Johanniterkommende Wädenswil
The Johanniterkommende Wädenswil was a branch of the Johanniterordens between Wädenswil and Richterswil ( district of Horgen , canton of Zurich , Switzerland). The order house was founded around 1300 by the Kommende Bubikon and became an independent Kommende shortly after 1330. In 1549/50 the Kommende was finally sold to the city of Zurich . The former castle and commandery today belongs to the municipality of Richterswil, the neighboring municipality of Wädenswil to the southeast.
location
The buildings of the commander were in or near Wädenswil Castle, today the Alt-Wädenswil castle ruins. The commander buildings erected at the beginning of the 14th century were separated by a moat to the east of the main castle and the original castle. According to the inventory taken after it was sold in 1550, the building had thirteen rooms. The former castle and commandery today belongs to the municipality of Richterswil , the neighboring municipality of Wädenswil.
The rule of Wädenswil originally belonged to the Diocese of Constance . The Kommende Wädenswil was assigned to the (Gross-) Priory Alemannia of the Order of St. John, which covers most of Germany, north-west Poland, the Netherlands, a very small part of Austria, Belgium and Lorraine (each with a Kommende / branch), Alsace and Switzerland included. The term Grosspriorat Deutschland, as it is often found in the literature, is somewhat misleading in this respect. The Alemannia priory , then called the Grand Priory in the late Middle Ages, was divided into eight balls in the Middle Ages. Wädenswil belonged to the Ballei der Oberen Lande, which comprised southern Germany, Alsace and Switzerland as well as one commander in Vorarlberg and one in Lorraine. It was the largest ball in the order province of Alemannia . The (major) priory of Alemannia , along with the (major) priory of Bohemia, Moravia, Austria and Poland, the Hungarian priory and the Dacien priory (Denmark and Scandinavia), formed the so-called German tongue of the Order of St. John.
history
The story of the Coming from the purchase to the sale to the city is relatively well documented.
Acquisition
On July 17, 1287, Heinrich von Lichtensteig, the commander of the Bubikon commander, and Berenger von Lauffen, the deputy prior of the Alemannia order, bought the Wädenswil dominion (today the municipalities of Wädenswil , Richterswil , Schönenberg , Hütten and Uetikon am See ) with the manorial seat Wädenswil Castle (today ruin Alt-Wädenswil ) of Rudolf III., who had no heirs, for 650 silver marks. The latter, however, reserved the right to use it for life. Thirteen years later, Rudolf III died. as the last baron of the Wädenswil rule. However, his more distant relatives also claimed the inheritance. After an arbitration ruling by King Albrecht I on December 1, 1300, these heirs had to be compensated by the Order of St. John with another 270 marks of silver.
However, other ecclesiastical institutions also had certain rights in the area of the Wädenswil rulership, and the further acquisition policy of the Order of St. John aimed at creating as closed a rulership as possible with all rights. The Einsiedeln Monastery and the Fraumünster Abbey of Zurich had some bondsmen in the newly acquired territory. Commander Heinrich von Lichtensteig achieved in 1290 that Gottfried von Hünenberg, the bailiff of these monastery serfs, promised (or had to promise?) Not to sell the bailiwick to third parties through these people. However, it was not until 1408 that the order succeeded in buying the bailiwick for 900 guilders from the mayor and the council of Zurich. Amazingly, the serfs raised the purchase price themselves and were released from serfdom.
The Wettingen Abbey sold in 1291 for 400 guilders the church record and the advocacy of the Church of Wädenswil to the Order. In 1427 the order was able to acquire further rights from the property of Götz von Hünenberg. In the towns of Wädenswil, Richterswil, Schönenberg, Hütten and Uetikon am See, the order had now acquired the high and low jurisdictions and most of the rights. As early as 1298, the commander of Bubikon, Hugo von Werdenberg, called himself commander of Wädenswil for the first time. From 1322 the Kommende Wädenswil also had its own seal . By 1330 at the latest, Wädenswil became an independent Johanniterkommende with its own commander. The previous commander Hugo I. von Werdenberg took over the new commander Wädenswil, while a new commander was appointed for the mother commander Bubikon.
Commendator Hugo II von Werdenberg-Sargans bought the court, church and church set from Küsnacht in 1358 from the barons of Tengen for the high sum of 1093 silver marks and built a religious house there for six priestly brothers and six servants / lay people. To do this, however, he had to take out large loans, for which he set the Coming Bubikon, Hohenrain and Wädenswil as pledge. In 1372 he applied to Pope Gregory XI. in Avignon the incorporation of the Küsnacht parish church into the new religious house, which was carried out in 1373 by authorized representatives of the Chur bishop Friedrich von Erdingen . The Kommende Wädenswil was one of the more important Kommende in the German Grand Priory at this time. The Heimbach settlement of 1382, which the Grand Prior Conrad von Braunsberg concluded with the Brandenburg Ballei, was also signed by the Wädenswil commander Hartmann von Werdenberg.
In 1409 the legal relationships in the rulership of Wädenswil were recorded. Before 1495, the Kommende again became dependent on Bubikon. From the middle of the 15th century, the respective grand prior of the order province of Alemannia received the commander Bubikon and Wädenswil as table goods. Grand Prior Johann Loesel resided mainly in Wädenswil. However, the two comers were already administered by administrative officials, so-called conductors.
Economic situation
The coming Wädenswil can be described as a very profitable coming coming. According to the visit report of 1495, 563 bushels of uncleaned husk and 12 bushels of cleaned husk, 275 bushels of oats, 175 salm of wine and 136 guilders 23 schillings in cash came from the towns of Richterswil, Wollerau, Hütten, Rüti, Wädenswil, Hangenmols and In der Eychen . After deducting the expenses, there was a net profit of 322 Rhenish gold guilders. The situation was even better in 1541. At that time, the net profit was 924 guilders 13 shillings. In 1489, the Kommende Wädenswil had to pay 38 guilders annually as so-called response money to the order's headquarters. This tax rose to 71 guilders a year after the new rate in 1501.
Convention
In Wädenswil at the beginning of the 14th century there was a small convent of priests and lay people in addition to the commander. In 1310 four brothers and the administrator lived there, in 1332 four brothers of the convent also appear as witnesses. In the chapter of Heimbach of 1367 (General Assembly of the Alemannia Priory ), a convention of only one priest brother and nine lay people was decided for Wädenswil. There is no hospital for Wädenswil. However, the convention seems to have provided shelter and care services. With the decline and the shortage of offspring of the Order of St. John in the later 15th century, secular priests administered the parishes of Wädenswil and Richterswil in 1495, a convent no longer existed. However, a friar still served as a conductor at the castle or in the Johanniterhaus. The commendators, who were also grand priors of the order province of Alemannia, only stayed in the commander's buildings occasionally. In 1541, the secular conductor Johannes Wirz administered the coming.
Relations with Zurich
The rule of Wädenswil or the secular domain of the Kommende Wädenswil lay on the south bank of Lake Zurich , in the border and area of interest between the old Confederation and the imperial city of Zurich. In 1342, the then commander Herdegen von Rechberg signed a castle rights contract with the city of Zurich. The convention members were quasi citizens of the city of Zurich and also received a promise of protection. They had to pay a tax of 5 pounds Heller for this. In 1377 the contract was renewed by Commendator Hartmann von Werdenberg-Sargans. In 1412 it was confirmed again by Commander Hugo von Montfort-Bregenz.
The close proximity to Zurich, however, had its price. The original exemption of the coming of all secular and spiritual courts or independence has been increasingly eroded. Zurich also intervened more and more in the internal affairs of the Wädenswil rule and became the second lord of the subjects of the Wädenswil rule. Commander Hugo von Montfort-Bregenz (1412 to 1444) agreed with Zurich that the Zurich criminal court rules should also apply in the rulership of Wädenswil. The commander Johann Loesel also did not quite succeed in keeping the rule of Wädenswil out of the armed conflicts between the old confederation and the imperial city of Zurich during the old Zurich war .
In the first phase of the war, the city of Zurich stationed troops on the territory of the rule in 1439/40. They had to be withdrawn after the defeat of the people of Zurich at Pfäffikon and the Peace of Kilchberg (1460), and the castle rights of the Kommende Wädenswil with the imperial city of Zurich had to be dissolved. The Kommende Wädenswil was actually able to maintain its neutrality in the further disputes. Nothing is known about major damage. After several defeats by the people of Zurich and their brilliant victory in the sea battle near Männedorf on Lake Zurich, in February 1446 the commander of Wädenswil at the time, Johann Loesel, mediated between the warring confederates and the imperial city of Zurich in a boat on Lake Zurich. But it took another four years before the final peace agreement. After the settlement in the Kappel Monastery (April 8, 1450) or after the final arbitration proceedings in Einsiedeln (July 13, 1450) between the Confederates and the imperial city of Zurich, Johann Loesel renewed the castle rights with Zurich as commander of Wädenswil on July 4, 1450. The following commendators also renewed their castle rights with Zurich when they took office.
Even under commander Johann Loesel, the city of Zurich intervened indirectly through arbitration in the internal affairs of the commander. So in 1451 and 1454 in disputes about tithe payments, the maintenance of the choir of the church, ban wine and forest use as well as 1455 about the use of church property. Under commendator Walter von Bussnang , Zurich decided disputes between commendator and his subordinates over the court system, team law, commercial law, the use of common land and forest, and the holding of community meetings through the so-called Bussnangbrief. In 1466/67, Zurich wanted to ensure that the subjects of the Wädenswil rule were also taxed by Zurich. Some subjects refused and Zurich occupied the territory. This almost led to the renewed outbreak of war with the old Confederation. The city of Bern, called on as arbitrator, decided in favor of Zurich.
Under commander Rudolf von Werdenberg-Sargans, who was often absent from his commander, the Zurich council enforced in 1484 that only Zurich citizens could be employed for the administration of the commander. The first Zurich conductor, Ulrich Schwend (1484 to 1489) appeared to the subjects like a city bailiff.
In 1495 and 1497 Zurich had to intervene again when the dispute between commander and subordinate over criminal jurisdiction, the penal code, the maintenance of the parish churches and the right to food for labor services threatened to escalate. In 1508 the following commander, Johann Heggenzer von Wasserstelz, also had a dispute with the subordinates about the surrender of carnival chickens. In this case, however, nothing is known about an intervention by Zurich.
Under commander Johannes von Hattstein there were again disputes with his subordinates in 1524 and 1543, which the Zurich council had to mediate. Apparently subordinates of the Coming had hired themselves as mercenaries and thus violated the travel ban.
Even under the last commander, Georg Schilling von Cannstatt, the loss of the old rights continued, perhaps with a view to the intended sale. In 1546 Zurich extended the right of appeal of the subjects of the Wädenswil rulership, which had previously been limited to certain cases, to the jurisdiction of the city of Zurich to include all legal cases. The commendator only had lower jurisdiction. The subjects of the rule of Wädenswil were still subjects of the commander, but de facto already citizens of the city of Zurich. On May 2, 1547, Georg Schilling von Cannstatt renewed the castle rights with Zurich. The right of asylum of the Johanniterkommende was finally thrown overboard with an agreement with Zurich on May 7th, 1547, when the commendator agreed with the city of Zurich the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals.
Reformation and Sale
Under commander Johannes von Hattstein, who was also Grand Prior of the Order Province of Alemannia from 1512 to 1546 , the disputes between commander and subordinates continued and reached another dimension with the Reformation . Hattstein was a staunch opponent of the Reformation, and his conductor Ulrich Wirtz also stuck to the old belief. In 1523 it was the conductor who relieved Georg Lüti of his office because he was too reform-minded. On May 12, 1529, the communities of Wädenswil and Richterswil introduced the Reformation despite the protest of the commander. Ulrich Wirz, the son of the same name as his successor in the conductor's office, on the other hand, tended towards the new apprenticeship. Catholic services were no longer held in the religious house itself. The altars were only removed after 1540.
In some parts of the Alemannia order province , with the Reformation, those who came were drafted by the respective sovereign. Therefore, as early as 1524 and 1536, the order held talks with Zurich about a sale of the Kommende Wädenswil in order to prevent possible expropriation. However, the Order's leadership in Malta initially refused to approve the sale. On April 4, 1546, Johann von Hattstein died in Speyer , after having headed the religious house in Wädenswil for 36 years as commander.
In 1546 Georg Schilling von Cannstatt became the new Grand Prior in the order province of Alemannia . Like its predecessor, it received, as it were, official equipment in addition to the coming Heitersheim and Heimbach as well as the coming in Bubikon, Leuggern-Klingnau and Wädenswil. On May 7, 1547 Georg Schilling von Cannstatt was able to accept the oath of homage from the subjects. The difficulties with the subjects, the loss of the original rights and the expropriations of those coming in other parts of the order province of Alemannia finally led to the decision to sell the rule of Wädenswil. On February 1, 1548, Georg Schilling von Cannstatt offered the Wädenswil lordship to the Zurich council for purchase. On August 16, 1549, the purchase contract was drawn up, with which he sold the Wädenswil estate to the city of Zurich for 20,000 gold guilders. In addition, the Kommende Bubikon received an annual interest of 1000 fish. However, some places in the Confederation, especially Schwyz , which was also interested in acquiring the Wädenswil rulership, appealed against the city of Zurich's purchase of the Wädenswil rulership. They felt threatened by Wädenswil Castle. An agreement was only reached on August 11, 1550 under certain conditions. The old commander's seat, the castle (old) Wädenswil had to be razed, which then happened in 1557. On October 10, 1550, the Order of St. John acknowledged receipt of the purchase price. The sale was final. A few days earlier, on October 1st, 1550, an inventory of the commander's buildings had been drawn up.
The dominion of Wädenswil or the territory of the Kommende Wädenswil became a district bailiff of the city of Zurich. Between 1550 and 1555, Wädenswil Castle was built for the bailiff about 1.5 km as the crow flies and on the edge of Wädenswil .
Excavations on the castle and commander grounds
Only remnants of the wall are left of the former commander. In 1900 an initiative committee was founded and acquired the former castle and commandery grounds. In 1902 the Foundation for the Preservation of Alt-Wädenswil Castle was established. The first work to uncover the remains of the wall was carried out as early as 1801 to 1904. Further excavation work took place from 1938 to 1941, and also in 1983. Tools, weapon parts (bullet tips and parts for armor), keys, coins and shards of clay dishes and drinking glasses were found. Particularly noteworthy are the finds of ornate stove tiles, which probably originate from the representation rooms of the coming.
Commendators (also called commander)
| Term of office | Commander | Other offices and remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1297 to 1332 | Hugo I. von Werdenberg-Sargans commander | 1294 to 1295 Kommendator in Überlingen, 1294,1314, 1320, 1321 Kommendator in Feldkirch, 1297 to 1329 Kommendator in Bubikon, 1306 Kommendator in Tobel |
| 1335 | Rudolf von Büttikon | 1315 to 1352 commander of Klingnau-Leuggern, 1330 commander of Basel, 1331 commander of Reiden, 1335 to 1352 commander of Biberstein, 1340 to 1345 commander of Hohenrain |
| 1342 to 1354 | Herdegen von Rechberg († January 16, 1354) |
1342 to 1354 commander in Wädenswil, 1343 general visitator of Germany and Bohemia, 1344 to 1350 commander of Bubikon, 1348 deputy of the master overseas in German lands |
| 1354 to 1373 | Hugo II of Werdenberg-Sargans | was also commendator in Hohenrain, Bubikon and Biberstein, 1357-1361 Prior of Germany |
| 1376 to 1412 |
Hartmann von Werdenberg-Sargans († September 6, 1416 at Sonnenberg Castle in Walgau, Vorarlberg, buried in Chur) |
Joined the Knights of St. John in 1360, commander in Feldkirch from 1379 to 1383, commander in Bubikon in 1393, bishop of Chur from 1388 to 1416 |
| 1412 to 1444 | Hugo of Montfort-Bregenz | 1393 to 1444 commander in Bubikon, 1393 commander von Küsnacht, 1406 to 1444 commander von Tobel, 1411 to 1444 grand prior and commander von Klingnau-Leuggern, 1427 commander von Münchenbuchsee |
| 1445 to 1460 |
Johann Loesel (* around 1390; † April 8, 1460) |
1434 to 1460 commander in Basel and Rheinfelden, 1445 to 1460 grand prior, 1445/46 commander in Bubikon, 1445 to 1460 commander in Leuggern |
| 1460 to 1467 | Walter von Bussnang | 1440 commander in Heitersheim, 1444 to 1468 commander from Tobel and Feldkirch, 1459 deputy to the grand prior, 1460 to 1467 commander in Bubikon, he resigned the Kommende Wädenswil before July 24, 1467 |
| 1467 to 1481 |
John of Ow († 1481) |
1440 to 1468 commendator in Freiburg i.Ü. 1449 to 1481 commendator of Münchenbuchsee, 1461 probably also commendator in Thunstetten, 1466 to 1467 Großbailli, 1467 to 1481 grand prior and commander of Bubikon |
| 1481 to 1505 | Rudolf von Werdenberg-Sargans (* around 1443; † September 2, 1505 in Freiburg im Breisgau) |
1472 to 1502 Commander von Thunstetten, 1481 to 1505 Grand Prior and Commander in Bubikon, Leuggern-Klingnau and Wädenswil, 1491/92 and 1501 to 1505 Commander in Biberstein |
| 1505 to 1512 |
Johann Heggenzer von Wasserstelz († 1512) |
1505 to 1512 Grand Prior and Commander of Bubikon, Leuggern-Klingnau and Wädenswil |
| 1512 to 1546 |
Johann von Hattstein (* around 1447, presumably in Usingen / Taunus; † April 4, 1546 in Speyer) |
1505 to 1512 Grossbailli, 1512 to 1546 Grand Prior and Commander of Bubikon, Leuggern-Klingnau and Wädenswil as well as Utrecht and Freiburg im Breisgau |
| 1546 to 1549/50 |
Georg Schilling von Cannstatt (* around 1490 in Neuffen; † February 2, 1554 in Heitersheim or on Malta) |
1522 Deputy Grossbailli, 1546 to 1554 Grand Prior, from 1548 Imperial Prince of Heitersheim |
literature
- Veronika Feller-Vest: Wädenswil. In: Bernard Andenmatten (arrangement), Petra Zimmer and Patrick Braun (ed.): Helvetia Sacra, 4th department, volume 7, part 1 Die Johanniter, pp. 514-536, Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2006
- Walter Gerd Rödel: The Grand Priory Germany of the Order of St. John. Wienand Verlag, Cologne 1972, pp. 64–68.
- Walter Gerd Rödel: The German (grand) priors. In: Bernard Andenmatten (arrangement), Petra Zimmer and Patrick Braun (ed.): Helvetia Sacra, 4th department, volume 7, part 1 Die Johanniter, pp. 51–76, Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2006, p. 60.
- Adolf Wilhelm Ernst von Winterfeld: History of the knightly order of St. Johannis from the hospital in Jerusalem: with special consideration of the Brandenburg ballot or the masterclass of Sonnenburg. XVI, 896 S., Berlin, Berendt, 1859 Online at Google Books (in the following abbreviated, Winterfeld, history of the knightly order with corresponding page number)
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Borchardt: The Johanniter and their Balleien in Germany during the Middle Ages. In: In: Christian Gahlbeck, Heinz-Dieter Heimann, Dirk Schumann (eds.): Regionality and transfer history Coming from the Knight Order of the Templars and Johanniter in north-eastern Germany and Poland. P. 63–76, Lukas-Verlag, Berlin 2014 (Studies on Brandenburg and Comparative State History, Volume 9, at the same time: Volume 4 of the writings of the State Historical Association for the Mark Brandenburg, New Series) ISBN 978-3-86732-140-2
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Veronika Feller-Vest: Bubikon. In: Bernard Andenmatten (arrangement), Petra Zimmer and Patrick Braun (ed.): Helvetia Sacra, 4th department, volume 7, part 1 Die Johanniter, pp. 135–163, Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2006
- ↑ Winterfeld, History of the Knightly Order, pp. 675–680.
- ↑ a b Walther Glättli: History of the unrest in the Zurich landscape in 1645 and 1646. Inaugural dissertation, Philosophical Faculty of the University of Zurich, Zurich, 1898 online at Google Books (only via proxy) (there p. 67/68 die The wording of the certificate with the naming of further commendators of the Swiss Order of St. John)
- ↑ a b c d e f g Cécile Sommer-Ramer: Rheinfelden. In: Bernard Andenmatten (arrangement), Petra Zimmer and Patrick Braun (ed.): Helvetia Sacra, 4th department, volume 7, part 1 Die Johanniter, pp. 416–442, Schwabe Verlag, Basel 2006, p. 434 / 35
- ^ A. Bernoulli: Hans and Peter Rots Pilgerreisen, 1440 and 1453. Contributions to the history of Basel, 11: 329–408, Basel, 1882, p. 381.
Basel | Biberstein | Biel | Bubikon | Contone | La Chaux | Compesières | Freiburg | Hohenrain | Klingnau | Leuggern | Küsnacht | Münchenbuchsee | Reiden | Rheinfelden | Salgesch | Thunstetten | Tobel | Waedenswil
Coordinates: 47 ° 12 '47.6 " N , 8 ° 41' 4.1" E ; CH1903: six hundred ninety-four thousand three hundred seventy-five / 229891