City history discussion group: With coffee and bread against the revolutionaries

As part of the Bocholt city history discussion group, historian Dr Henning Bovenkerk will shed light on the events surrounding the 1848/49 revolution in Bocholt on Wednesday, 12 November 2025, from 18:30 in the media centre (Alter Bahnhof). His lecture is entitled "The Revolution 1848/49. With coffee and bread against the revolutionaries" and shows how the political unrest was also reflected in Bocholt.

The focus is on the role of individual actors whose actions had a decisive influence on the local revolutionary events. This becomes particularly clear in the example of Bocholt, where courageous rebels and affected citizens faced each other. Dr Bovenkerk explains how local events, such as the attitude of the Bocholt lawyer and historian Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Reigers, shaped the image of this period.

Using historical sources, the lecture illustrates that even inconspicuous items such as coffee and sandwiches played a role in the political debate. In this way, the revolution becomes comprehensible not only as a major national event, but also as a local experience that directly affected the lives of many people in Bocholt.

Bocholt historian Dr Henning Bovenkerk works at the North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives in Detmold. He studied history and German language and literature at the University of Münster and completed his doctorate at the Universities of Münster and Antwerp. His research specialises in Westphalian economic, social and regional history. The evening will be moderated by city archivist Renate Volks-Kuhlmann.