Heinrich Toppler
Heinrich Toppler (* around 1340 in Rothenburg ob der Tauber ; † June 13, 1408 there ) was a councilor of the imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. He has been repeatedly elected mayor of the city. Under his leadership, the city acquired numerous castles and country estates in the area and rose to become an important regional power in southern Germany.
Parallel to the expansion of the imperial city territory, he also personally acquired extensive real estate, which made him one of the richest citizens of Rothenburg. In the Taubertal, outside the city walls, he had a representative residential tower built, the so-called Topplerschlösschen . Ultimately, Toppler suffered a dispute with King Rupprecht and the Nuremberg burgrave. In his military distress, Toppler turned to the deposed King Wenceslaus . After letters from Wenceslas to the city of Rothenburg were intercepted, Rupprecht initiated a high treason case against Toppler. Thereupon he was locked in the dungeon of the town hall in 1408 and died a few months later under circumstances that have not yet been clarified.
biography
The exact year of birth of Heinrich Toppler is unknown. However, a Rothenburg regional court book gives approximate information. Toppler is not yet of legal age in a directory from September 1364. By July 1365, this status seems to have changed. At that time, only one person was considered to be of legal age from the age of around 14, 15 or 16 years of age. Consequently Toppler must have been born around 1349/1350.
Contrary to what is often said, Toppler came from a wealthy merchant family. Because documents have come down that tell of the commercial ventures of the father Konrad Toppler and of foundations for the construction of the St. Johannis church. In 1352, 1354 and 1358 Konrad Toppler was a member of the so-called Inner Council, the city's closest leadership group. At that time only members of patrician families were elected to this position. Members of the Toppler family with the same coat of arms from 1408 are recorded in Nuremberg, from 1448 they own the Zeltner Castle in Gleißhammer , from 1475 they sit in the Inner Council, see: Patriziat (Nuremberg) ; In 1503 they built the Toplerhaus in Nuremberg ; they went out in 1687.
Election to mayor
In 1373 Heinrich Toppler was elected one of the two mayors of Rothenburg for the first time for a two-year term. He quickly made a name for himself through daring but successful political and financial transactions. The oldest document he signed is a claim to the noble lord Conrad von Hohenlohe of 1,000 marks as compensation for the establishment of a citizen of Rothenburg - under the circumstances of the time, a challenge to the powerful regional prince through a medium-sized imperial city. The documents and other sources from those years, as well as the chronicles written down later, also repeatedly report skirmishes with neighboring nobles, to which the Rothenburg vigilante group moved out. In the subsequent negotiations, Heinrich Toppler was often involved as a negotiator for the city of Rothenburg.
Long-term measures Topplers
More important than such spectacular clashes, however, was a systematic policy of land acquisition, which Rothenburg pursued from around 1373. Castles, mills, forests, villages and other goods were bought from the impoverished landed gentry - until 1406 around 400 km² belonged to the city in the immediate vicinity of the city, plus outposts in the wider area. Every now and then it happened that the city acquired goods from nobles through middlemen, to the ruin of which it had previously contributed significantly, for example in the case of nobleman Weiprecht Tanner , who had fought and lost against the League of Cities.
What was striking was the high private funds that Toppler - like other Rothenburg patricians - used for these transactions - and which they received back later, mostly with considerable gains, both for themselves and for the city. The inheritance his father had left him was probably a handsome one, but it was nowhere near enough to cover the amounts with which he was trading.
At the age of 17 or 18, Heinrich Toppler married Barbara Spengler, the daughter of Siegfried Spengler, a member of the ruling council, recipient of manorial income (including in Lohr, Diebach and Wolfsbuch) and owner of a mill in Schandtaubertal. The Spengler's wife, Katharina Reinfrau, was a sole heir and also a multiplier of a large fortune acquired through trade. At the top of the taxpayer, she was in the tax lists in those years. She bequeathed a considerable part of this fortune to her daughter, from which Heinrich Toppler also profited. In his second marriage, he did not, as had long been assumed, a woman from the house of the Wernitzer patrician family, but in 1392 Margareth Meyler from Nördlingen. According to Ludwig Schnurrer, there was no third marriage. Toppler had several children from his first marriage, including Barbara, who later became Caspar Wernitzer's wife, Jacob and Kathrin. According to his will, from his second marriage to Margareth he had the children Heinrich, Brigitta, Margarethlein and Jose.
Another important long-term measure was the systematic promotion of the resettlement of Jews in the city from 1374 onwards. In the Middle Ages, only Jews were allowed to practice the banking industry. In the late Middle Ages, there was a change from natural economy to money economy. Loans played an increasing role in the financing of businesses, buildings and campaigns. The arrival of the Jews thus strengthened the financial mobility of the community. At the same time, with their considerable tax payments, the Jewish entrepreneurs contributed significantly to filling the city coffers. While Jews had played no economic role in Rothenburg around 1370, in 1388 eight Jewish families alone raised around a tenth of the city's tax budget.
In parallel to the economic development, Toppler pushed ahead with the expansion of the Rothenburg city fortifications. The outer city wall was reinforced and expanded, although it should have been largely completed before the "Toppler period". The number of defense towers was finally around 40. One from historical novels such as Paul Schreckenbach, "The King of Rothenburg, legend is the alleged system of ditches in the forefront of the city, which could be flooded if necessary and turned into a swampy morass to make it difficult to use To make military equipment impossible, as well as the Hundsgraben with free-roaming vicious dogs. The high-altitude Rothenburg did not have enough water to "flood" something on a large scale. Between the Klingentor, Turmseelein, "Hunnengraben" and today's cemetery, however, existed in the apron of the city a kind of pre-fortification with wall, dense hedge and ditch. In the war year 1407 the value of these measures became apparent: Rothenburg was enclosed, but not "overrun", ie attacked.
Construction of the Topplerschlösschen and coat of arms
In the Taubertal, the mayor exhibited his social advancement with the so-called Topplerschlösschen built in 1388/1389. The building corresponds to the type of a pond house . It is a late medieval residential tower. These systems consist of a square stone base and a multi-storey half-timbered tower. They were mostly reserved for the lower nobility and the upper patriciate of the cities. There were numerous comparable buildings in the Franconian region, such as the Templar House in Amorbach , which is still preserved today . The Topplerschlösschen was originally surrounded by a moat and is decorated with a family coat of arms. With this, Toppler appeared to the outside world like a nobleman, which was not unusual at the time for members of an established patrician family. Only the location of the residential tower outside the protective city walls can be considered a special feature.
The family coat of arms shows a shield with two dice. Above, the shield is followed by a helmet, which is covered by a crown. Two arms reach up from the crown, which in turn hold two dice. Thus, the coat of arms alludes to the origin of the family name, because Toppler is derived from the early High German word toppeln, which means something like to throw the dice. In 1392 Toppler achieved the recognition of his coat of arms by the Bavarian duke. This issued him a so-called letter of arms . For Toppler, however, the upgrading not only meant reputation, but also, as Schnurrer suspected, increased inner-city conflicts over hierarchical issues.
Political development in Rothenburg towards the end of the 14th century
In June 1373, Wenzel von Luxemburg , the 12-year-old son of Emperor Charles IV, stayed in Rothenburg. In 1376 Wenceslaus was crowned Roman-German King . After this election there were confused armed conflicts in southern Germany in the following years, initially triggered by some of the German princes, who had reason to fear that they would be used to finance the indebted royal family. Rothenburg and Heinrich Toppler played an important role in these disputes - initially with a failed mediation attempt at the Reichstag in Rothenburg in 1377, then from 1378 as a party on the side of the Swabian League of Cities , which fought against the princes. In 1382 an armistice was reached between the League of Towns and the princes, in which Toppler acted as the League's envoy.
In 1384 Toppler was re-elected as the first mayor of Rothenburg. He held this office until 1403.
An important political constant for the city of Rothenburg around 1400 was the hostility directed against it by two powerful neighbors: that of the Burgrave of Nuremberg and that of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg . Both laid claim to Rothenburg and wanted to incorporate it into their lands.
In 1389 the war between the princes and the Swabian league of cities ended with the defeat of the league of cities. With the bad arbitration award from Bamberg , Rothenburg lost an important privilege, the regional jurisdiction. The Bishop of Würzburg demanded reparation payments from Rothenburg and campaigned for Rothenburg to lose its privilege as an imperial city. In this situation Toppler saved himself under the care of the burgrave of Nuremberg, as he wanted to prevent the bishop from gaining power. By paying an annual protection fee of 4,000 guilders, he was able to preserve the city's status as an imperial city.
Burgrave Friedrich V of Nuremberg died in 1398. With his death, Rothenburg's protection money obligations and at the same time the alliance with the burgrave's house ended. In 1405 there were legal disputes between Rothenburg and Burgrave Johann III, son and successor of Frederick V, in the course of which both sides cited each other as accused before their own regional court. The court court of King Ruprecht confirmed the burgrave's view, rebuked in particular that the city had dared to bring an imperial prince to a municipal court, granted the burgrave the right to appropriate Rothenburg and called on the Franconian knighthood to go to war To lead Rothenburg.
War against Rothenburg
Thereupon Toppler allied himself with his other opponent, the Bishop of Würzburg. At the same time he was looking for membership in the Marbacher Bund, founded in 1405 . United with these allies, Rothenburg was hard to beat and the campaign could be averted.
In the following years, however, Toppler made two political mistakes if one follows Toppler's biographer Ernst Wilhelm Heine :
- He insisted on the demand of his own regional court against the burgrave of Nuremberg. This may have been interpreted - not only by his enemies in the council - as "megalomaniac" behavior, since Toppler subordinated the good of the city to his private "enmity" with an imperial prince, the burgrave.
- He contacted King Wenzel, who was deposed in 1400, and sought his military support against King Ruprecht and the nobility. This correspondence, too, may have taken place without the consent and knowledge of the Rothenburg Council.
The Bishop of Würzburg then broke his alliance with Rothenburg in April 1405 and instead joined forces with the Nuremberg burgrave. On May 25, 1407, the royal court in Heidelberg sentenced Rothenburg to a payment of 2000 guilders to the burgrave of Nuremberg. Under Mayor Toppler, Rothenburg did not recognize this judgment either and refused to pay. Instead one insisted on the claim against the burgrave. This made the war against Rothenburg inevitable. It was popularly said that Toppler gambled away Rothenburg by changing the front to the deposed King of Bohemia and thus raised a broad front of enemies against the city. Modern history also shares this opinion and cites the evidence with the family coat of arms, which appropriately contains two dice with pairs of eyes 5 and 6. For heraldry see below.
Practically the entire southern German nobility, knights and princes, allied against Rothenburg. Some cities, such as Rothenburg's neighboring city of Uffenheim , also joined this alliance. Over 2,500 feud letters arrived in the city. An army of well over 10,000 knights, mercenaries and assistants marched against the city. Gradually it conquered the castles in the area around the city.
However, Toppler had taken precautions and had food hoarded in town. The lying just outside the city old imperial castle he entfestigen to their use as siege castle to prevent. The strong city fortifications were difficult to take in the assault, and now that the attackers were close to the city, it turned out that they lacked the financial means for a month-long siege. On September 2, 1407, the burgrave of Nuremberg agreed to an armistice because both he and the bishop of Würzburg were almost insolvent. In February there were peace negotiations in Mergentheim , which were brokered by the Marbacher Bund .
On February 8, 1408, an arbitration award was reached according to which the Reichsacht over Rothenburg had been repealed, war compensation was not incurred and each party had to bear its own costs. The damage was on the part of the financially ruined attackers. Rothenburg, on the other hand, had fought the defense mainly from its own resources and thus got off lightly.
Toppler's end
The Toppler biographer EW Heine suspects that the city of Rothenburg could only reach the arbitration award in Mergentheim that was favorable to it through the “sacrifice” of its mayor Toppler. Toppler himself did not travel to these peace negotiations, but was contacted by delegates from the council, and others. a. his brother-in-law, represented there. Perhaps Toppler hoped to be able to move King Ruprecht to more favorable peace conditions through his absence. King Ruprecht was an ally of the Nuremberg burgrave Friedrich (the "progenitor" of the later Hohenzollern dynasty) and hated Toppler, whom he considered to be a "traitor" after his correspondence with his ousted predecessor Wenzel. This was certainly a mistake Topplers made, since Mergentheim was obviously negotiating his future fate. Because Rothenburg would only receive mild peace conditions and be able to maintain its status as an imperial city if it deposed the “traitor” Toppler. Less than two months after the Mergentheim peace negotiations, this is exactly what happened.
On April 6, 1408, during a council meeting, Toppler was overpowered and thrown into the city dungeon. The indictment against him alleged that he had stolen from the city when, a few weeks earlier, he had left his wife and underage children with large amounts of cash and valuables in the care of relatives in Nuremberg without paying the additional tax due. He was also accused of acts of violence and arbitrariness during his reign, for example a private vein court in his house against a former town clerk who had been accused of bribery and betrayal of the town. The court had ended with the execution of the accused.
His personal lifestyle probably also contributed to the fact that many of his fellow citizens no longer saw him as one of their own:
- In 1388 Toppler built a tower-like , fortified house with a stone substructure and upper floors made of half-timbered houses in the Taubertal, below the town . It was surrounded by a garden that could be flooded if necessary. This Topplerschlösschen has been preserved to this day; the half-timbered structure was probably later renewed according to the old model. It can be visited and gives interesting insights into late medieval living conditions.
- On December 24, 1392, he had the Bavarian duke give him a family coat of arms. It represented a pair of dice showing the numbers 5 and 6. Middle High German topel means "dice (game)".
Both were behaviors that were typical of a nobleman but unusual for a citizen.
Probably the most important motive for his fall, in which close relatives and confidants also participated, was his risky, expansive policy, which had previously brought Rothenburg to the edge of the abyss.
Toppler died two months after his arrest in the city dungeon without an official trial. While some sources speculate that he was beheaded, Toppler biographer EW Heine thinks it most likely that he was simply left to die of thirst. Interestingly enough, the pages of the year 1408 are missing in the town books of Rothenburg, while it has been meticulously kept in the years before and after.
After his death, a third of his fortune was distributed to the city, the German king and Toppler's relatives. The city of Rothenburg gave up its expansive policy and contented itself with the role of a relatively insignificant imperial city. The Rothenburger Landhege (the imperial city territory), which was mainly acquired under Toppler, surpassed many aristocratic properties in Germany in terms of size and performance.
reception
- Heinrich Bantelmann: The King of Rothenburg. Opera in five pictures. Runge, Berlin 1943 (based on the novel by Paul Schreckenbach)
- Ernst Wilhelm Heine : Toppler. A murder case in the Middle Ages. Goldmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-442-72855-X (reprinted from the Zurich edition, 1990, bilder.buecher.de ). (pseudo and popular science novel full of speculations)
- Georg Harro Schaeff-Scheefen, Willi Fuchs: Heinrich Toppler, the great dice maker . A life for community and empire in Rothenburg ob d. Deaf. Kling, Bad Mergentheim 1937, OCLC 163073692 . (no historical research, but journalistic-feuilletonistic)
- Paul Schreckenbach : The King of Rothenburg. An old imperial city history. Projekt-Verlag, Halle / Saale 2010, ISBN 978-3-86634-895-0 (reprint of the Leipzig 1910 edition). (extremely influential but little knowledgeable historical novel)
- Fritz Reinert The witch shepherd of Rothenburg. Heimatverlag Rothenburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber 1951 (historical novel; novel from Rothenburg's greatest period).
literature
- Karl Borchardt / Ekkehart Tittmann, Mauern-Tore-Türme, Rothenburg odT 2009 (the current scientific status of research on Rothenburg city fortifications)
- Siegfried Haenle: Documents and evidence on the history of Heinrich Topler, Mayor of the Free City of Rotenburg. Ansbach 1871, OCLC 163072277 , ( bavarica.digitale-sammlungen.de ). (still basic source collection)
- Haenle: Dopler, Heinrich . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 343 f.
- Ludwig Schnurrer: Heinrich Toppler. In: Gerhard Pfeifer (Ed.): Fränkische Lebensbilder. New series of CVs from Franconia. Volume 2. Schöningh Verlag, Würzburg 1968, pp. 104-132. (fundamental work of the former Rothenburg city archivist)
- Manfred Vasold: History of the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. New edition Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2008, ISBN 978-3-7995-7117-3 . (useful)
Web links
- Official homepage on the 600th anniversary of Heinrich Toppler's death in 2008. ( Memento from December 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Well-founded scientific literature on the life and work of Heinrich Toppler by Ludwig Schnurrer (among others).
- The territory of the imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Lecture by Karl Borchardt on the territorial policy of Rothenburg under Heinrich Toppler.
- Late medieval German city tyrants. Article by Hartmut Boockmann in the sheets for German national history in the digital archive of the Bavarian State Library.
- Literature about Heinrich Toppler in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Toppler find
Individual evidence
- ^ The dice of Rothenburg. Remembering an unpunished Gothic political crime thriller. on heinrich-toppler.de (= Bayerische Staatszeitung February 2003 edition).
- ↑ a b Ludwig Schnurrer: Heinrich Toppler. at heinrich-toppler.de.
- ^ Markus Naser: Rothenburg in the late Middle Ages. In: Horst F. Rupp, Karl Borchardt (ed.), Rothenburg ob der Tauber. History of the city and its surroundings. Theiss, Darmstadt 2016, pp. 82–135, here p. 111.
- ↑ Surprisingly new information about Rothenburg's great mayor Heinrich Toppler. In: Fränkischer Anzeiger. archiv.fraenkischer-anzeiger.de, February 11, 2008, accessed on May 10, 2016 .
- ↑ Copy of Heinrich Toppler's will on heinrich-toppler.de
- ^ Matthias Untermann : Handbook of medieval architecture. Darmstadt 2009, p. 175; Markus Naser: Rothenburg in the late Middle Ages. In: Horst F. Rupp, Karl Borchardt (ed.), Rothenburg ob der Tauber. History of the city and its surroundings. Theiss, Darmstadt 2016, pp. 82–135, here p. 118.
- ↑ Stefanie Rüther: Councilors on a campaign? The position of the captains of the Swabian League of Cities (1376 - 1390) between competence and control. In: Regula Schmid, Klara Hübner, Heinrich Speich (eds.), Bündnisdynamik. Supporters, goals and means of political associations in the Middle Ages. LIT Verlag, Münster 2019, pp. 19–34, here p. 28.
- ↑ Ludwig Schnurrer: The case of Hans Wern. A late medieval elite conflict in the imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Yearbook for Franconian State Research 61, Degener & Company, (2001) pp. 9–52, here p. 30.
- ↑ Ludwig Schnurrer: The case of Hans Wern. A late medieval elite conflict in the imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Yearbook for Franconian State Research 61, Degener & Company, (2001) pp. 9–52, here p. 31.
- ^ Markus Naser: Rothenburg. Heinrich Toppler as a financial genius - Rothenburg odT nordbayern.de, January 27, 2016, accessed on May 10, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Toppler, Heinrich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Mayor of Rothenburg ob der Tauber |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1340 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rothenburg ob der Tauber |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 13, 1408 |
| Place of death | Rothenburg ob der Tauber |