Anna Bullinger

Portrait of Anna Bullinger-Adlischwyler. Engraving by Heinrich Meyer (1830), Zurich City Archives

Anna Bullinger (* 1505 in Zurich as Anna Adlischwyler ; † September 17, 1564 ibid) was a religious in Oetenbach Monastery , later a wife and committed pastor at the side of the reformer Heinrich Bullinger .

Live and act

origin

Anna Adlischwyler was the daughter of Elisabeth Stadler († 1529) and Hans Adlischwyler († 1512) von Rapperswil . Her father had been a citizen of Zurich since 1491, cooked for Mayor Hans Waldmann , Abbot Trinkler zu Kappel and an official wine tavern "zum Elsässer".

Nun in the Oetenbach monastery

Adlischwyler came to the Dominican monastery in Oetenbach as a young woman in 1523 . The year before, Huldrych Zwingli had preached "On the clarity and certainty of God's word" there; this gradually led the nuns there on the path of the Reformation . After the large Abbey of Fraumünster was handed over to the city in 1524, the Oetenbach monastery was also dissolved by the authorities in 1525. However, nuns who wanted to keep their religious vows were allowed to stay in Oetenbach, including Anna Adlischwyler.

Wife of reformer Heinrich Bullinger

Heinrich Bullinger , then a teacher in the Cistercian monastery in Kappel am Albis , soon became interested in the young woman. In 1527 he wrote to the then 23-year-old: "Yes, you are young, and God did not give you such an unsuitable body and did not create you so that you could forever be a gracious lady and do nothing or bring no fruit" . He advised her to read the letter a few times and then decide. On October 27, 1527, the two met in Zurich's Grossmünster and promised to marry. They kept their vows secret because Elisabeth Stadler-Adlischwyler, Anna's mother, found the idea of ​​marriage between the two abhorrent.

Nevertheless, Anna Adlischwyler initially did not want to leave the monastery and said Heinrich Bullinger. In a second, more impatient letter, he explained that God wants men and women to marry. He sent Peter Simler and Huldrych Zwingli to the marriage court to settle the case. This decided for Bullinger; Nevertheless, Adlischwyler stayed at the Oetenbach monastery for two more years until her mother died. Then she married Heinrich Bullinger.

During the Battle of Kappel on October 11, 1531, in which Huldrych Zwingli was killed, Anna Bullinger and her child had to flee from the city of Bremgarten , where she lived with Heinrich Bullinger. As a result, Heinrich Bullinger was called to Zurich to succeed Huldrych Zwingli as folk priest and antistes at the Grossmünster. Anna Bullinger had an open house for guests, people, refugees. More than 30 people gathered regularly at their table. She was considered a mentor to many young people; many letters testify that it was highly valued.

children

Heinrich and Anna Bullinger had eleven children together: Anneli (* 1530), Elisabeth (* 1532), Heinrich (* 1534), Hans Rudolf (* 1536), Christof (* 1537), Hans (* 1539) and Diethelm (* 1541 ); Hans and Diethelm both died in 1541. Veritas (* 1543), Dorothea (* 1545) and Felix (1547–1553). All but one of the adult children became either theologians, wives of theologians, or pastors.

death

Anna Bullinger died of the plague on September 17, 1564 at the age of 59 . Only the text of her husband has survived: « Anna Bullingerin or Adlischwylerin, my children's mother, dies of pestilence on September 25, 1564 and was buried with a large Lych (escort) to the cathedral to Herr Bibliander u (September 26, 1564) between Mr. City Clerk Aescher and Her Doctor Petrus Martyr (November 12th, 1562) […] With wonderful successors of many people, the avenging and erenous people of all places. »

Honor

Memorial plaque from Anna Bullinger-Adlischwyler at Zwingliplatz 4 in Zurich.

Anna Bullinger-Adlischwyler was honored by the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster on the occasion of the annual women's honor at Sechseläuten 2017 . Your memorial plaque is located at Zwingliplatz 4 in Zurich.

literature

• Aid Society in Zurich , New Year's Gazette 1860
• Susann L. Pflüger: New Year's Gazette of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster for 2017 (Eleventh Edition), Volume 11, No. 11. Edition Gutenberg, Zurich 2017, ISSN  1663-5264