Final Act of the Congress of Vienna/Act VIII

by The plenipotentiaries of the high powers who signed the treaty

The hereditary possessions of the House of Orange having been transferred as an indemnity to his Majesty the King Prussia, in virtue of the stipulations agreed upon between the powers assembled at the Congress of Vienna, and a territorial arrangement with their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, having been expressly reserved, his Majesty the King of Prussia has appointed as his Plenipotentiary to conclude such arrangement, viz. the Prince Hardenberg, his Chancellor of State, Knight of the Grand Orders of the Black Eagle and of the Red Eagle, of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and of the Iron Cross of Prussia; of the Order of St. Andrew, of St. Alexander Newsky, and of St. Anne of Russia, of the First Class; Grand Cross of the Royal Order of St. Stephen of Hungary; Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour; Grand Cross of the Order of St. Charles of Spain; of the Supreme Order of the Annunciation of Sardinia; Knight of the Order of the Seraphim of Sweden, of the Order of the Elephant of Denmark, of St. Hubert of Bavaria, of the Golden Eagle of Wurtemberg, and of several others;

His First Plenipotentiary at the Congress of Vienna. And their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, Ernest Francis Louis Marschal de Bieberstein, Grand Cross of the Order of Fidelity of Baden, and their Principal Minister of State and Plenipotentiary at the Congress;

Who, after having exchanged their full powers, have agreed on the following Articles:

ART. I. Their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, cede to his Majesty the King of Prussia, in full sovereignty and property, the bailiwicks, parishes, and places hereafter mentioned:

1. The bailiwick of Linz.
2. The bailiwick of Altenwied.
3. The bailiwick of Schoeneberg.
4. The bailiwick of Altenkirchen.
5. The parish of Stamm, formerly composing part of the bailiwick of Hackenburg.
6. The bailiwick of Schoenstein.
7. That of Freusberg.
8. That of Friedewald.
9. That of Dierdorff.
10. The detached part of the bailiwick of Hersbach, bordering on Altenkirchen.
11. The bailiwick of Neuerberg.
12. That of Hamsstein, together with Irlich and Engers.
13. The bailiwick of Heddesdorf.
14. The town of Neuwied.
15. The communes of Gladbach, Heimbach, Weiss, Sayn, Mühlhofen, Bendorf, Weitersburg, Vallendar, and Mallendar, forming part of the bailiwick of Vallendar.
16. The communes of Nieder-Werth, Niederberg, Urbar, Immendorf, Neudorff, Ahrenberg, Ehrenbreitstein, together with the mills of Arzheim, Pfaffendorf, and Horchbeim, forming part of the bailiwick of Ehrenbreitstein.
17. The bailiwick of Braunfels.
18. That of Greifenstein.
19. That of Hohensolms.

ART. II. His Majesty the King of Prussia, on his part, cedes to their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, with all the rights of sovereignty and property thereunto belonging;

1. The three principalities formerly possessed by the House of Nassau-Orange, viz. Diez, Hadamar, and Dillenbourg, including the lordship of Beilstein; excepting, however, the bailiwicks of Burbach and Neunkirchen.
2. A part of the Principality of Siegen, and of the bailiwicks of Burbach and Neunkirchen, containing a population of 12,000 inhabitants, and composed of communes contiguous to the principality of Dilienbourg.
3. Lastly, the lordships of Westerburg and Schadeck, and that part of the bailiwick of Runkel which belonged to the former Grand Duchy of Berg.

ART. III. The part of the principality of Siegen, and of the bailiwicks of Burbach and Neunkirchen, which is to be ceded in virtue of the above Articles, shall be determined by Commissioners, to be appointed by the two High Contracting parties, with as little delay as possible, and, at furthest, within four weeks after the ratification of the present Treaty; but, at all events, previously to the taking possession of the provinces belonging to the House of Nassau-Orange. The Commissioners shall conform to the principle of the contiguity of these portions with the respective territories; and they shall take especial care that the relations with regard to communes, to the church, and to industry, as they at present exist, shall be maintained. Under the relations of industry, are specially included those which relate to the working of mines.

In the event of these Commissioners not agreeing upon one or other of these points, they are authorized to refer to an Arbitrator, of their own appointment, whose decision shall be final.

ART. IV. The bailiwicks and portions of territory to be reciprocally ceded, in conformity to the 1st, 2d, and 3d Articles, shall be transferred to the future possessor, with all the precincts of the communes belonging thereto, together with all the public and demesnial property contained in these territories, under whatever denomination they may have been held, or whatever be the title by which they may have been acquired. Neither party shall possess enclaves in the territory of the other, and particularly the abbeys of Bomersdorf, Sayn, Niederwerth, and Besselick, situated in the communes ceded by Art. I., shall be comprehended in the Prussian territory, with all their property inclosed within the Prussian limits.

The two Contracting Parties renounce reciprocally, in behalf of each other, all revenues, rights of suzerainty, feudal, or other rights, of whatever description, which might have belonged to one party in the territory of the other.

The utensils of the mint of Ehrenbreitstein, the furniture in the castle of Engers, and the yachts belonging to their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, are reserved to them, to be taken away in three months from the date of the ratification of the present Treaty.

ART. V. In order to insure and complete the fortifications and defence of the ancient fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, situated in the territory ceded by the House of Nassau; in case it should be considered expedient to reestablish it, it is agreed that Prussia shall, in general, be at liberty to erect military works wherever it may be thought proper, at the distance of 1,500 Rhenish yards (Rheinlandische ruthen) from the fortress, even in those communes which may remain under the sovereignty of the House of Nassau, an indemnity being, however, given to the landowners, and without prejudice to territorial relations.

ART. VI. In order that the cessions agreed upon in Article I. may not prove detrimental to the commerce of the Duchy of Nassau, it is agreed that the import and export trade on the Rhine, by roads leading to that river, through Ehrenbreitstein and Vallendar, shall not experience any obstacle, in respect to the inhabitants of that Duchy, nor be subjected to any new charges.

ART. VII. With respect to arrears of revenues and the surplus of the public chests, the same principles shall be acted upon as have been adopted, and are now observed, in regard to similar objects towards his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, in those proportions of territory which have been transferred to his said Majesty by his Majesty the King of Prussia.

ART. VIII. With regard to debts belonging to the ceded portions of territory, it is agreed;

A. That the private debts of the communes, parishes, bailiwicks, districts, or provinces, shall be transferred, with these communes, parishes, bailiwicks, districts, and provinces, to their future possessor, and shall continue to belong to them. When the bailiwicks, districts, or provinces, shall have been divided, the debts of these bailiwicks, districts, or provinces, respectively, shall be shared between the two governments, in the proportion in which the ceded parts have hitherto contributed to the payment of interest and the reimbursement of the capital; or, if this proportion cannot be settled, in that in which these countries have in general contributed to the ordinary expenses.

B. The debts of the public chests and chamber of finance, of the Duchy of Nassau, such as their amount was ascertained to be on the 31st December 1814, shall be divided between the two parties, in the proportion of the net revenues which the ceded territories have annually paid into the central state chests and the chamber of finance, taking for average the five years immediately preceding 1812, adding thereto, however, the net revenue of the bailiwick of Runkel, in the year 1814.

C. The State debts, and those of the chamber of finance, of the Princey of Nassau-Orange, shall be divided between the two Contracting Parties, in the proportion, and according to the period already agreed upon, taking as the average the net revenues of the chamber of Nassau-Orange, in the five years from 1801 to 1805, and adding to each of these years the net revenues of the lordships of Westerburg and Schadeck, such as they were in 1814.

D. The debts of Nassau-Saarbruck, with which the State chest of the Duchy of Nassau may yet be burthened, are not comprised in this distribution, but shall remain exclusively at the charge of the House of the Duke and Prince of Nassau.

ART. IX. The pensions which have been granted for services rendered to a particular part of territory, or which are charged upon secularized property lying in one of those Parts; in a word, all pensions which, according to the nature of their origin, belong to any territory in particular, shall be paid by the party possessing the property upon which they were originally assigned.

The pensions granted to the army shall be paid by the government possessing the territory where the pensioner was born.

All other pensions, which do not come under this head, shall be divided in proportion to the revenues, in the manner which has been settled for public debts.

Annuities shall be provided for in the same manner as debts, and paid, either wholly or in part, by the two governments, according as different parts of a territory, or a whole country, are burthened with them.

ART. X. The local functionaries, and other persons in office, shall go with the territories ceded in the divided bailiwicks; the government to whom the place of their actual residence may pass, shall accept their services.

All central and provincial functionaries employed in the administrations of Wiesbaden, Weilburg, Diez, and Dillenbourg, shall either continue with, or be transferred to the House of Nassau. Prussia shall take charge of those of Ehrenbreitstein.

The central functionaries who cannot continue in the service of either of the two governments, or who shall be allowed to retire, by either party, in three months from the date of the present Convention, shall receive the pensions or superannuations fixed by the Edict of the Duke and Prince of Nassau, of the 3d and 6th December 1811. These pensions shall be paid by the two governments, according to the rate agreed upon with respect to debts. No public officer who is to be provided for by either government, shall be placed upon a less favourable footing than that fixed in the said Edict.

ART. XI. All military persons, natives of the territories reciprocally ceded, not holding rank of an officer, shall, after the conclusion of the approaching campaign, be sent to the military authorities of the government to whom the place of their nativity shall belong: until that period, they shall continue in the service in which they are at present.

Officers shall not be prevented, by the government to whom the place of their nativity shall remain, or be transferred, from having the option of continuing in the service of the other government.

ART. XII. Persons condemned to prisons, or houses of correction, and insane persons confined in hospitals, shall be sent to the respective governments to whom the places of their nativity belong.

ART. XIII. The archives and collections of papers, shall be given up, according to the partition of the territories, and each government shall be put in possession of the deeds and instruments which relate to that portion which is ceded to it.

ART. XIV. Prussia undertakes to fulfil the engagements entered into by the Ducal House of Nassau, relative to the post of Taxis, as far as these engagements attach to those parts of the territory which are ceded to that power.

ART. XV. The high road from Giessen to Ehrenbreitstein, which crosses the country of Nassau, shall be made a military road for Prussia, to establish a communication between Erfurth and Coblentz. Whatever has been agreed upon with respect to the military roads belonging to Prussia, which pass through the states of the King of Hanover and the Elector of Hesse, shall be applicable to the said road from Giessen to Ehrenbreitstein.

ART. XVI. In order to settle definitively all such points as require ulterior arrangement, especially such as relate to debts, pensions, public functionaries, and other persons in office, the two governments shall appoint Commissioners, immediately after the ratifications of the present Treaty, who shall assemble at Wiesbaden, for the purpose of settling all such arrangements with as little delay as possible. They shall be empowered to take such measures as may be necessary, in order that the payment of the interest of public debts, and that of pensions, may not experience any interruption, that the public credit may not be shaken, and that the business of the public offices may be conducted as heretofore.

ART. XVII. As the Convention concluded the 31st May, between their Majesties the King of Prussia and of the Netherlands, relative to mutual cessions of territory, contains an Article, worded as follows:

"A commission shall be named, without delay, by his Majesty the King of Prussia and his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, to determine all matters that relate to the cession of his Majesty's Nassau possessions, with regard to archives, debts, excesses of public chests, and other objects of the same nature. Such part of the archives as concern the House of Orange, and have no relation to the ceded countries, and all the private and personal property of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, his library, collections of maps, and other similar objects, shall be retained by his Majesty, and be delivered up to him immediately. A part of the said possessions having been exchanged against possessions of the Duke and Prince of Nassau, his Majesty the King of Prussia engages, and his Majesty the king of the Netherlands consents, to transfer the engagement stipulated by the present Article to their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau, as far as regards that part of the said possessions which shall be united to their States."

Their Serene Highnesses the Duke and Prince of Nassau engage to fulfil, in the name and place of his Majesty the King of Prussia, the engagements he has contracted on their account, as far as these engagements concern the territories and portions of territory belonging to the House of Nassau-Orange which, by the present Treaty, are ceded to them.

ART. XVIII. The ratifications of this Convention shall be exchanged in four weeks, or sooner, if possible.

The ceded subjects shall be at once released from the oaths of fidelity which bound them to their former Sovereigns.

In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have caused to be affixed thereunto the seal of their arms.

Done at Vienna the 31st May 1815.

Signed

(L. S.) The Prince de Hardenberg

(L. S.) Marschall de Bieberstein

Notes

1. Hansard (1816)

References

• British Foreign Office British and Foreign State Papers. 1814—1815 Volume II. Compiled by the librarian and keeper of the papers, Foreign Office-London: James Rigway and Sons, Piccadilly, H.M.S.O., 1839. pp. 102-113. Original French. The additional formatting of this treaty from this document.
• Hansard, The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ..., Volume 32. 1 February to 6 March 1816, T.C. Hansard, 1816. pp. pp. 159-164. The translation is from this document.