Hans Rebmann

The blind Hans Rebmann, led by his granddaughter, gives the instructions for building the blind walkway

Hans Rebmann (called Blindhans ; * 1499 in Wigoltingen in the canton of Thurgau ; † August 25, 1568 in Zurich ) was a Reformed theologian who was blinded during the Peasants' War .

Life

Hans Rebmann was born in Wigoltingen in the canton of Thurgau in 1499. When his parents moved to Waldshut am Rhein, he attended the local Latin school. After studying theology in Strasbourg , he was ordained a priest in Constance in 1521 . The first jobs followed in Zabern in Alsace and in 1523 in Waldshut. 1524 Reformed theologian received by a falling with the Waldshuter theologians Balthasar Hubmaier to the switching Zwingli a preacher in kleggauischen spots Grießen . Rebmann can be found in Grießen from January. From December 1524 to February 1525 Thomas Müntzer stayed in the place , probably as a guest of the “Kleggau” farmer's guide Klaus Wagner (presumably identical to Klaus Meyer). A closer ideological relationship between Rebmann and Müntzer is therefore obvious. In any case, Rebmann supported the uprising of the Klettgau farmers against the Count von Sulz in the further course of the year . During the suppression of the "Kleggau" peasant uprising in the Battle of Grießen on November 4, 1525, Rebmann was captured and blinded with an iron spoon in the Küssaburg by order of Rudolf V. von Sulz . The blind Rebmann, whose eye sockets were packed with hemp , was led to Waldshut by two companions whose fingers had been chopped off. Wilhelm Zimmermann's statement that Rebmann succumbed to his wounds is incorrect. After the town of Waldhut was taken over in December 1525 by a contingent from the governor Hans Imer von Gilgenberg from Ensisheim , Rebmann was ridiculed from the town under a drum and a whistle. Rebmann came to Constance, where he initially got help from his official brother Ambrosius Blarer . Blarer referred Rebmann to Zurich under pressure from the Innsbruck government . There he received a pastor's position in Lufingen an der Töss through Zwingli's mediation in 1527 . Rebmann, who had to cross the Töss between Lufingen and Dättlikon to take care of his community , had a footbridge built according to his instructions, which survived under the name “Blindensteg”. The wooden blind footbridge, last renewed in 1914, was replaced in 2010 by a 38 m long reinforced concrete structure. A copper engraving by Conrad Meyer from the 17th century shows the aged Rebmann, who crosses the footbridge with the hand of a granddaughter. In 1558 Rebmann took over the position of pastor at the Spital an der Spannweide in Zurich, which he held until his death on August 25, 1568. Heinrich Bullinger entered his death on August 28, 1568 in his book of the dead.

literature

• Hans Brauchli: Hans Rebmann, 1499–1568: Wigoltingen, "Pastor Blindhans". In: Thurgau ancestral gallery. Weinfelden 2003, ISBN 3-85809-127-8 , pp. 138-140.
• Max Thomann: "From the history and legend of the lower Töss Valley"; Zurich, Verlag Arnold Bopp, 1927; Pp. 50-58.
• Hans Baer: "History of the municipality of Embrach" Volume 1; Embrach 1994; Pp. 106-108.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilhelm Zimmermann: Dr. W. Zimmerman's Great German Peasants' War. JHW Dietz, 1891, p. 762.
2. ↑ Christoffel Raget: Huldreich Zwingli: Life and selected writings, Friderichs, Elberfeld, 1857, note p. 342
3. ↑ Salomon Hess: Origin, course and consequences of the improvement of faith and church reform brought about by Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich. Näf, Zurich 1819, note p. 89.
4. ↑ Sarah Sidler: Blindensteg pedestrian bridge near Embrach will be replaced. In: Tagesanzeiger Zurich. June 2, 2010.

Web links

• Evangelical Church in Baden: Reformation in Baden: Waldshut, Klettgau and Stühlingen.
• Municipality of Dättlikon (CH): Photo gallery of the new construction of the Blindensteg over the Töss [1]