Regensberg reign

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The Regensberg rule originated in the High Middle Ages when the Barons of Regensberg founded . Between 1409 and 1798 Regensberg was a Landvogtei ("Äussere Vogtei") of the city of Zurich .

Regensberg Castle, manorial seat from 1245 to 1871

Barons of Regensberg

Main article: Barons von Regensberg

The barons of Regensberg were an important Swiss noble family in the Zürichgau . The Regensbergers experienced their heyday in the High Middle Ages , and large parts of today's Canton of Zurich belonged to their domain . The most well-known foundations include the Fahr and Rüti monasteries as well as the towns of Regensberg , Grüningen , Kaiserstuhl and Glanzenberg . In addition, there was free float in Aargau , Thurgau and north of the Rhine to St. Blasien in the Black Forest as well as some well-known castles and parish churches .

Alt-Regensberg Castle , watercolor by Ludwig Schulthess, around 1840
Fahr Monastery , an enclave of the Canton of Aargau
Rüti Abbey on an engraving by Johann Melchior Füssli around 1700
Castle and church in Grüningen
Old town of Kaiserstuhl seen from the German bank
Alleged destruction of Glanzenberg during the Regensberg feud , drawing in 1715
The Zürichgau in the Stumpf'schen Chronik of 1547/48

The descent of the barons of Regensberg probably goes back to the Burgundian counts of Mömpelgard - Mâcon . Lütold von Affoltern , a nephew of Hunfried , is considered the progenitor of the Regensberg family and built the Alt-Regensberg (Altburg) castle near Regensdorf around 1040 , on today's border with the city of Zurich , not far from Lake Katzensee . His son Lütold I (* around 1040, † 1088) began to name himself after the castle and thus founded the line of the barons of Regensberg . With the foundation of Fahr Kloster in 1130, the Regensbergers secured the bailiwick of its possessions.

Territorial expansion

Lütold IV. (* Around 1140, † 1218 in Akkon , Palestine ) had already expanded his position of power to such an extent that he could call himself Count von Regensberg from the early 13th century. At that time he owned goods and rights in large parts of western Zurichgau. Around the year 1206, Lütold IV founded the Premonstratensian monastery of Rüti and gave the abbey, among other things, Seegräben and the Aathal mill , with reservation of patronage and property rights. His successor exempted the abbey from taxes in Grüningen and secured the bailiwick rights .

When the last Zähringer and imperial bailiff of the Zurichgau died in 1218 , Emperor Friedrich II granted the city of Zurich imperial freedom and took the remaining fiefs of the imperial bailiwick back to the crown. He lent parts to local noble families, with which the barons of Regensberg presumably gained influence on parts of the old imperial bailiwick, which also included the shores of Lake Zurich .

With the opening of the Gotthard Pass , north-south trade gained significantly in importance, and the Regensbergers probably intended to direct the profitable flow of goods through their area as well. In the context of the territorial competition between the Regensbergers and the flourishing city of Zurich , in the first half of the 13th century, the Regensbergers expanded the Fahr Castle. Nearby they founded the town of Glanzenberg "ennet der Limmat bei Dietikon " around 1240 in order to control trade on the Limmat .

Lütold V or his son Ulrich (I) built the castle and town of Neu-Regensberg on the Lägern around 1245 as the new headquarters and administrative seat of the Regensberg domain, secured by smaller outbuildings on the Lägern .

After the death of Lütold V. it came between his two sons, Lütold VI. and Ulrich von Regensberg, probably around 1250 for the division of the estate . Ulrich received the castle town of Neu-Regensberg and property in the area of ​​Glanzenberg, Fahr and Weiningen . From then on he resided on Neu-Regensberg, his brother Lütold VI. in Alt-Regensberg.

1253 that handed monastery of St. Gall , the advocacies about Grüningen , along with nearby farms to Lüthold VI. from Regensberg. Like the town of Regensberg, Grüningen was expanded and fortified as an administrative center and one of the most important possessions of the barons.

In the southwest of the city of Zurich, the Regensberg castles Uetliberg and Friesenberg and probably Baldern Castle dominated the access to the city of Zurich on the left bank of Lake Zurich , into Säuliamt and central Switzerland and the Sihl valley . The right bank of the lake was monitored by Wulp Castle above Küsnacht. In the west of the city of Zurich situated Limmattal Landsberg dominated the navigation on the Limmat River and the road to Baden . The castles of Alt-Regensberg and Neu-Regensberg secured the northwest towards Winterthur , Schaffhausen , into the Zurich Oberland and east through the Wehntal and north to the Rhine .

Regensberg feud

Main article: Regensberg feud

Historically, the inheritance dispute from 1264 over the considerable estate of the extinct Counts of Kyburg , in the course of which Count Rudolf von Habsburg probably passed over claims of the Regensbergs and was able to consolidate his territorial claims with the decline of the Regensbergs from 1268, is historically documented .

There are no contemporary sources on the course of the so-called Regensberg feud . Late medieval chroniclers report the alleged destruction of the barons' possessions, which hindered the city of Zurich, but the allegedly destroyed castles - Alt.Lägern , Burg and town of Glanzenberg , Baldern , Burg Friesenberg , Üetliburg , Wulp and Utznaburg - could be violently destroyed over the years 1267/68 have not yet been proven beyond doubt.

Decline of the Regensbergers

After the Regensberg feud against the Habsburgs allied with the city of Zurich, which was led primarily by Count Rudolf von Habsburg, the economic and political decline of the Regensbergs began after 1268. As early as 1269 the Regensbergs sold Grüningen as one of their most valuable possessions to the Habsburgs.

The Einsiedeln monastery archive explains in the abbots' professions book the serious change in the balance of power in the Zurichgau at the end of the 13th century:

... But when Count Ludwig von Homberg died on April 27, 1289, the king transferred the Stäfa, Erlenbach, Pfäffikon and Wollerau farms to his widow Elisabeth , as well as the Pfäfer farms at Männedorf and Tuggen. The other courts and the bailiwick remained with the dukes of Austria.
This transfer of the bailiwick to the Habsburgs had the most far-reaching consequences for the monastery; because when the fairytale controversy revived around this time , it took on completely new forms ... In the monastery, the Schwyz wanted above all to meet its governors, the Habsburgs .
The bailiwick of Fahr Monastery also changed hands at that time. Ulrich I von Neu-Regensberg, whose family was on the verge of financial ruin, sold it to his uncle , Bishop Rudolf von Konstanz , for 200 marks ; the son, Lütold VIII. bought it back for the same amount. The same Lütold sold a farm in Obersteinmauer to Fahr Monastery . It was around this time that Fahr's court rights were probably written down, although only a copy from 1660 has survived. Abbot Heinrich obtained a letter of indulgence for the St. Gangulph Chapel in 1288 from two archbishops and ten bishops who were at the papal court in Rieti ...

In a document dated June 11, 1300, Ulrichs Wittwe renounced her personal property in favor of the Wettingen monastery . In the following year, Fahr Monastery acquired the Glanzenberg farm and other goods from Lütold VIII von Regensberg, as well as other goods on February 25, 1301, when the Regensbergers gave up the bailiwick of Fahr Monastery with the request that they be passed on to Bertold and Jakob Schwenden, citizens from Zurich. Ulrich's son Lütold VIII also had to sell Neu-Regensberg to Habsburg Austria in 1302 . Luetold IX. had probably withdrawn to the ancestral castle Alt-Regensberg and issued a document for the last time in 1321. When the Regensbergers in the male line with Lütold IX around 1331. died out, this presumably last remaining possession of the Regensberg lordship came into the possession of the Lords of Landenberg - Greifensee in 1350 .

Regensberg rule under Habsburg Austria

The relocation of the Habsburg center of power to Austria is reflected in the repeated pledging of the Regensberg possessions in the second half of the 14th century.

The now Habsburg- Austrian possession or the Regensberg office included goods and rights in the area of ​​the Lägern , the ridge dominating the Regensberg rulership in the west of today's canton of Zurich, named after the castle and town of Regensberg.

In 1409, the Habsburg regent of Upper Austria and Tyrol, Duke Friedrich, pledged the rule to Zurich "with the empty pocket" . There was no release of the deposit. On the one hand, Austria lacked the means, on the other hand, the city of Zurich had pursued an expansive territorial policy from the middle of the 14th century.

Landvogtei Regensberg (1417–1798)

After the pledge was not redeemed, Regensberg passed completely to the city of Zurich in 1417. The rule was organized with the communities of Regensberg, Bachs, Boppelsen, Buchs, Dielsdorf, Niederweningen, Oberweningen, Otelfingen, Schleinikon, Schöfflisdorf, Niedersteinmaur, Obersteinmaur and Sünikon as Obervogtei, later as a Landvogtei, administered by a Landvogt at Regensberg Castle . The office bordered the Zurich “Inner Bailiwicks” Neuamt and Regensdorf (Upper Bailiwicks ) and the Aargau .

Armed march of the peasants in front of the city of Zurich in 1489 in the Waldmann trade, “Hönggerbericht” (“Höngger Relation”) around 1500

As, for example, in the Vogtei Grüningen, the governor of Zurich acted more or less with a hard hand, against which the peasants repeatedly revolted. This is also the case in the Regensberg district in 1489 at the Waldmannhandel , which led to the execution of the Zurich mayor, Hans Waldmann. A stronger standardization and tightening of urban rule failed several times due to the resistance of the rural population, who wanted to keep their privileges from the times of relative independence from the Zurich authorities.

In Dielsdorf, site of the former Grange of the Barons of Regensberg, even enjoyed hearing and serfs a certain wealth and privileges in relation to the rural people of other bailiwicks. The Regensberger Hausmeier ( lat . Major domus) supervised the local Meierhof and at the same time administered the taxes in kind in the Kellhofkeller of the St. Gallen Monastery , one of the most important landowners in the office. The «church people», as the subjects of the monastery were called, were considered privileged, which they probably also remained under Habsburg rule ( Habsburger Urbar ), who ruled in Rapperswil and Grüningen , for example, with a milder hand compared to the Zurich bailiffs.

Whitsun 1443 Regensberg was conquered by the Confederates in the Old Zurich War (1436-50) , but not destroyed. The only known victim is said to have been the Vogt von Regensberg, as was the Landvogt von Grüningen a few months later, and Zurich occupied Regensberg again with troops as early as 1444. In the same year, the last representative of the Landenberger handed over the Altburg , which, like the town of Greifensee , was destroyed by the eight old places at the end of May. After the unsuccessful siege of the city, the people of Central Switzerland did not spare the immediate vicinity of Zurich: Schöfflisdorf , the nearby Niederhasli or Nassenwil and the church were destroyed, as was Bülach in 1444. After none of the sides was able to continue the war, on August 24, 1450, the Eight Old Places at Einsiedeln Monastery solemnly renewed the old leagues by oath and exchanged the flags captured during the war. This also formally ended the Old Zurich War, and peace reigned in the Regensberg district for a long time.

In 1790 Anton Werdmüller wrote in the second part of the Memorabilia Tigurina :

«... the residents of Regensberg are wealthy, the land is fertile and agriculture is flourishing. The members of the ruling class formed their own estate or a legal personality within the framework of the Zurich state system, which had certain tax rights, owned property and also built its own office building in 1665 ».

Helveticism, mediation and restoration (1798–1830)

From the district to the Oberamt

Main article: Helvetic Republic

The Zurich bailiwick of Regensberg ended in 1798 with the French Revolution and the invasion of the revolutionary troops.

On February 3, 1798, a congress was held in Wädenswil, at which representatives from 72 municipalities met to put pressure on the government in the city. However, the declaration of complete freedom and equality between town and country by a decree of the Grand Council on February 5, 1798 came too late. On March 13, 1798, the Zurich council abdicated, the governors were abolished and the last incumbent governor left Regensberg.

The territory of the city of Zurich was divided into 15 districts. Part of the former bailiwick of Regensberg was assigned to the Helvetian district of Bülach . Each district had a governor and a court of nine members, and each parish an agent. The district agent's seat was in Bülach, and the district court also met in Bülach.

The communities north of the camps came to the new administrative district of Bülach, those south of the camps to the district of Regensberg, the Fahr monastery remained in the Aargau. The duties of the bailiff were taken over by the Helvetic governor.

From the Oberamt to the district of the Canton of Zurich

Main article: Mediation (history)
The Swiss Confederation during the mediation period 1803–1814
Map of the Dielsdorf district
Map of the district of Bülach

The end of the unified state and the Helvetian Directory came after just five years; On February 19, 1803, the mediation act was handed over to Switzerland in Paris . The canton of Zurich was divided into five districts from 1803 to 1814, again with 13 guilds each , and Regensberg now became the mediation district of Bülach with the communities of today's districts of Dielsdorf and Bülach . During this time the foundations of today's community organization of the political community were created.

Main article: Restoration (Switzerland)

When the French withdrew from Switzerland in 1805, the district was abolished and again divided into the regional offices of Regensberg (western part) and Bülach (eastern part). As a result of Napoleon's final defeat, conservative circles regained the upper hand from 1814 to 1830 and tried to partially re-establish the order that had prevailed before the invasion of the revolutionary troops. Today's canton of Zurich was divided into eleven senior offices, each of which was headed by a senior official. His position corresponded to that of the earlier governors. In his area of ​​responsibility, administration and administration of justice were reunited and the separation of powers from the mediation period was thus partially reversed, even if a district court belonged to the higher office, but the upper bailiff was its president.

As a district of the canton of Zurich, Regensberg emerged from the western part of the Bülach district after the end of the mediation constitution in 1814 and was initially called Oberamt Regensberg .

Main article: Regeneration (Swiss history)

In 1830 the people of Zurich called for reforms and demanded complete equality between the city and the countryside. At a people's assembly on November 22nd in Uster, demands were made in a memorial. Due to popular pressure, elections to the new Grand Council took place on December 6, 1830. Only three months later, on March 20, 1831, there was a referendum on the new cantonal constitution, which was approved by an overwhelming majority of those entitled to vote. With the referendum of March 20, 1831, the upper offices were abolished and the office became the Regensdorf district.

Regensberg Castle remained the seat of the authorities until 1865, and the main building housed the district prison.

In 1852 and 1867 the municipality of Dielsdorf asked the Grand Council to relocate the district capital to the more easily accessible and meanwhile more important Wehntaler municipality not far from Regensberg, which was approved after the victory of the democratic movement over the liberal forces .

The district capital was named district capital in 1871 after long political disputes from the unloved castle on the Buck (the castle in Regensberg ) at the foot of the Lägern to Dielsdorf because of its more central and traffic -wise location - probably meant the Bülach-Regensberg-Bahn - better location , today's Dielsdorf district . The new district included 23 communities in the Glatt , Furt and Wehntal valleys . It was not until 1934 that Affoltern in Wehntal was incorporated into the city of Zurich.

Organization, administration and jurisdiction (Landvogtei)

Organization and administration

The city of Zurich administered the Regensberg rule as the so-called "Äussere Vogtei" (Landvogtei). A bailiff resided at Regensberg Castle and exercised the rulership rights on behalf of Zurich. Usually, the bailiff was a member of the Grand Council of the City of Zurich, which, however, resigned from the council for the term of office. In contrast to the upper bailiffs, there was a residence obligation for the bailiffs in the bailiwick. The term of office of the bailiffs was six years from 1543, a second term of office was excluded.

Two senior bailiffs also held office in the Outer Bailiwicks on an annual basis, and the two replacing bailiffs have held collegial office since the 16th century. Their term of office was not limited.

Regensberg Castle was the seat and residence of the governors appointed by the Grand Council of Zurich. These all came from influential and important urban bourgeois families. The provincial bailiffs had to fulfill their office in representation of the city of Zurich authorities and had to adhere to the legal system set by Zurich and ensure that it was observed. They were the highest judicial and administrative body at the same time.

The administrative structure of the Zurich city-state until 1798

In the Regensberg bailiff (1409–1798) there were around a dozen castles and 12 parishes:

Enclaves: The Fahr Monastery remains an enclave of the Canton of Aargau to this day. (List incomplete)

jurisdiction

The administrative law of the Landvogtei, consisting of criminal and civil statutes, was adjusted and re-recorded in 1538/46.

The governor was governor of the city authorities and chairman of the local court . He took care of the execution of mandates, sealed documents, accepted bills for the communal goods. In addition, he administered the castle property and its income, which the authorities in Zurich had to report to every year.

The register from 1770 on the writings in the upper part of the desk in the audience chamber in Regensberg Castle gives an impression of the variety of official duties of a Zurich bailiff .

The ruling court exercised the upper jurisdiction, lower jurisdictions were the jurisdictions (list incomplete) in:

  • Dielsdorf, the lower jurisdiction passed from the Regensbergers to the Habsburgs around 1302, who also acquired the high court in 1313 with the Landgraviate of Zurich.

The court courts emerged in the early Middle Ages and were noticeably displaced by the state courts .

Because of the heterogeneous composition of the rulers, there were probably various openings and special rights. In the 16th century the "Court of the Twelve" (in Grüningen) is mentioned, the later rulership court, which probably replaced the late medieval court courts in most of the bailiffs.

The blood jurisdiction was usually the parliament - an appellation way to the Zurich council did not exist.

The private law has been unified only with the official law of 1668 (for example in Grüningen), whether in all Zurich dominions or in Regensberg, needs clarification.

coat of arms

Coats of arms of the Regensberg and Regensdorf
Blazon : on a white background three posts in blue, covered by a simple horizontal bar in red

The barons of Regensberg, whose ancestral castle is near Regensdorf, kept a shield that was split five times, handed down on a grave slab from 1281 and a seal from 1291. The coat of arms - increased by the bar - became the emblem of the Zurich upper bailiwick. On the office table from 1576, the coat of arms covered with a double bar is still overwritten with Regensberg, on Konrad Meyer's Vogteitafel from 1674, however, with Regensdorf. Here three piles can now be clearly seen, covered by a simple beam. The municipality of Regensdorf took over the bailiwick coat of arms, for example for the municipality disk from 1683.

See also

literature

  • Karl Grunder: The art monuments of the canton of Zurich. Vol. IX: The Dietikon District, Basel 1997.
  • Thomas Bitterli-Waldvogel: Swiss Castle Guide , Reinhardt, Basel / Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-7245-0865-4 .
  • Werner Meyer (ed.) And Laslo Irmes (photos): Castles of Switzerland, Volume 5: Cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen , Silva-Verlag, Zurich 1982.
  • Fritz Hauswirth: Castles and Palaces of Switzerland , Vol. 4: Zurich, Schaffhausen, Kreuzlingen 1968.
  • Emil Stauber: The castles and noble families of the districts of Zurich, Affoltern and Horgen , Basel 1955.
  • Hermann Fietz: The art monuments of the canton of Zurich , Vol. II: The districts of Bülach, Dielsdorf, Hinwil, Horgen and miles. Basel 1943.
  • Heinrich Zeller-Werdmüller: Zurich castles . In: Communications from the Antiquarian Society in Zurich , 48./49. Born in Zurich 1894–1895.
  • Fritz Stucki: Barons of Regensberg . In: Partial print from the Genealogical Handbook on Swiss History
  • The barons of Regensberg (7 parts), Bern 1866–1872.

Web links

Individual evidence

  • Landvogtei Regensberg (1409–1798), files and documents of the accounting council for the Landvogtei Regensberg and the Landvogteikanzlei Regensberg, period 1395–1795, Finding aid C III 20 of the State Archives Zurich (as of January 31, 2005)
  1. a b Website dickemauern.de, Burg Alt-Regensberg ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2005 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. (As of April 20, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dickemauern.de
  2. Website Kloster Fahr, Geschichte ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (As of March 28, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kloster-fahr.ch
  3. Helvetia Sacra (Ed.): The Premonstratensians and Premostrats in Switzerland . Basel 2002.
  4. Website dickemauern.de, Burg Wulp ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2005 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. (As of March 28, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dickemauern.de
  5. website dickemauern.de, city fortification Glanzenberg  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (As of April 20, 2008)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.dickemauern.de  
  6. a b Website swisscastles.ch, Castles of Zurich, Regensberg (as of March 28, 2008)
  7. a b c d Website of the municipality of Grüningen
  8. Einsiedeln monastery archive, Professbuch: Abbots, 20th Heinrich II. Von Güttingen
  9. Einsiedeln monastery archives, Book of Professors IV., The Monks of the 13th Century
  10. site dickemauern.de, history of the castle New Regensberg ( Memento of the original on 27 September 2007 at the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (As of March 28, 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dickemauern.de
  11. Website of the community of Dielsdorf ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2011 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.dielsdorf.ch
  12. a b c State Archives of the Canton of Zurich (Register B III 76)
  13. a b c Ueli Müller: Dielsdorf. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  14. ^ History of the Canton of Zurich, Vol. 2, p. 38f.
  15. ^ Zurich State Archives: Old Catalog 359
  16. Representation used from contemporary maps and coats of arms, see the Ryhiner Collection ( Memento of the original from May 24, 2008 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.zb.unibe.ch
  17. ^ Website of the municipality of Regensdorf ( memento of the original dated February 9, 2008 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.regensdorf.ch

Coordinates: 47 ° 28 '58.1 "  N , 8 ° 26' 17.3"  E ; CH1903:  675,333  /  259596