Balm (noble family)

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The von Balm family was a baron dynasty that appeared in the Swiss plateau in the 13th and early 14th centuries for about four generations.

origin

Ruin of the Grottenburg Balm

Until 1308, the barons owned the Balm estate of the same name (today the municipality of Balm near Günsberg ). The family name is derived from the term "Balmburg" ( cave castle ), the ancestral seat was the castle Balm (today ruin Balm ). The family moved their seat and thus their center of power to Altbüron around the middle of the 12th century after the family there had died out. Today it can no longer be proven whether the rule of the Altbüron was acquired through purchase or inheritance. In addition to the dominions of Balm and Altbüron, the family also owned the Altishofen dominion and numerous estates in the Rot- and Wiggertal .

The barons can be found in the retinue of Hartmann IV the Elder of Kyburg in 1218 , as Habsburg followers from the middle of the 13th century .

Family ties to the barons of Langenstein , von Kempten, von Tengen and von Grünenberg have been proven. In addition, relationships to the barons of Wädenswil, von Hasenburg and the knights of Hünenberg are suspected.

The Balm were among the supporters of the St. Urban Monastery when it was founded. In 1274/75 they were among the co-founders of the Ebersecken monastery, where their burial place was. They also owned a castle in Ebersecken .

Name bearer

A total of four generations are known, as well as other people in the 13th and 14th centuries who cannot be clearly assigned.

In 1201 the family with Burkhard von Balm and his son Heinrich I are mentioned for the first time. The brothers Heinrich II., Rudolf I and Ulrich II. Formed the third generation and were most likely sons of Heinrich I.

Rudolf II von Balm, with a high probability the son of Rudolf I, combined all rights of rule in his hand, but was at the same time responsible for the decline of the baron family. In 1308 Rudolf II was. In the murder of King I. Albrecht involved. This led to the imposition of the imperial ban and the confiscation of all rights and goods. It is true that Rudolf II escaped the blood revenge by fleeing and is said to have lived in a Basel monastery until 1312.

Three brothers Heimo, Ulrich and Guntram von Balm and a sister named Anna were mentioned in 1323. Anna was the wife of Dietrich von Rüti.

The family is not to be confused with the gentlemen von Balm , who had their ancestral home at Balm Castle near Lottstetten . These appear in the documents from 1152 to 1291, were initially free class, later with citizenship in Schaffhausen and had a silver millstone as a coat of arms in red.

coat of arms

Blazon : five times split by silver and blue, topped with a striding red lion.

literature

  • Jakob Käser: Topographical, historical and statistical representation of the village and district of Melchnau in its relationship to the past, present and future . With two lithographic explanatory panels. Printed by J. Konrad, Langenthal 1855, Chapter XIII. The old Twing Lords' castles and news from the old Twing Lords , p. 183-194 ( gruenenberg.net ).
  • Ambros Kocher: Solothurn document book . First vol. 762-1245. State Chancellery of the Canton of Solothurn, Solothurn 1952 (family table attached).

Web links