Dear rustyscouts,
As a native speaker of German, I have no doubt that "Lasareth
Commission" would be, in modern German, "Lazarett-Kommission". This
term does not describe a conference or the like; rather, it used to be
the designation for military hospital administration agencies in
Prussia and later in the entire German Empire.
Prior to 1828, the permanent peacetime military hospitals in Prussia
were singly administered by the units they belonged to. In 1828, the
military hospitals were re-organized; they now were responsible to the
government and directed by local military hospital agencies, the
Lazarett-Kommissionen. These agencies were in charge of administering
the military hospitals assigned to them.
When Prussian military organization became standard for all German
armies in the new German Empire after 1871, the other German states
also adopted this system of military hospital administration.
As for the spelling: In the 19th and early 20th century, it was common
in German to use the original spelling for words taken from the French
language. Only slowly, spellings shifted to "Germanized" variants. For
example, the K-sound at the beginning of many words taken from French
was changed from C to K. Words like Casse, Camera, Corps, Capitain and
Carte became Kasse, Kamera, Korps, Kapitän and Karte. And the
Commission became the Kommission.
The modern German word for military hospital, "Lazarett", was also
taken from the French where it used to be spelled "lazareth" (today:
lazaret). It is important to know that before 1901, there was no
statutory binding German orthography, so spelling of many words
varied, even in official documents. The French "z" sounds like a soft
German "s", so it would be understandable to find "lazareth" spelled
with an "s" by a German in that time (modern German preserved the "z"
in Lazarett, but it is now pronounced as if it were a German word).
If the town of Preetz is mentioned as the seat of a
Lazarett-Kommission, I must assume that it refers to the time when the
place belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia. From the mention of the
Lazarett-Kommission alone, it is not possible to find a particular
year, but it would surely be after 1867, when the Duchies Schleswig
and Holstein were merged into Schleswig-Holstein to become a Prussian
Province as a result of the German-Danish War of 1864 and the
Prussian-Austrian War of 1866. Preetz (which received its town charter
only on 17 May 1870) thus became a Prussian town, with Prussian
administration. This means that Preetz belonged to the following
constitutional bodies during that time:
1867-1871: Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, North
German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund)
1871-1918: Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German
Empire (Deutsches Kaiserreich)
I could not find out when exactly the Lazarett-Kommissionen ceased to
exist, but I believe that they were dissolved in 1918/1919 or short
time later with the end of World War I and the collapse of the German
monarchic system and the military. So 1867-1918/19 would be the time
frame when a Lazarett-Kommission in Preetz could exist.
And for the location of the town: Preetz is located in the German
Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein, in the southern part of the Jutland
Peninsula, 15 kilometers south-east of the city of Kiel, in the former
Duchy of Schleswig. Preetz is a small town (population ca. 15,000) and
will thus not be included on maps below a certain scale.
This map shows you the location of Preetz relative to Kiel:
http://www.eformation.de/wasser-sh/de/wassererleben/schulproj/nps/schwentine_karte_gross.jpg
(Source: eFormation - Vom Wasser lernen)
I hope that this is useful for you!
Regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
Bundeswehrzentralkrankenhaus Koblenz: Historie der Garnisonslazarette in Koblenz
http://www.bwzk.uni-mainz.de/stab/about.html
Digitale Bibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Jahrbücher des Vereins für
Mecklenburgische Geschichte und Altertumskunde - Die ehemalige
Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisch-Schwerin'sche Militär-Bildungsanstalt
http://portal.hsb.hs-wismar.de/pub/lbmv/mjb/jb076/348690657.html
Town of Preetz: Wissenswertes über Preetz
http://www.preetz.de/Stadt_und_Politik/Wissenswertes_ueber_Preetz/wissenswertes_ueber_preetz.htm |
Clarification of Answer by
scriptor-ga
on
21 Feb 2005 10:33 PST
Dear rustyscouts,
As I promised, I have done additional research. I have been to the
library, searching for relevant information in printed sources. I
believe that I can now provide you more background information. First,
let me correct a small mistake I noticed only after I had already
posted the answer: Preetz was located in the Duchy of Holstein, not
Schleswig. I should have done more proofreading - after all, I grew up
only 30 kilometers south of Preetz.
And now, to the results of my research:
I: The Situation in Schleswig-Holstein around the Time 1848-1851
The history of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein is very complex
and resulted in a bizarre situation in the first half of the 19th
century, after the Napoleonic Wars ended: The ruling monarch of
Denmark was also Duke of Schleswig and Duke of Holstein. But Schleswig
and Holstein were not part of Denmark; old privileges ensured that the
two Duchies be not merged into the Danish kingdom but remained
connected with Denmark only by personal union through the Danish king.
However, Schleswig and Holstein had been part of the German Empire
before 1806 and were also part of the Empire's post-Napoleonic
successor Deutscher Bund (German Confederation). Thus, the King of
Denmark was also considered a German sovereign as far as he acted as
Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.
The Duchy of Schleswig in the north was directly adjacent to Denmark;
therefore, it had a significant share of Danish-speaking people.
However, the influence of German language and culture had been growing
in the southern parts of Schleswig for years.
On the other hand, the Duchy of Holstein in the south had no
Danish-speaking population. It was entirely German in language and
culture.
The two Duchies enjoyed various privileges. For example, they had a
German-speaking administration, and conscripts from Schleswig and
Holstein would serve in special German units of the Danish army,
consisting entirely of soldiers from the Duchies.
Surrounded by the territory of Danish Holstein, but not part of it,
was the Principality Lübeck (Fürstentum Lübeck, not identical with the
city-state Lübeck) with its capital Eutin.
The Duchy of Lauenburg was the southern neighbor of Holstein; it had a
similar status as the two Duchies, since the King of Denmark was also
Duke of Lauenburg since 1815.
II. The Situation in Preetz
Within the Duchy of Holstein, the town and parish of Preetz had a
special status. The small territory was under the local
self-administration of the Protestand Ladies' monastery of Preetz,
with considerable autonomy guaranteed by old privileges. Preetz, as
mentioned above, was entirely German with no Danish population.
III. The Situation during the Revolt of 1848-1851
The Danish attempts to incorporate the Duchies of Schleswig and
Holstein into the Kingdom of Denmark, despite the old treaties, led to
the insurgency of 1848. Schleswig-Holstein formed an army and went to
war against Denmark; at first, with noteworthy success, and supported
by military detachments of Prussia and the German Confederation. But
due to a changing political situation and to international pressure,
the allies of Schleswig-Holstein withdrew their support and urged the
Duchies to accept a ceasefire with Denmark.
During the ceasefire, in 1850, the Duchy of Schleswig was occupied by
what we would call a multi-national peacekeeping force today (mainly
Prussians and Swedes). Holstein remained unoccupied under the
insurgent government, and the army of Schleswig-Holstein set up their
garrisons there.
In the summer of 1850, after the occupation units had left Schleswig,
fighting between the Schleswig-Holsteiners and Denmark began again.
But without support from allies, the insurgents had no luck on the
battelefields. The army of Schleswig-Holstein surrendered to Denmark
and was dissolved between January and March 1851.
IV. The Army of Schleswig-Holstein and their Medical Service
Many Germans from other German countries joined the army of
Schleswig-Holstein as volunteers. In particular, a huge number of
Prussian officers applied for leave and entered the insurgent forces
for patriotic reasons. More than half of the Schleswig-Holstein
officers were Prussian military professionals who had volunteered. As
a result, the army of Schleswig-Holstein was very similar to the
Prussian army in structures and organization.
The military medical service was, for the 19th century, extraordinary
good and well-organized. There can be no doubt that the Prussian
system had a significant influence on the administrative structure of
the medical service.
Considering the historic facts, my conclusions concerning your letter
are as follows:
- The "Lazareth Commission in Preetz", should the date 1850 be
correct, was an hospital administration agency of the army of
Schleswig-Holstein, set up after Prussian models.
- The place "Oldenburg" the letter is addressed to refers to the town
Oldenburg in Holstein.
I hope that this is useful. If you have any questions, just let me
know and I will do my best to answer them.
Regards,
Scriptor
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