Buchhorn

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Coordinates: 47 ° 39 '  N , 9 ° 29'  E

Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806) .svg
Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
Buchhorn
coat of arms
Buchhorn coat of arms eriskirch.jpg
Wappenstein von Buchhorn in 1619. It comes from the old Buchhorn office building in Eriskirch and is now walled in at the town hall in Eriskirch.


Form of rule Imperial city


Today's region / s DE-BW
Parliament Swabian city bank
Reichskreis Swabian Empire


Denomination / Religions Roman Catholic
Language / n German


Incorporated into Württemberg , Friedrichshafen


Buchhorn is the former name of the city of Friedrichshafen . The city on the northeastern shore of Lake Constance was an imperial city ​​for over 400 years, from the 13th century to 1802/03 . The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss ended the republican era, Buchhorn was awarded to the Electorate of Bavaria . However, only a few years later, as part of the border treaty between Bavaria and Württemberg in 1810 , the city came from the Kingdom of Bavaria to the Kingdom of Württemberg , and shortly afterwards the Württemberg King Friedrich I of Württemberg ordered the merger of the districts of the city of Buchhorn and the municipality of Hofen in 1811 , on which the district of the Hofen monastery was located. The new municipality took over the town charter of Buchhorn and was designed as the Württemberg port of Lake Constance . It was named Schloss und Stadt Friedrichshafen , the name Buchhorn fell out of use, but the name Hofen has been used to this day. Buchhorn was mainly shaped by the Lake Constance trade, but had seen an eventful history in which it was often destroyed.

history

Foundation and village history

In the year 838 Buchhorn is mentioned for the first time as "Buachihorn" as a place of the Udalrichinger , in which they built the Leutkirche. Around 1100 the first traders settled on the lake, who set up a transhipment point for goods from land to water in order to improve and expand trade connections across the Alps to Italy. The later town at that time probably only consisted of a few houses, a warehouse, an inn, horse stables and a small market. In 1156 a chapel was built on the site of today's Nikolauskirche, but it was destroyed again in 1291.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Buchhorn is not insignificant as a connection between the trade route from Ravensburg and the east-west route along the shores of Lake Constance. In 1215, a trader from Buchhorn is mentioned for the first time in a report on the events of the Weißenau monastery . Since the rural village of Buchhorn was a bit away from the intersection and a new settlement was established directly at the intersection in the 13th century, which was called Hofen in 1266 , it is also believed that under the Staufer Friedrich II in the period between 1213 and 1216 a new city Buchhorn has been founded. Documents about the founding of the city of Buchhorn have not been preserved and are likely to have been destroyed in a fire.

Buchhorn as a city

In 1274 Buchhorn was first mentioned as a city in a document. The content was the regulation of the ownership of a garden between a citizen named Nikolaus and the abbot of Salem . It was signed by the then mayor Hermann and his predecessor Eberhard. The seal shows a 15-leaf beech tree with a horn hung across the trunk. Then Buchhorn belonged to the bailiwick of Swabia, based in Altdorf . The first landgrave was Hugo von Werdenberg-Heiligenberg, who resided on the Veitsburg . In 1275, Buchhorn was raised to the rank of imperial city by King Rudolf together with Überlingen and Freiburg im Breisgau . According to the new city law, Buchhorn's citizens were only subject to their own city court in order to be independent of other courts. But serious crimes remained the responsibility of foreign courts.

Pledging and King's War

In 1280 the imperial city was pledged by King Rudolf to the Counts of Werdenberg . After Adolf von Nassau had been elected German king at the instigation of the Rhenish electors , Hugo von Werdenberg, who represented the interests of Duke Albrecht of Austria , got into a dispute with the abbot of St. Gallen monastery Wilhelm and moved his troops into Buchhorn . St. Gallen and Konstanz then attacked Buchhorn on November 11, 1291, first plundered and burned the city. This was a heavy blow for Buchhorn and his further development. After Adolf von Nassau had been deposed by the Electors in 1298 and Albrecht of Austria had succeeded him, the city received further rights and privileges from him, such as B. the right to hold a weekly market under royal protection. But it was not until 1332 that the imperial city was released from its pledging to the Werdenbergers. In order to prevent another one, Buchhorn joined the Swabian Association of Cities in 1376 . In 1305, Buchhorn was also partially destroyed by five lightning strikes and subsequent major fires.

Imperial visits

This was followed by relatively quiet times for the city of Buchhorn. The only important events related to the current political situation are known to have been visited by the emperor. The later Emperor Sigismund stayed here during the Council of Constance (1414-1418). Even Emperor Frederick III. visited the imperial city in 1452.

Times of war

Copper engraving by "Buͦchorn" ( Merian , 1643/1656)

Lured by its importance for the trade and the resulting wealth, Buchhorn was almost plundered in 1454 by the " robber baron " Hans von Rechberg . A vigilant citizen thwarted the attempt. Buchhorn lost its modest prosperity again as a result of the Peasants' War in 1525 and the religious battles of the Reformation .

During the Thirty Years' War, Buchhorn suffered above all from the dwindling monetary value and the billeting and assaults of Spanish and Dutch soldiers. In 1634 Swedish troops occupied the city and renamed it Gustavsburg. After the end of the war and its total destruction, economic life only gradually got going again. Buchhorn was completely destroyed again during the coalition wars of the French Revolution by the French troops billeted in 1796.

Buchhorn becomes Friedrichshafen

After the Napoleonic War , the last prosperity created by the salt trade disappeared and the city itself was completely devastated. 1802 Buchhorn was a result of the Treaty of Luneville in Bavaria , and in 1810 by the Treaty of Paris in Württemberg , that of Frederick I. King ruled. On July 16, 1811 he visited Buchhorn and the surrounding towns. A day later he announced the unification of Buchhorn and Hofen to form Friedrichshafen Castle and City . The first official announcement about the merger was published in the Royal Württemberg State and Government Gazette No. 25 of July 27, 1811.

politics

After Buchhorn was founded, an Amann appointed by the bailiff was the city's administrator. He was responsible for politics and justice and invited witnesses from wealthier families to his meetings, who formed a kind of city council. The people had to confirm the judgments and decisions. But soon after the fire accident of 1345, the immigrant craftsmen began to expand their influence on politics. In 1397 the first mayor was installed, who did not have to be confirmed by the king as the new mayor.

In Buchhorn, the constitution was drawn up by four guilds - the blacksmiths, rebels, bakers and butchers. According to this constitution, there was a small council with fourteen and a large council with an additional sixteen people. These were elected on December 21st and divided the forty different posts such as the mayor, the chief guild master or the treasurer. The owners performed their posts on a voluntary basis and alongside their normal job. The council had unrestricted powers and dealt almost daily with the smallest offenses such as insults or violation of the guild rules. In the Riedlewald was the gallows, on which a death sentence was rarely carried out.

economy

The most important occupations of the Buchhorns were fishermen, boatmen, farmers and craftsmen who also provided for themselves through some agriculture.

Agriculture

The pasture operation, which was a big point of contention between Buchhorn and Hofen, was regulated by a municipal servant, the cowherd. In 1343 a judgment was recorded that resolved this problem. In addition to spelled and oats , mainly hemp was grown, which was processed in canvas weaving mills. In the 15th and 16th centuries the economic importance of viticulture grew, but the Buchhorn wine was not of high quality and therefore not an export product. Above all, the white Elbling was grown , a very productive variety that produced rather sour wine. Red wine was also pressed - from the blue Silvaner grape . The legend of the Buchhornern who enjoyed drinking arose from viticulture.

Trade

Buchhorn was on two important trade routes: Germany – Switzerland – Italy – North Africa and Germany – Switzerland – France – Spain. The city lived from shipping and the handling of goods, through which it earned customs and storage money. The innkeepers and blacksmiths also made money from the passing traders, as well as all forms of food production. Two Ravensburger trading companies essentially took care of local trade . Buchhorn also owned a granary (built in 1485) and a Gredhaus , which served as a goods transfer point.

Boom through the salt trade

After the Thirty Years' War as well as some incidents of counterfeiting around 1700 and the sale of various items of income in the following years, Buchhorn's debts in 1755 amounted to around 46,000 guilders. But when the Bavarian Elector Maximilian Joseph found a transshipment point for the export of salt to Switzerland with Buchhorn in 1755, the economic turnaround began. The so-called salt contract also included the transport of grain and other commercial goods. Trade quickly increased, with 20,000-25,000 barrels shipped annually. Since the Kornhaus and the Gredhaus were no longer sufficient, a new building was built on the lake - a Salzstadl, which was completed in 1760. In some cases, the city's annual turnover from the salt trade alone was over a million guilders . However, as early as 1771 Buchhorn lost its monopoly and thus its high status: after Lindau's efforts , the salt delivered from the mining sites in Bavaria and Tyrol via the Tyrolean Salt Road was also allowed to be traded to Switzerland from there.

Individual evidence

  1. An anecdote about this visit comes from the Zimmerische Chronik. Farters from Buchhorn

literature

  • Fritz Maier: Friedrichshafen. Homeland book. Volume 1: The history of the city up to the beginning of the 20th century. Gessler, Friedrichshafen 1983, ISBN 3-922137-22-9 .

Web links

Wikisource: Friedrichshafen  - Sources and full texts
Commons : History of Friedrichshafen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files