The Oberamt Meisenheim, also known as the Lordship of Meisenheim (German: Herrschaft Meisenheim) was an administrative subdivision and exclave of Hesse-Homburg centred on the city of Meisenheim, from 1816 to 1866. Today, the territory belongs to Rheinland-Pfalz.
The area which would become the Oberamt Meisenheim was under the control of various sovereigns before the Napoleonic Wars. The in the principality of Palatine Zweibrücken before 1798 covered a somewhat different area than the Obaramt discussed in this article.
In 1794, the Left Bank of the Rhine was captured by France during the War of the First Coalition and it became part of the French Republic in 1798. Until 1815, Meisenheim was part of the in the Sarre department. Under Article 49 of acts of the Congress of Vienna of9 June 1815, a district in the former Sarre department with a population of 69,000 was reserved for several sovereigns. An section of it with a population of 10,000 was reserved for Hesse-Homburg. The area was placed under the temporary control of the Kingdom of Prussia and finally handed over to Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg on 9 September 1816.[1] It encompassed the whole of the former French Canton of Meisenheim and four districts of the Canton of Grumbach.
It was a bit of a curiosity. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg consisted solely of the ancestral territory around Homburg vor der Höhe, known as the Amt Homburg or "Lordship of Homburg", and the distant exclave of Meisenheim. Originally, Hesse-Homburg hand hoped to grow at the expense of one of its near-neighbours (perhaps Oberursel or Rosbach vor der Höhe and when Frederick V found out that he would be receiving Meisenheim, he is said to have said, "what am I meant to do with this district in China?"[2] The Oberamt had an area of 176 km2, making it larger than the whole Amt Homburg. In addition, it used a different code of laws, since Meisenheim had adopted the Napoleonic Code, while Homburg continued to employ its own laws . There were no cultural, economic, or historical links between the two territories.
Toll barriers posed a particular issue for Meisenheim. Owing to the small size of the Oberamt, most of its trade withneighbouring communities involved crossing national borders. Particularly pressing was the duty on salt, which all came from the neighbouring town of Bad Münster.
The July Revolution of 1830 in France sparked protests in Meisenheim. The protestors supported an end to the toll barriers. The town council under mayor Bonnet restored calm, but on 29 April 1932 disorder broke out once more. The toll barriers and the low quality of salt prompted a serious riot, led by the brush-maker Carl Kloninger. On 20 May, the unrest continued and Bonnet had to establish citizen militia. In Homburg, these measures were not considered sufficient, so was dispatched to be administrative head of the Oberamt. He restored order with harsh measures and banned the on 27 October 1832.
In 1834, Homburg entered the customs zone of the Grand Duchy of Hesse as part of the Zollverein, while the Oberamt Meisenheim joined the Prussian customs zone. On 24 March 1866, Hesse-Homburg passed briefly to the Grand Duchy of Hesse following the death of the last Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and then passed to Prussia later that year, following Hesse's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War. This annexation was formalised by a Prussian law on 24 December 1866 and a patent of annexation on 12 January 1867.[3]
Although there was no separation of judiciary and administration in the landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, there was nevertheless a division of the roles at the top level of the Oberamt Meisenheim. The top position of the Oberamt was an administrative official, called the 1. Beamter or Oberamtmann. Alongside him was a judicial official, called the 2. Beamter. It was common for the 2. Beamter to be promoted to 1. Beamter, when the latter position fell vacant. Administrative officials/1. Beamter:
Judicial officials/2. Beamter:
From 1832 until 1872, Johann Georg Martin Reinhardt was head of administration, either as Oberamtmann or as Regional Councillor (Landrat), with the exception of a short period between 6 April 1848 and 1849 when he was expelled from office as a result of the March Revolution. During that period, Christian Bansa was head of the administration.
The judicial system was a successor of the Civil Court of Meisenheim, which served as a court of first instance in the Left Rhine legal system during the French occupation. There was a right of appeal to the first deputation of the government of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg and a final appeal to the .
After the Landtag (parliament) of Hesse-Homburg was conclusively abolished in 1852, a district council was established in 1853 for the Oberamt. The members were partially elected and partially appointed by the landgraves. Four representatives of the Oberamt, together with four representatives of the Amt Homburg, formed the national committee of the landgraviate.
On 2 February 1867, following the Prussian annexation, the Oberamt Meisenheim was merged into the Koblenz Regierungsbezirk and later became the . The judicial system of Meisenhem was abolished and replaced with a civil court of Meisenheim analogous to the other courts of Rhine province. In 1878, it was transformed into the District Court of Meisenheim.
The Oberamt of Meisenheim consisted of 25 districts, arranged into four "mayoralties" (German: Oberschultheißereien:
| District | Mayoralty | Owner before 1794 | Owner 1798–1814 | Today | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abtweiler | Meisenheim | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | ||
| Bärenbach | Becherbach | Margrave of Baden | Kanton Grumbach | VG Kirner Land | |
| Bärweiler | Merxheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan | |
| Becherbach | Becherbach | Margrave of Baden | Kanton Grumbach | VG Kirner Land | |
| Breitenheim | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Desloch | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Jeckenbach | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Heimberg (Heimweiler) | Becherbach | Margrave of Baden | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Kirner Land | |
| Hochstädten (Hochstetten-Dhaun) | Merxheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Kirner Land | |
| Hoppstädten | Becherbach | Kanton Grumbach | VG Lauterecken-Wolfstein | ||
| Hundsbach | Becherbach | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | ||
| Kirschroth | Meddersheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg and others | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan | |
| Krebsweiler (Heimweiler) | Becherbach | Margrave of Baden | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Kirner Land | |
| Lauschied | Meisenheim | Baron of Boos and others | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan | |
| Limbach | Becherbach | Markgraf von Baden | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Kirner Land | |
| Löllbach | Meisenheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Meckenbach | Merxheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Medart | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Lauterecken-Wolfstein | |
| Meddersheim | Meddersheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg and others | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan | |
| Meisenheim | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Merxheim | Merxheim | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan | ||
| Otzweiler | Becherbach | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg and others | Kanton Grumbach | VG Kirner Land | |
| Raumbach | Meisenheim | Duke of Zweibrücken | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Schweinschied | Meisenheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Meisenheim | |
| Staudernheim | Meddersheim | Prince of Salm-Kyrburg and others | Kanton Meisenheim | VG Nahe-Glan |