**Ammunition was hidden at the Erlacherhof in case of a possible coup. Illustration by Marco Heer**

The Erlacherhof plot

From rebellious patricians and ammunition stashed in the city hall to a wave of arrests and a controversial trial – the Erlacherhof plot of 1832 was a turning point in the history of the canton of Bern.

Reto Bleuer

Reto Bleuer is a volunteer at the Archaeological Service of the Canton of Bern.

The July Revolution of 1830, which started in France, soon engulfed large swathes of Europe. The people were rebelling against the renewed dominance of the nobility, inspiring the liberal forces in their pursuit of freedom, equality and popular sovereignty. The winds of change were also blowing in Switzerland, heralding a phase of renewal. In various rural towns, thousands of people were swarming to assemblies and demanding constitutional change.

**Scene from the July Revolution in France. Lithograph, 1831.** Wikimedia

One such Volkstag (or people’s assembly) took place in the canton of Bern. On 10 January 1831, some 1,000 men descended on the church in Münsingen to demand the establishment of a constitutional council. This assembly proved effective: three days later, the patrician government announced its resignation and gave in to the protesters’ demands. A constitutional council then drafted a new, democratic cantonal constitution, which was passed by the people with a large majority in July of that year. This paved the way for elections, which, unsurprisingly, were clearly won by the Liberals, led by the Schnell brothers from Burgdorf. The previously powerful urban patrician elites suffered a defeat. Not all the noblemen could conceive of playing an opposition role under the new constitution, leading to 18 of them refusing their seats on the Grand Council. In addition, around 100 officers and soldiers from the city of Bern declined to swear the oath of loyalty to the new constitution, and resigned from the military instead.

**The new constitution for the canton of Bern was adopted with a clear majority in 1831.** Staatsarchiv des Kantons Bern, Mc 1983

The newly-elected government in Bern was intent on driving forward cantonal reform. On 19 May 1832, the Grand Council passed a decree on the modernisation of the communal authorities. This decree provided, among other things, for the creation of Einwohnergemeinden (electoral communes), a more democratic structure that would include all residents. The decree caused horror among the patricians in Bern as their influence and control were set to be significantly curtailed. They also considered civic assets to be in jeopardy.

Political power shift

In the 1830s, a liberal constitution led to a power shift in the cantons, with communes now giving voting rights to all citizens rather than merely to a privileged class. This resulted in the urban elites losing control of their territories. This was also the case in Bern, where electoral communes sprang up throughout the canton. Yet the old elites fought to retain the old order and thus their power and wealth. This led to a division, which still exists today.

Bern’s city council, which was still dominated by the patricians, decided to take action – on the very same day, a commission was set up to “defend the rights of the city with all available means”. This seven-member commission (known as the ‘Siebner’ or ‘band of seven’) led by former mayor Emanuel von Fischer was granted unlimited powers. Other members were former treasurer Beat von Jenner, former councillor Niklaus von Diesbach, Colonel Karl Tscharner, Captain Franz Hahn, Surgeon General of the Swiss Armed Forces Friedrich Lutz, and hospital manager Abraham König.

Portrait of Emanuel Friedrich von Fischer, head of the Siebnerkommission. — **Portrait of Emanuel Friedrich von Fischer, head of the *Siebnerkommission*.** e-rara

Armed Forces Surgeon General Friedrich Lutz was another political heavyweight in the Siebnerkommission. — **Armed Forces Surgeon General Friedrich Lutz was another political heavyweight in the *Siebnerkommission*.** e-periodica

But the cantonal government was already preparing its next move: by order of 25 May 1832, the Bern civic guard, which was under the command of First Lieutenant Hahn, one of the Siebner, was disarmed and subsequently disbanded. The commission was not willing to simply tolerate this and shortly thereafter set about preparing the establishment of a new civic guard. To this end, it ordered 400 rifles from St. Blasien in the Black Forest and 22,000 cartridges from the conservatively-ruled canton of Neuchâtel. Karl von Lentulus was tasked with the procurement of weapons. The 26-year-old captain from Bern had served in the French forces up until 1830, so could draw on his lengthy military experience and extensive network in military circles. After the Swiss regiments in the Netherlands were dissolved and the troops serving in France were discharged at the end of the July Revolution, there were plenty of unemployed soldiers. In the summer of 1832, von Lentulus started organising gatherings at which he would actively seek to recruit members for the new patrician civic guard. The canton of Bern seemed to be sliding headlong into a civil war.

**The civic guard in Bern, depicted by Daniel David Burgdorfer, 1831.** ETH Zurich, Graphische Sammlung

The cantonal government soon found out about the recruitment of soldiers. The young patricians working with von Lentulus were too overt in their recruitment plot, sometimes even operating at the weekly market. The government promptly enacted a law on 7 July 1832, penalising “[…] recruitment, insurgency and the accumulation of weapons and war supplies”, among other things. It was precisely at this time that the ordered cartridges were delivered to Bern in two disguised shipments from Neuchâtel. It was decided that the ammunition would be stored in the city hall – the Erlacherhof on Junkerngasse. It was then stockpiled there, at the very seat of the city government, packed in 44 wooden boxes marked with deceptive labels such as ‘Décorations pour le grand salon’. The stockpiling of ammunition didn’t remain a well-guarded secret for long. Rumours soon started to spread in Bern’s backstreets about plans for a revolution being hatched at the Erlacherhof. There was talk of soldiers, rifles and cannons ready for deployment. This provoked the cantonal government to actively intervene in late August. Two hundred volunteers were hastily recruited and summoned to the city of Bern. Additional troops, equipped with cannons, were redeployed to Burgdorf, Biel, Thun and Interlaken. Arrests were made throughout the canton, with almost 300 people imprisoned – both recruiters and recruits from the patrician group. An arrest warrant was even issued for von Lentulus, but he managed to flee abroad. Meanwhile, in the city itself, a sniper division was ordered to search the Erlacherhof. According to the report by the officer in charge, the hidden cartridges were discovered in the side wall, next to the Bubenbergtor city gate. On 3 September 1832, the members of the Siebnerkommission were arrested for high treason.

**Ammunition for a potential revolution was hidden at the Erlacherhof on Bern’s Junkerngasse.** Wikimedia

Separation of powers undermined

What followed was a lengthy trial, in which the governing council and parliament repeatedly exerted influence, therefore undermining the separation of powers. There was clearly a desire to sound the death knell for the patriciate. The trial centred on the question of whether the Siebnerkommission was behind the recruitment of soldiers, or whether it was just the work of von Lentulus and his fellow campaigners. The acting public prosecutor Professor Karl Hepp saw no direct connection, which led to the cantonal supreme court releasing the Siebnerkommission from custody – to the great annoyance of the liberal forces. Shortly afterwards, Hepp was denied election to the post of public prosecutor, and a special commission even recommended dismissal of the whole cantonal supreme court. The investigations dragged on for months, which allowed the government to fill the cantonal supreme court with loyalists. An initial verdict of 1837 was not enforced as it was deemed too lenient. It was December 1839 by the time the court handed down its final judgments: 86 people were acquitted, and 207 were given monetary penalties or custodial sentences up of up to ten years. Of the six remaining members of the Siebnerkommission, Emanuel von Fischer and Karl Tscharner were each sentenced to two years in prison, and the others to one. Thorberg Castle was converted into a prison for the high-profile inmates – and they had to cover the costs of board and lodging themselves. The Erlacherhof plot put an end to the influence of the patriciate in the canton of Bern once and for all, paving the way for a more democratic political system. It also influenced reform movements in other cantons.

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