Benedict Fuchs

  Noted events in his life were:

• Notes of Interest. ^494,495 Baden was a former state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwestern corner of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg Land (state) of Germany. The former Baden state comprised the eastern half of the Rhine River valley together with the adjoining mountains, especially the Schwarzwald, which fills the great angle made by the river between Schaffhausen and Strasbourg.

Ancient Baden was occupied first by Celts followed by Germanic peoples who were then conquered by Rome in the 1st century AD. In the 3rd century AD, however, the Romans yielded the region to the Alemanni, and by the 8th century the Franks had completely conquered the area, Christianizing it in the process. The title margrave of Baden originated in 1112. In 1218 the margraves, members of the house of Zähringen, acquired part of the countship of Breisgau and later added other lands west of the Rhine. In 1535 their territory was divided into the margravates of Baden-Baden in the south and Baden-Durlach in the north. Both margravates became Protestant during the Reformation, but Baden-Baden returned to Roman Catholicism in the 1570s. The dynastic rivalry between the two margravates further weakened them vis-à-vis neighbouring German states. Baden was terribly devastated during the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), and the towns of Pforzheim, Durlach, and Baden were destroyed during the expansionist wars waged by Louis XIV of France in the late 17th century.

Louis William I, margrave of Baden-Baden from 1677 to 1707, was a distinguished commander in the imperial army in wars against the Turks and against the French; he built the palace of Rastatt. Charles III William, margrave of Baden-Durlach from 1709 to 1738, founded Karlsruhe as his capital. Baden was reunited under his grandson Charles Frederick, who was margrave of Baden-Durlach from 1738 to 1811 and of Baden-Baden from 1771, when its line became extinct. Under Charles Frederick, Baden enjoyed a long period of prosperity and happiness. However, Charles Frederick had to cede e times its former size. Accordingly, in 1803 Baden was made an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire and in 1806, upon the empire's dissolution, a grand duchy and a member of Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine.

The arms of Richen are first mentioned in 1471 showing in the first and fourth quarter the arms of the Wittelsbach family who was also known as Princes of the Pfalz. The area belonged to the Oberpfalz for many centuries. The meaning or origin of the flames in the second and third quarter is not known.

In the 17th century the town started to use a crest of three towers. In the 19th century the towers replaced the flames in the two quarters, but in 1907, when the arms were officially granted, they were returned as a crest. The crest, however, was rarely used.

The Palatinate or German Pfalz was the land of the Count Palatine, a title held by a leading secular prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Geographically, the Palatinate was divided between two small territorial clusters: the Rhenish, or Lower Palatinate, and the Upper Palatinate. The Rhenish Palatinate included lands on both sides of the Middle Rhine River between its Main and Neckar tributaries. Its capital until the 18th century was Heidelberg. The Upper Palatinate was located in northern Bavaria, on both sides of the Naab River as it flows south toward the Danube and extended eastward to the Bohemian Forest. The boundaries of the Palatinate varied with the political and dynastic fortunes of the Counts Palatine.

The Palatinate has a border beginning in the north, on the Moselle River about 35 miles southwest of Coblenz to Bingen and east to Mainz, down the Rhine River to Oppenheim, Guntersblum and Worms, then continuing eastward above the Nieckar River about 25 miles east of Heidelberg then looping back westerly below Heidelberg to Speyer, south down the Rhine River to Alsace, then north-westerly back up to its beginning on the Moselle River.

The first Count Palatine of the Rhine was Hermann I, who received the office in 945. Although not originally hereditary, the title was held mainly by his descendants until his line expired in 1155 when the Bavarian Wittelsbachs took over in 1180. In 1356, the Golden Bull (a papal bull: an official document, usually commands from the Pope and sealed with the official Papal seal called a Bulla) made the Count Palatine an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. During the Reformation, the Palatinate accepted Protestantism and became the foremost Calvinist region in Germany.

Martin Luther published his 95 Theses on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 that was followed by considerable religious persecution not only for himself but for his followers as well. Perhaps for reasons of mutual comfort and support, they gathered in what is known as the Palatine. These folk came from many places, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and beyond, but all shared a common view on religion.

The protestant Elector Palatine Frederick V (1596-1632), called the “Winter King” of Bohemia, played a unique role in the struggle between Roman Catholic and Protestant Europe. His election in 1619 as King of Bohemia precipitated the Thirty Years War that lasted from 1619 until 1648. Frederick was driven from Bohemia and in 1623, deposed as Elector Palatine.

During the Thirty Years War, the Palatine country and other parts of Germany suffered from the horrors of fire and sword as well as from pillage and plunder by the French armies. This war was based upon both politics and religious hatreds, as the Roman Catholic armies sought to crush the religious freedom of a politically divided Protestantism.

Unpaid armies and bands of mercenaries, both of friends and foe devoured the substance of the German people during the Thirty Years War. Even the catholic French supported the Elector Palatine for a time for political reasons.

During the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-97), the troops of the French monarch Louis XIV ravaged the Rhenish Palatinate, causing many Germans to emigrate. Many of the early German settlers of America were refugees from the Palatinate. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Palatinate's lands on the west bank of the Rhine were incorporated into France, while its eastern lands were divided largely between neighbouring Baden and Hesse.

Nearly the entire 17th century in central Europe was a period of turmoil as Louis XIV of France sought to increase his empire. The War of the Palatinate, which is also known as The War of The League of Augsburg, began in 1688 when Louis claimed the Palatinate. Every large city on the Rhine above Cologne was sacked. The War ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick. The Palatinate was badly battered but still outside French control. In 1702, the War of the Spanish Succession began in Europe and lasted until 1713, causing a great deal of instability for the Palatines. The Palatinate lay on the western edge of the Holy Roman Empire not far from France's eastern boundary. Louis wanted to push his eastern border to the Rhine, the heart of the Palatinate.

The Palatinate provided productive soil for farmers and vineyard operators, however it was frequently subject to invasion by the armies of Britain, France, and Germany. Mother Nature also played a role in what happened, for the winter of 1708 was particularly severe and many of the vineyards perished.

The scene was set for a mass migration. At the invitation of Queen Anne in the spring of 1709, about 7,000 harassed Palatines sailed down the Rhine to Rotterdam. From there, about 3,000 were dispatched to America, either directly or via England, under the auspices of William Penn. The remaining 4,000 were sent via England to Ireland to strengthen the protestant interest.

There were many reasons for the desire of the Palatines to emigrate to the New World: oppressive taxation, religious bickering, hunger for more and better land, the advertising of the English colonies in America and the favourable attitude of the British government toward settlement in the North American colonies. Many of the Palatines believed they were going to Pennsylvania, Carolina or one of the tropical islands.

The passage down the Rhine took from 4 to 6 weeks. Authorities of the territories through which they passed demanded tolls and fees. Early in June 1709, the number of Palatines entering Rotterdam reached 1,000 per week. Later that year, the British government issued a Royal proclamation in German that all arriving after October 1709 would be sent back to Germany. The British could not effectively handle the number of Palatines in London and there may have been as many as 32,000 by November 1709. They wintered over in England since there were no adequate arrangements for the transfer of the Palatines to the English colonies.

In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. The first went to Ireland, the second to Carolina and the third to New York with the new Governor, Robert Hunter. There were 3,000 Palatines on 10 ships that sailed for NY and approximately 470 died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival.

In New York, the Palatines were expected to work for the British authorities, producing naval stores [tar and pitch] for the navy in return for their passage to New York. They were also expected to act as a buffer between the French and Natives on the northern frontier and the English colonies to the south and east.

Benedict married Anna Catharina Vogt, daughter of Friedrich Vogt and Mrs. Barbara Vogt, in 1702 in Richen, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. (Anna Catharina Vogt was born on 18 Jun 1681 in Richen, Baden, Germany and died on 25 Oct 1730 in Richen, Baden, Germany.)