Arnold Winkelried

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Drawing Arnold Winkelried by Johann Heinrich Füssli (ca.1750)
Winkelried's death near Sempach; Painting by Konrad Grob (1828–1904)

Arnold Winkelried or Arnold von Winkelried († allegedly July 9, 1386 in Sempach ) is a mythical figure who plays a role in the history of Switzerland .

Legend

He is said to have packed a bundle of lances from the Habsburg knights at the Battle of Sempach on July 9, 1386 and, impaling himself, opened a breach for the Confederates. His sacrifice is said to be the key to the federal victory against the Habsburgs under Duke Leopold III. have been. According to legend, he is said to have said the words "Take care of my wife and child" beforehand. The first mention of such a hero, albeit without a name, was in the Zurich Chronicle in 1476 . It describes the admirable act of "a loyal man" on the part of the Confederates. In Tschudis Chronik this first appears in the previous version of 1563 as "Arnold Winckelriet", in the edition of 1564 he is then "Herr Arnold von Winckelriet, Ritter".

Historical person

On May 1, 1367, the name Erni Winkelried can be found in a well-preserved document, but only this one time.

But it is also possible that the hero Arnold von Winkelried was named by Aegidius Tschudi as an homage to the real captain Arnold Winkelried († April 27, 1522 at the Battle of Bicocca ).

The Bern Chronicle by Diebold Schilling the Elder and the Tschachtlan Chronicle by Bendicht Tschachtlan, which were written between 1470 and 1513 and contain detailed descriptions of the Battle of Sempach, do not yet mention such a hero.

ancestry

The Winkelriede were a well-known family in Stans until the 15th century. In Liebenau's work, Arnold von Winkelried is associated with Heinrich von Winkelried . "The grandson of a knight, a simple farmer (that's what Johann von Rudenz calls him in 1381)."

Hero cult in the 19th and 20th centuries

Arnold Winkelried's monument in Stans, the capital of the canton of Nidwalden.

In the 19th century a real hero worship began. In the Sonderbund War he became the unifying patron saint of the quarreling Confederates, after the founding of the federal state in 1848, songs about him made the rounds, before the Second World War he played an important role in the intellectual national defense of Switzerland. At the end of 1944, Karl Dönitz , Commander in Chief of the German Navy, coined the term "Winkelried". This honorary name was coined for all those members of the small combat units of the Kriegsmarine who willingly sacrificed themselves in full suicide during the mission "for the leader, the people and the fatherland". In 1970, the Swiss National Councilor James Schwarzenbach praised the assembled supporters on the battlefield of Sempach for his foreign infiltration initiative as "Winkelriedstat". In Stans today, in a chapel-like niche, the Winkelried monument, created in 1865 by Ferdinand Schlöth , stands .

In the drama "Kordian" by Juliusz Słowacki (1833), a masterpiece of 19th century Polish literature, in a monologue, spoken on the top of Mont Blanc , the eponymous hero calls the subjugated Poland "Winkelried der Völker".

A memorial plaque for him is in the Walhalla in Donaustauf .

literature

  • Paul Hilber. Wilhelm Tell, Arnold von Winkelried, Niklaus von der Flüe : Three Heroes of Original Switzerland, Räber, Lucerne, 1929.
  • Hermann von Liebenau: Arnold Winkelried, his time u. his deed. Aarau 1862.
  • Hermann von Liebenau: The Winkelriede from Stans to Arnold Winkelried, the heroes of Sempach. With enclosures (13 printed certificates). Zurich 1856.
  • Guy P. Marchal et al .: Arnold von Winkelried. Myth and Reality. Nidwalden contributions to the Winkelried year 1986. Historischer Verein Nidwalden, Stans 1986.
  • Guy P. Marchal: Swiss history of use. Images of history, myth-making and national identity. Schwabe, Basel 2006, pp. 305 ff, ISBN 978-3-7965-2242-0 .
  • Bruno Meyer: Sempach and Winkelried . Mühlemann, Weinfelden 1989, ISBN 3-85809-064-6 .
  • Heinrich Thommen: The battle of Sempach in the picture for posterity. Exhibition in the Stadthaus and Ochsentor in Sempach, June 21 - October 12, 1986 on the occasion of the anniversary 600 years of the Battle of Sempach, 600 years of the City and Country of Lucerne, published by the Jubilee Foundation 600 years of the Battle of Sempach and 600 years of the City and Country of Lucerne Lehrmittelverlag, Lucerne 1986, ISBN 3-271-00009-3 .
  • Winkelried, Arnold von . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 28 : Vetch - Zymotic Diseases . London 1911, p. 730 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Web links

Commons : Arnold Winkelried  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ See supplement XII from Hermann von Liebenau: Die Winkelriede von Stans . 1856.
  2. ^ Hermann von Liebenau: The Winkelriede von Stans . 1856, p. 48.
personal data
SURNAME Winkelried, Arnold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Winkelried, Arnold von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION mythical Swiss hero
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: July 9, 1386
Place of death Sempach