Münch (gender)

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Family coat of arms of the Münch

The Münch were one of the most influential families of the Basel knighthood between 1185 and 1759 .

Appear

The name Münch first appeared in 1185. After that Hugo Monachus I was mentioned several times between 1185 and 1202 in written documents, or as "Hugo cognomento", "Hugo cognomine Monachus" or "Hugo Monachus". Hugo Monachus I was the progenitor of the great Münch clan. The Münch von Münchenstein, the von Münchsberg and the von Büren / Sterenfels descended from his first son Hugo II. The Münchs von Landskron and those of Stettenberg / Alsace descended from his second son, Konrad II.

Of these different branches, the Münchensteiners achieved the greatest prosperity, they were important in Basel and the surrounding area. The Münchs rose to be servants of the Bishop of Basel , who were exquisite servants and advisers and thus enjoyed many privileges. When the bishop granted the servants the privilege of receiving fiefs from 1227 , they were given the opportunity to become knightly . In addition to the Münch, these were also the Reich and Schaler, which within a short time were among the most important knight families in Basel. The first knight Münch was mentioned in 1232 and lived in the castle , the most elegant part of the old town, next to the Basel cathedral and the bishopric .

Konrad Münch II. Was the first known Münch and held the office of Schultheissen (episcopal court chief) from 1221 to 1239 . The Münch became richer and more powerful over time and in 1258 was knight Konrad Münch III. von Münchsberg member of the council .

In the middle of the 13th century, the Münch received or built their joint property on Petersberg, henceforth called it Münchhof, and under this name went down in the history of the city of Basel. Among other things, the Münchshof was the birthplace of the later controversial Bishop of Basel, Hartung Münch, in 1265 and around 1300 the palace became the center of the Friends of the Habsburgs .

Heinrich I. Münch, Hartung Münch's father, was mentioned as Basel's mayor around 1267.

Headquarters

Munchenstein ruins

Since the Münch, like all other knights, longed for a free knightly life, the Münch acquired the village of Geckingen in the Birstal, which belongs to the cathedral chapter of Basel, around 1260 and was built above the village under Hugo III. Münch the Münchenstein Castle and the castle and the village was enclosed by a wall. From then on, Ritter Münch von Münchenstein called himself .

The Münch did not keep the village and the castle as their own property for long, because as early as 1270 it came into the hands of the Counts of Pfirt , who gave it back to the Münch as a fief.

From 1279 the former village of Geckingen appeared in documents under the name Münchenstein and therefore has the striding monk of the Knights Münch von Münchenstein in its coat of arms.

Through the marriage of Katharina von Löwenburg , the family's heir, to Konrad Münch von Münchenstein around 1360, the entire Löwenburg property was transferred to this powerful, widely ramified knightly family from Basel.

expansion

The Münch continued to expand, branched out and acquired additional areas or acquired / built various castles.

Ramifications of the sex

Coat of arms epitaph board Beat Anton Münch von Münchenstein called von Löwenburg , cloister, Konstanzer Münster

Over time, the Münch family owned different branches:

Possessions / fiefdoms

The Münch family owned various possessions and castles or received them as fiefs:

Bishops

The Münch dynasty was also well represented in church affairs. There were various church people such as provosts and priests , and some even made it to the bishopric of the dioceses of Basel and Lausanne :

  • Hartung Münch (* around 1265 - † October 25, 1332), Bishop of Basel 1325–1328
  • Johann Münch von Landskron, Bishop of Lausanne 1389 / 90–1410
  • Hartmann III. Münch von Münchenstein , Bishop of Basel 1418–1423
  • Konrad Münch von Landskron († 1402), Bishop of Basel from 1393 to 1395

Downfall

In the 15th century, with the loss of the bishop's influence in the city and after various wrong decisions by the Münchs in taking sides in armed conflicts, their star began to decline. They quickly became impoverished and their gender sank into insignificance in favor of the new bourgeois upper class in Basel.

Burkhard VII. Münch , a descendant of the Münch zu Landskron, achieved sad fame at the battle of St. Jakob an der Birs on August 26, 1444. The death of Burkhard VII. Meant the actual end of the line of the Münch zu Landskron, which with the death of his brother Johann IX. Münch became extinct in Alsace in 1461 . The last branch of the Münchenstein-Löwenberg line also died out in 1759.

coat of arms

  • Münch coat of arms (1515)

  • The coat of arms of the community of Münchenstein

Originally the coat of arms / seal of the Münch still showed a striding monkey around 1237, which probably went back to the house of Gliss. From 1232, when the Münch received the knighthood, the coat of arms with a striding, black-clad monk with a drooping hood became more and more popular . The bareheaded monk wears red shoes and walks in front of a white ground with hands raised in prayer. This eventually became the family coat of arms and seal of the Münch and in modern times the coat of arms of the community of Münchenstein.

literature

  • Münchenstein local history . Verlag des Kantons Basel-Landschaft, Liestal 1995, ISBN 978-3-85673-522-7 .
  • Doris Huggel: The Münch von Münchenstein - Rise and Fall of a Gender , Culture Commission of the Bürgergemeinde Münchenstein 1999.
  • Local history reader of Basel-Stadt, Basel 1942.
  • Werner Meyer : Castles from A to Z, Burgenlexikon der Regio , Basel 1981.
  • Werner Meyer: Münchenstein from the Middle Ages to the 17th century. in: Münchenstein local history. Volume 1. Liestal 1995, pages 127 to 143.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Werner Meyer, Eduard Widmer, Das große Burgenbuch der Schweiz , 1979, Niklaus Flüeler (Ed.), P. 198