Bernhard Gradner

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Reformed Church Eglisau: Tomb of Bernhard Gradner von Windisch-Grätz and his wife Veronika von Starkenberg, stone carving in molasses sandstone

Bernhard Gradner from Windisch-Grätz ; († 1489 in Eglisau ) was a baron from Styria , then lord of Eglisau on the Upper Rhine .

Life

The political career of the Styrian baron Bernhard Gradner began as a follower of the Austrian Duke Sigismund von Tirol († 1496). Gradner succeeded in increasing his power base through gifts and purchases as well as his marriage to Veronika von Starkenberg . In 1456 the baron fell out with his sovereign, Gradner fled to the Swiss Confederation , where he acquired Zurich citizenship. He supported the Swiss in conquering the Habsburg Thurgau . In 1460 he threatened to drain the fishing pond at Sonnenberg Castle . In 1463 he acquired the castle and rule of Eglisau from the city of Zurich and fought on the Swiss side in the Battle of Murten in 1476 against the Burgundian Duke Charles the Bold .

The rule of Eglisau was a legacy of the Lords of Tengen . Gradner expanded the rule (villages in Rafzerfeld ), expanded the Eglisau Castle (demolished in 1810) and beautified the Eglisau parish church (carved altars). On January 17, 1489, the Junker Symon von Aerzingen and his wife, b. Truchseß von Hefingen to Michael Schwarzberer as the authorized lawyer of Baron Bernhard Gradner zu Eglisau twelve Mutt kernels and ten guilders perpetual validity Schaffhauser coin from their mill in Reuental and the tithe in Ofteringen for 356 Rhenish guilders . Gradner died in 1489 and was buried in the Eglisau church .

The tomb of Bernhard Gradner and his wife Veronika von Starkenberg, which still exists today, has a high artistic standing, it shows a knight with armor, spear flag and sword.

After Gradner's death, his nephew and successor commissioned an unknown painter to decorate the choir of the Eglisau church. The result was a sequence of images with scenes from the life of the Mother of God Mary , starting with her birth, continuing through the Annunciation and Visitation, through the birth of Jesus Christ, the visit of the three wise men to the death of Mary. Bernhard Gradner and Veronika von Starkenberg are depicted in the main window of the choir.

As part of the Reformation , the church pictures were partly destroyed in 1533, partly whitewashed, then discovered and exposed during restoration work in 1960.

The Eglisau lordship was sold back to the city of Zurich in 1496 and became the seat of a Zurich bailiff.

Note

  • Boards in the choir of the church of Eglisau

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ferdinand Hasenfratz, Die Reuentaler Mühle , In: Der Krautbettjäger and other adventurous Spinnstubsag, real forest trampolians and chats from the Wutachtal. P. 152 ff.

See also

personal data
SURNAME Gradner, Bernhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gradner, Bernhard von Windisch-Grätz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian baron (Styria)
DATE OF BIRTH 14th century or 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 1489
Place of death Eglisau (buried)