Johann Philipp Palm or Johannes Philipp Palm (18 December 1766 – 26 August 1806) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

bookseller and a strong anti-French agitator and freedom fighter executed during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's orders. He was born at

Schorndorf Schorndorf () is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler T ...

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Having been apprenticed to his uncle, the publisher Johann Jakob Palm (1750–1826), in

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

, he married the daughter of the bookseller Stein in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, and in the course of time became proprietor of his father-in-law's business. In the spring of 1806, the Stein publishing house sent to the bookselling establishment of Stage in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

a pamphlet (presumably written by Philipp Christian Yelin in

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

) entitled ''Deutschland in seiner tiefen Erniedrigung'' (), which strongly attacked

and the behaviour of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

troops in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. On learning of the violent rhetorical attack made upon his régime and failing to discover the actual author, Napoleon had Palm arrested in and handed over to a military commission at

Braunau am Inn Braunau am Inn (; ) is a town in Upper Austria on the border with Germany. It is known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. Geography The town is on the lower river Inn below its confluence with the Salzach, where it forms the border with ...

on the Bavarian-

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

frontier, with peremptory instructions to try the prisoner and execute him within twenty-four hours. Palm was denied the right of defence, and after a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

on 25 August 1806, he was shot the following day without having betrayed the pamphlet's author. A life-size bronze statue was erected to his memory in Braunau in 1866, and on the centenary of his death, numerous patriotic meetings were held throughout Bavaria. Since 2002 a private foundation at Schorndorf has awarded a Johann Philipp Palm Prize for freedom of speech and the press. According to a famous anecdote, it was to Palm that the poet Thomas Campbell was referring when he gave his famous toast to

at a literary dinner. When this caused uproar, he admitted, "The Emperor is a usurper, the enemy of our country, and if you will of the whole human race. But, gentlemen, let us be just to our great enemy. Let us not forget that he once shot a bookseller." Palm is briefly mentioned in

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's autobiography ''

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

'' (), in the first page of the book. Hitler wrote, "To-day I consider it a good omen that Destiny appointed Braunau-am-Inn to be my birthplace." Later on the same page, Palm is mentioned by name as an "uncompromising

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and enemy of the

, put to death here because he had loved

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

even in her misfortune." Hitler compares his death to that of Leo Schlageter, who had also been executed by the French after being betrayed to them.

Johann Philipp Palm Prize laureates

*2002:

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(Tunisia) and

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(Germany) *2004: Sergei Duvanov (Kazakhstan) and

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(Afghanistan) *2006:

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, The Point (Gambia) and Asya Tretyuk (Belarus) *2008:

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(China) *2022:

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palm, Johann Philipp 1766 births 1806 deaths People from Schorndorf German people of the Napoleonic Wars People from the Duchy of Bavaria People from the Duchy of Württemberg German booksellers Booksellers from the Holy Roman Empire People executed by the French military by firearm Executed people from Baden-Württemberg