Escher from the glass
The Escher vom Glas family was an influential bourgeois family in the city of Zurich from the 14th to the 19th century .
The Escher family originally came from Kaiserstuhl AG , where a ministerial of the Counts of Habsburg Jacob Escher is mentioned around 1190 , with whom the unbroken lineage of the family begins. After the beginning of the 13th century, members of the Escher family held the office of mayor of Kaiserstuhl for generations .
The sons of the mayor Johannes (born 1294) acquired citizenship of the city of Zurich in the 14th century: Heinrich, ancestor of all today's Escher vom Glas, on July 20, 1385; Johannes, ancestor of the Escher vom Luchs family, split off in 1433 , on August 4, 1384. Since their naturalization, the Escher vom Glas have been one of Zurich's top families. The progenitor Heinrich was married to Margaretha zum Thor in his first marriage and to Regula Manesse von Manegg in his second marriage.
In the 16th century there were two lines: The descendants of Mayor Rudolf Escher, Herr zu Dübelstein , (Mayor from 1499, died 1513), whose grandson Niclaus gave up Zurich citizenship in 1527, moved to Basel and there by marrying Ursula Grieb von und zu Binningen acquired their castle property, henceforth called themselves Escher von Binningen. His great-grandson Gervasius Escher v. Binningen (1618–1669) was appointed baron of Umkirch and Hoffenheim in 1655 . This line died with Franz Ferdinand Nikolaus Escher v. Binningen, Freiherr zu Umkirch and Hoffenheim (1682–1711).
The descendants of Rudolf's brother Hans stayed in Zurich, where they held an important economic and social position as rich merchants and members of the patriciate .
By 1798, the Escher vom Glas had 5 mayors, 45 representatives in the Small Council and 82 members of the Grand Council. From the 16th to the 18th century, the family comprised 34 chief bailiffs, 29 bailiffs and 20 officials, in the 18th century alone 7 bailiffs from the most important Zurich bailiffs, the county of Kyburg . This made them the most influential family in the city of Zurich alongside the Hirzel family.
In the 15th century, the Escher vom Glas were opponents of Hans Waldmann , especially Mayor Rudolf and his brother Hans. In 1526 Hans was arrested as an opponent of the reformer Ulrich Zwingli . In the following year he was again honored and led the Zurich troops in the 2nd Kappel War.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Escher vom Glas split into three lines: into the so-called Pfauen-Escher Line (named after the ancestral home at that time, founded by Johann Caspar Escher-Rahn, 1593–1663, councilor and governor of Baden) and in the mayor Heinrich Escher-Linie (named after the businessman and politician Heinrich Escher -Werdmüller, 1626–1710, 1659 Landvogt zu Kyburg, Mayor from 1678) and in a line in France (founded by his younger brother Hans Jakob Escher-Rahn , 1635-1698). The Pfauen-Escher-Linie and the Mayor Heinrich Escher-Linie were later divided into further branches.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, Escher vom Glas provided politicians, merchants, industrialists, engineers and scientists such as Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth , Heinrich Escher and Alfred Escher . The family was mainly active in the textile and the resulting machine industry. Hans Caspar Escher founded the company Escher, Wyss & Co.
Today there are branches of the sex in Zurich, Bern, northern Italy, France, Austria, Germany and the USA. The vom Glas family has two family funds established towards the end of the 17th century (that of the Pfauen-Escher Line, founded in 1693, and that of Mayor Heinrich Escher-Werdmüller (1626–1710) by will of 9 October 1693 for his descendants justified).
Description of coat of arms / blazon: In blue with a golden shield border , silver humpback glass , raised by a golden six-pointed star, above the crowned helmet the silver hump-glass, raised by a golden six-pointed star.
literature
- Carl Keller-Escher: Five hundred and sixty years from the history of the Escher vom Glas family: 1320 - 1885. Ceremony to celebrate the 500th anniversary of their naturalization in Zurich. 2 volumes, Bürkli, Zurich 1885. Digitized
Web links
- Katja Hürlimann: Escher [from]. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ^ Jean Egli, Book of Arms of the City of Zurich , Zurich 1860.
- ↑ Martin Lassner: Escher, Rudolf (from the glass). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- ↑ Günther Escher, History of the Escher Family from Glass , Rees a. Rhine 1997.
- ↑ Zürcher Rat ( Memento of the original dated December 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Sigmund Widmer : Schöngeister and rioters. , Artemis-Verlag, Zurich 1979, ISBN 3-76-080413-6 , p. 15 ( Zurich, a cultural history. Volume 7).
- ^ Paul Guyer, Constitutional Conditions of the City of Zurich in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries , Zurich 1943.
