trading houses and exacerbates unemployment and poverty. On January 1, 1811, Hamburg was incorporated into the French Empire as the capital of the department of the Elbe estuaries. Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout is now in charge on the Elbe. The Code Civil puts all citizens on an equal footing and replaces Hamburg's city law; a municipal council replaces the citizenship. In addition to setting up authorities based on the French model, the new rulers demand many taxes, which primarily affect the lower classes of the population.
A bridge connects Hamburg with Harburg
To connect Hamburg with Harburg, the French build a bridge over the Elbe.Hamburg's ramparts, which were largely razed at the beginning of the 19th century, are rebuilt in autumn 1813 by forced laborers from Hamburg. In addition, the French have a bridge built from Hamburg over the Elbe island of Wilhelmsburg to the Harburg Fortress. It is to become part of the planned Reichsstrasse Paris-Wesel-Hamburg-Lübeck. However, this boardwalk on stilts does not yet replace the ferries across the North and South Elbe.
Hoof kicks and neighing in the churches
All churches except St. Michaelis and the stock exchange are converted into magazines and horse stables. Davout has supplies brought into town from the surrounding countryside for his people. He obliges the people of Hamburg to stock up on food supplies for six months. For many this is impossible, they hardly live from hand to mouth.
More than 30,000 people are displaced
On Christmas night 1813, people wait in St. Petri's Church before being expelled in the morning.But the occupiers strictly adhere to their guidelines. From mid-December 1813 they kept the city gates closed. The gates are only open around midday to allow the "unprovisioned" to move out. Those who do not leave voluntarily will be forced to leave the city. In total, more than 30,000 "superfluous eaters" - that is almost a quarter of the population at that time - have to leave Hamburg, most of them over the Christmas period. On December 24, more than 6,000 people go, on the 27th there are almost 2,500, on the 31st around 1,200. The expulsion of the townspeople will continue until the end of March.
During the night of December 24-25, French soldiers evacuated several thousand poor townspeople from their homes. They spend the night in St. Petri's Church before being expelled in the severe cold in the morning. Most make their way to neighboring Altona, which belongs to Denmark, an ally of Napoleon. On the way there, 1,138 people die from cold and malnutrition.
Targeted "demolition" of the suburbs
Throughout the winter, suburbs like Hamm fall victim to creating a clear field of fire. In the winter of 1813/14 there was also "demolition" on the Hamburger Berg (today St. Pauli), in Eimsbüttel, Rotherbaum, Bergedorf, Marmstorf and other suburbs, according to contemporary writings. At the end of March 1814, the occupiers burned down the villages of Marmstorf and Appelbüttel to the south of Hamburg. The French occupiers want to capture food there and attack Allied positions. The villagers, who have become homeless, have no choice but to move to the surrounding area. Many find a place to stay in Altona, Lübeck and Bremen.
At the end of May 1814, Davout surrendered the Hanseatic city to the leader of the Russian troops, General Bennigsen. The Russians stayed until January 15, 1815. The siege and the suffering it brought severely affected the city and its inhabitants. From 130,000 inhabitants in 1800 only 100,000 are left in 1814.
French times as a curse or an opportunity?
The poorer in particular suffered from unemployment and hunger during the siege. As a result, according to the Hamburg historian Helmut Stubbe da Luz, "an anti-French mood developed, especially at the grassroots level". Without the agonizing siege, all sorts of innovations that we see today as modernization would have continued in Hamburg. But instead they are purchased. The Code Civil and the associated legal equality of all citizens must give way to the old estate system, as must the very efficient organization of administration under the French. The situation is similar in the area of infrastructure. The boardwalk from Hamburg to Harburg, which is also extremely useful in the civil sector, is demolished; the roads built by the French are not maintained to the required extent by the people of Hamburg. Many innovations and reforms from the French period in Hamburg are only taken up again at a later point in time.