Martial wine

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The Märteswein (also Martini wine ) was freely served by the county, later the Electorate of Hesse , to the citizens of the old town of Hanau until the 19th century annually on the evening before St. Martin's Day (November 10th). This was to commemorate an event in 1419, when the city and Hanau Castle almost fell into the hands of the Electorate of Mainz. The truth of the story, however, is highly doubtful.

background

history

Ulrich V. von Hanau got into financial and political difficulties around the year 1400, among other things due to lengthy arguments with his younger brothers, Reinhard II. And Johann . The Archbishop of Mainz, Johann von Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein , who was distantly related to them , intervened in these disputes . The archbishop initially supported the reigning Ulrich V. In 1400, both of them agreed a mutual right to open their castles. In 1402/03 Ulrich pledged the castles of Babenhausen and Hanau to him with relapse to the rule of Hanau without paying a pledge on the death of the archbishop. In the same year the Archbishop appears as the formu (s) of and owner (= owner) of the rulership of Hanauwe . Two important places in the Hanau rulership were pledged to the Archbishop of Mainz. Although this did not change the ownership structure, it significantly increased the influence of the Archbishop on the County of Hanau and testifies to the crisis of Ulrich V's rule. Ulrich V finally abdicated in 1404 in favor of his brothers and died in 1411. Archbishop Johann II died on 23 September 1419 in Aschaffenburg.

Stories

According to the legend, the citizens of Hanau planned to drive out the remaining Mainz garrison on the evening before Martini and to let Count Reinhard II into the city. The Mainz found out about this plan and requested reinforcements from Steinheim . When the bell rings at 9 o'clock in the evening, it was supposed to be let in through the city gate after crossing the Main . This, in turn, was brought to the attention of the Hanauers and they canceled the ringing of the bells of the Marienkirche , whereupon the Mainz reinforcements withdrew after a long wait. Coming from Windecken , Count Reinhard II was able to take control of the town and castle of Hanau again. As thanks for the loyalty of the residents, every citizen should receive a measure of wine on the evening before the martini , the "martial wine."

consequences

The 9 o'clock ringing of the Marienkirche should be omitted on this day. Martial wine was only available to residents of the old town. It was distributed quarterly by the court cellar master, but is said to have been of poor quality. Wine was served annually until 1822 and then again in 1830. As a result, there was a transfer agreement between Kurhessen as the legal successor of the County of Hanau-Münzenberg and the city of Hanau. The state paid the city 220 guilders . The money was subsequently used, among other things, for the maintenance of the Wilhelmsbrücke over the Kinzig . In 1835 Märteswein is also mentioned in the dispute agreement between the two cities of Alt- and Neu-Hanau.

Historical authenticity

There is no contemporary account of these events. The story known today is first told in the 18th century by the Hanau historian Johann Adam Bernhard . A number of historical facts speak against the truth of the story:

  • Castle and town of Steinheim did not come to Kurmainz until 1425 under Johann's successor Konrad von Dhaun .
  • Not the cities, but only Hanau Castle and Babenhausen Castle were owned by the Archbishop of Mainz.
  • In fact, Reinhard II took possession of the Hanau and Babenhausen castles again on September 24, 1419, in accordance with the treaty, and not until November, on the day after the Archbishop died on September 23, 1419 - albeit against Mainz resistance.

Worth knowing

Analog episode in the Thirty Years War

An almost identical episode took place in the Thirty Years' War on November 11, 1631, when Hanau was captured by the Swedes overnight. Here an imperial reinforcement from Steinheim was waiting in front of the Steinheimer Tor and withdrew again because the bell did not strike, while the Swedes under Christoph Hubald occupied the old town on the opposite side almost at the same time.

Count Philipp Ludwig Association

The memory of the event was fostered in Hanau for a number of years by the Graf Philipp Ludwig eV (Märtesweinvereinigung), which was dissolved in 2016 and, among other things, has selected a wine from local Lower Franconian winemakers as Märteswein every year since 1994.

literature

  • Reinhard Dietrich : The abdication of Ulrich V. von Hanau - causes and consequences . In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 31 (1993), pp. 7-33.
  • Günter Rauch: Hanau and Mainz. A historical symbiosis. In: Stadtzeit 6. 700 years of city rights, 400 years of Jewish existence. Hanau 2003, ISBN 3-9806988-8-2 , pp. 129-135, especially pp. 130f.
  • Ernst Julius Zimmermann : Hanau city and country . 3. Edition. Hanau 1919, reprint 1978, ISBN 3-87627-243-2 , p. 47f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ He was a nephew of her grandmother, Countess Adelheid von Nassau († 1344), the wife of Ulrich III. von Hanau (Dietrich, p. 18).
  2. ^ Text printed in Dietrich, p. 28.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietrich, p. 18.
  2. ↑ Dietrich, p. 11.
  3. ^ Rauch: Hanau and Mainz , p. 131.
  4. ^ Ernst Julius Zimmermann: Hanau city and country . Hanau 1919, reprint 1978, ISBN 3-87627-243-2 , p. 48.
  5. ↑ Dietrich, p. 31.
  6. ^ Rauch: Hanau and Mainz , p. 131f.
  7. ↑ Dietrich, p. 26.
  8. ↑ Dietrich, p. 30.
  9. ↑ Michael Müller: Construction and importance of the Hanau Fortress in the Thirty Years War. In: Hanauer Geschichtsverein (ed.): The Thirty Years War in Hanau and the surrounding area. Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 45 , 2011, ISBN 978-3-935395-15-9 , pp. 93–121, here pp. 100f .; Richard Wille: Hanau in the Thirty Years' War. Hanau 1886, pp. 56-72.