Baron Philippe Friedrich Dietrich (german: Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Dietrich; 14 November 1748 – 29 December 1793) was a French

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

and politician. He was most well known as the first mayor of Strasbourg who encouraged Rouget de l'Isle to write various patriotic songs, including the song which became known as "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

", first performed in his living room; he was also known as a scientist, author of a mine survey and the development blast furnaces in France, distinguished geologist and chemist, and member of the Academy of Sciences. As mayor of Strasbourg, he accelerated revolutionary reforms throughout the region.

Family and early career

Banque de France-Strasbourg (6)-De Dietrich

Dietrich came from an old Protestant family of bankers and foundry owners in

Niederbronn Niederbronn-les-Bains () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is positioned between Bitche and Wissembourg, close to the current frontier with Germany. Niederbronn-les-Bains is part of the Northern V ...

, in the Lower Rhine, and Reichshofen. The family was established in Strasbourg, with the 1549 birth of Dominique Didier, who was also known in this bi-lingual territory as Dominick Dietrich. Louis Spach
''Frederic de Dietrich, premier maire de Strasbourg.''
Strasbourgh, Vve. Berger-Levrault & fils, 1857, p. 3. His father, Jean Dietrich (1719–1795, comte Ban de la Roche), was the son of Johann von Dietrich, a foundry owner in Reichshofen. His mother, Amélie Hermanny (Anne-Dorothee Hermanni) (1729–1766), was the daughter of a prominent banker. He had one brother, Jean (1746–1805), who married Louise-Sophie de Glaubitz (1751–1806), and established the family's ironworks in

Saint Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the island, Santo Domingo, which came to re ...

. His own son, Jean-Albert Dietrich (1773–1806), was counselor of

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

; he married Amélie de Berckheim (1776–1855). His granddaughter married the nephew of his successor as mayor of Strasbourg, William Turckheim (1785–1831), colonel of cavalry in the French army. Ernst Lehr, ''L'Alsace noble suivie de le livre d'or du patriciat de Strasbourg...,'' Berger-Levrault, 1870, Volume 3
pp. 172–173
Dietrich attended the Protestant gymnasium in Strasbourg and from 1772 continued his study through European travel. An encyclopaedist, and a Freemason, he embraced the Enlightenment ideals the development ideas of science and technology, gender differences in men without religion or origin, international understanding and peace among peoples. He married Louise Sybille Ochs, sister of

Peter Ochs Peter Ochs (20 August 1752, Nantes, France – 19 June 1821, Basel, Switzerland) was a Swiss politician who is best known for drawing up the first constitution of the short-lived Helvetic Republic. Biography Born in France of a family that claim ...

, who became mayor of Basel and a militant supporter of the French-styled revolution in Switzerland in 1798–99. He received the position of secretary and ''charge-de-affaires'' of Swiss and Grisons, bought by his father in 1771. This charge required him to reside in Paris half his time. In 1775, he demonstrated the volcanic origins of the Kaiserstuhl, near Freiburg im Breisgau, and was admitted to the

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...

in 1786. In 1777 he participated in experiments conducted by Alessandro Volta in Strasbourg, on

marsh gas Marsh gas, also known as swamp gas or bog gas, is a mixture primarily of methane and smaller amounts of hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and trace phosphine that is produced naturally within some geographical marshes, swamps, and bogs. The surfac ...

, and brought him membership into the Academy of Sciences, aided by

Antoine Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

and coke. In the course of his duties, he compiled the ''Description of ore bodies and mouths to fire the kingdom'' in three volumes: the Pyrenees (1786), Upper and Lower Alsace (1788) and the southern Lorraine (written in 1788 but published in 1799).

Activities during the Revolution

Dietrich was mayor of Strasbourg from March 1790 to August 1792. At his home during a dinner in honor of the officers of the garrison of Strasbourg he asked the Captain

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (), sometimes spelled de l'Isle or de Lile (10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836), was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the ''Chant de guerre pour l'armé ...

, stationed in his city, to write the "Song for the

Army of the Rhine An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

", the future "

". Rouget de l'Isle composed the song in the night of 24–25 April 1792. According to sources, Dietrich would have sung the song himself, accompanied on the piano by his wife, for he was very good musician. Baron Dietrich knew the Captain Rouget de l'Isle to be like him, a Freemason and attend the same Masonic lodge of Strasbourg. Summoned before the bar of the Convention, which accused him of supporting the refractory priests and especially to have protested against the insurgency days of 20 June–10 August 1792, Dietrich took refuge first in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, in the home of his brother-in-law,

, and was taken prisoner. The

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = P ...

sent him to the court of

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

on 7 March 1793. He was then transported to Paris, where

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

considered a "dangerous man", "one of the greatest conspirators of the Republic." Putting pressure on the court, Robespierre declared to the Jacobins: "National justice requires that he ietrichbe punished, and the interest of the people demand it to be onequickly". Consequently, the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death. He was guillotined on 29 December 1793. On 23 August 1795, the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year Nationa ...

rehabilitated the reputation of Dietrich as a hero of the Revolution.

Notes, citations, and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dietrich, Philippe Friedrich Mayors of Strasbourg People executed by guillotine during the French Revolution French people of German descent 1748 births 1793 deaths Alsatian people French Freemasons