Citizens

Ordinary citizens gained most from the French constitution. The new civil code, the Code Napoléon, guaranteed basic rights for the first time, such as liberty of the individual, freedom to own property and to trade. Therefore the Rhinelanders gladly adopted French manners and admired Paris fashions. The new legislation also guaranteed equality before the law.

A.Klebe wrote on his trip to the Rhineland around 1800:
"The court sessions are public, the judges confer in secret; the verdicts are announced in a loud voice, and must contain the reasons in addition to the words of the applied law. All citizens are equal before the law – any preference to be tried differently is an injustice; all privileges in jurisdiction have come to an end."
(Klebe, A.: Reise auf dem Rhein, 1806, Frankfurt a.M., S. 99)

Back to Exhibition Plan