Battle near Kirchberg
Overview map of the Old Zurich War
| date | June 11, 1445 |
|---|---|
| place | Kirchberg , Canton of St. Gallen |
| output | Toggenburg victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
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| Commander | |
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| Troop strength | |
| 300-600 | |
| losses | |
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72–75 dead |
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Etzel · Pfäffikon · Grüningen I · Freienbach · Blickensdorf · Hirzel · Bremgarten · Regensberg · Grüningen II · St. Jakob an der Sihl · Greifensee · St. Jakob an der Birs · Erlenbach I · Koblach · Sargans · Wil · Kirchberg · Wolfhalden · Obertoggenburg · Wigoltingen · Erlenbach II · Männedorf · Wollerau · Ragaz
The battle near Kirchberg was fought on June 11, 1445 in the course of the Old Zurich War in lower Toggenburg ( Switzerland ).
The opponents were on the one hand troops of Baron Petermann von Raron , who as Lord of Toggenburg stood on the side of the federal places , and on the other hand troops of the Habsburgs , mainly from the city of Winterthur . This military encounter was related to the battle of Wolfhalden that took place on the same day .
prehistory
The county of Toggenburg , whose country people came into the land rights of the federal places Schwyz and Glarus in December 1436 , was ruled by Petermann von Raron since November 14, 1437. This entered into the land law of the two places on March 15, 1440 and officially on November 2, 1440 on the side of the federal places in the war. By entering the war of -facing resort Appenzell on April 30, 1444, the war admissions of Count Henry II. Of Werdenberg-Sargans († ca. 1447) and the Feldkirch Vogts Wolfhart V. von Brandis on 30 November 1444, and the resulting battles In the St. Gallen Rhine Valley (→ battle near Koblach ) and in the Sarganserland (→ Siege of Sargans ), the warfare increasingly shifted from the Zurich area to today's eastern Switzerland.
In June 1445 the Austrian side planned a combined attack from two directions against Toggenburg and Appenzell. The first contingent gathered in Rheineck and was supposed to advance against the Appenzell via Thal . The second contingent gathered in Winterthur, Austria, to take action against the Untertoggenburg . It is unclear what troop strength this contingent had, since clearly fewer of the 600 mobilized appeared than planned; according to other sources there were 300 to 400 soldiers.
course
On Friday, June 11, 1445, the Winterthur contingent moved out under the command of Werner von Schienen and was reinforced in Aadorf by additional teams from Frauenfeld under Captain Heiri Egger, who brought with them a man who was supposedly familiar with the country, but who chose a bad path. Contrary to the orders, the soldiers also undertook an unauthorized looting campaign via Sirnach against Dietschwil near Kirchberg , which lost valuable time. At Kirchberg they crossed the Letzi with two banners , which had previously been laid out by Baron Petermann von Raron to defend the country towards the north near Oetwil. When they set twelve houses on fire in Kirchberg, shot one man and wounded others, the local contingent was immediately alerted. Because of this, they got into an ambush behind the Letzi, and a long banter set in until Petermann arrived with reinforcements. When the Toggenburgers felt they had an advantage, an attack against the Austrian troops followed. The standard bearer from Winterthur tried unsuccessfully with twelve men to prevent the city's flag from being lost. As a result, the Austrian troops quickly withdrew.
consequences
The other contingent was turned down by the Appenzell people on the same day in the battle of Wolfhalden ; as a result, the Austrian undertaking had failed militarily across the board. The Austrian losses at Kirchberg alone are estimated at 72 to 75 casualties, and many prisoners were also taken.
On June 11th, Petermann von Raron reported to the Schwyzers in Pfäffikon about the course of the battle. He also stated that the prisoners had testified that they would receive help from King Friedrich III in the near future . will come. They were also informed of the recent attack by the Schwyz and there were 7,000 men ready to take action against the Schwyz.
The battle had legal consequences for the city of Winterthur, which alone had to complain about 50 of the over 70 dead, the loss of the flag and a considerable amount of lost booty. There the captain and councilor Hans Christian was accused by the Winterthur council of willfully carrying out a poorly prepared raid (“gallows trip”) and disregarding precautionary measures without his knowledge and consent. He was also accused of having fled shamefully in battle. The arbitration court was commissioned by Duke Albrecht VI. held by Baron Hans von Klingenberg in Ossingen . Christian defended himself by saying that Captain Werner vonbahnen, who was stationed in Winterthur, had urged military action, as he was afraid that his overly passive demeanor would incur the displeasure of the soldiers. "We have been idle for a long time, because I (trust) almost never come to Zurich, mocking the fellows there." However, a final judgment has not been passed down.
See also
Web links
- Martin Illi: Old Zurich War. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ^ Ildefons von Arx: Stories of the Canton of St. Gallen. Volume 1-3. Additions, Volume 2 (1811).
- ↑ Hans Fründ : Chronicle of the Old Zurich War from 1447.
- ^ J. A. Pupikofer: History of the Thurgau. 1886.
- ^ Peter Niederhäuser, Christian Sieber: A "fratricidal war" makes history. 2006.