Michael Gaismair

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Michael Gaismair (also Michael Gaismayr , * 1490 in Tschöfs near Sterzing , † April 15, 1532 in Padua ) was a peasant leader in Tyrol and Salzburg during the German Peasant War .

Life

Michael Gaismair was born the son of a mining entrepreneur and farmer. He was married to Magdalena Gaismair geb. Ganner from Feldthurns and had four children with her. He initially worked as a clerk in mining and state administration, from 1524 as secretary to the Prince-Bishop of Brixen . After Gaismair had been elected field bishop of the rebellious peasants on May 13th, he obtained a convocation of the state parliament in Innsbruck in June 1525. There he demanded from the Tyrolean regent Archduke Ferdinand I among other things:

  • Equality before the law and the creation of a code of law
  • Reduction of privileges for the nobles
  • Choice of judges and a salary that makes them independent of penalties
  • the abolition of the secular power of the church
    • Election of pastors by the people
    • Charges to the church only for social institutions
Flyer with a song of mockery against the rebellious farmers in front of Radstadt

The state parliament ended with a compromise, but in August 1525 Ferdinand I had Gaismair arrested in Innsbruck, canceled his promises and took mercenaries against the rebellious peasants.

After several weeks in captivity, Gaismair managed to escape. He settled in Switzerland and made contact with the reformer Ulrich Zwingli , with the plan for a democratic reorganization of Tyrol and Salzburg using the example of Graubünden and Venice . I.a. Due to the disappointing experiences of the state parliament negotiations, Gaismair developed from a reformer (summer 1525) to a social rebel and revolutionary (1526) (after Jürgen Bücking). In his draft of a new Tyrolean state order of May 9, 1526, Gaismair conceived an egalitarian, Christian-democratic miners 'and farmers' state.

He again rallied loyalists and in the spring of 1526 supported the uprising of the peasants in Salzburg. Although Gaismair managed successful battles against several advancing armies in May and June while he was besieging Radstadt , he was finally defeated on July 2, 1526 in the Battle of Radstadt.

Gaismair escaped across the Alps to Veneto and tried several times in vain to re-instigate uprisings from Graubünden, Tuscany and Venice . When Venice made peace with the Habsburgs in 1529, Gaismair finally retired to an estate near Padua .

After several unsuccessful assassinations , Gaismair was ambushed and stabbed to death on the morning of April 15, 1532 on the steps of the flight of steps of his property in Padua by muggers who snatched his gold chain and silver dagger.

Historical view

Plaque in memory of Michael Gaismair in Padua

Because of his struggle against the ruling monarchy and church, Gaismair was largely ignored by the historiography of his time. Centuries later, the National Socialists instrumentalized his story for their own purposes due to Gaismair's struggle against the supposed Jew Count Salamanca , advisor to Ferdinand I. It has now been proven that Count Salamanca was not a religious Jew , and the family had already converted to Catholicism in his childhood.

The Marxist research referred Gaismair as early socialists , especially in Friedrich Engels ' work The German Peasants' War . However, essential parts of Gaismair's statements are to be seen more as early capitalist basic features.

Since the 1950s, attempts have been made to shed light on its history more objectively, and the Michael Gaismair Society was founded in 1976 .

The Czech historian Josef Macek made special contributions to researching Gaismair's work. In 1965 his work Der Tiroler Bauernkrieg und Michael Gaismair was published , in 1988 the Austrian short version of this work Michael Gaismair. Forgotten hero of the Tyrolean Peasant War.

Aldo Stella was the first to propose the thesis in 1984 that the murder of Gaismair was a state crime by the Republic of Venice , which had become a nuisance to Gaismaier and which he failed to take measures to protect him. But he himself rejected this assumption in 1999.

As early as 1899, the local author Franz Kranewitter devoted himself to the Tyrolean past: the drama about Michael Gaismair under the title Michel Gaissmayr was written. In summer 2001, on the occasion of the Tyrolean Volksschauspiele in Telfs, a play written by the Austrian author Felix Mitterer about the rise and fall of Gaismair was premiered.

In Bregenz on Lake Constance there is a memorial in the South Tyrolean settlement.

In 1930 the Gaißmayrgasse in Vienna- Favoriten (10th district) was named after him, as was Michael-Gaismair-Straße in the Gries-Quirein district in Bozen in the 1970s . There is also a street in Innsbruck and an elementary school named after him.

literature

  • Hans Benedikter : Rebel in the state of Tyrol. Vienna 1970.
  • Angelika Bischoff-Urack: Michael Gaismair. A contribution to the social history of the peasant war. Innsbruck 1983.
  • Jürgen Bücking: Michael Gaismair, reformer, social rebel, revolutionary. His role in the Tyrolean "Peasants' War" (1525/32). Stuttgart 1978.
  • Fridolin Dörrer (ed.): The peasant wars and Michael Gaismair . Minutes of the international symposium from November 15-19, 1976 in Innsbruck-Vill, Innsbruck 1982.
  • Ralf Höller: A corpse in Habsburg's cellar - The rebel Michael Gaismair and his fight for a fairer world . Otto Müller Verlag. Salzburg-Vienna 2011.
  • Walter Klaassen: Michael Gaismair: Revolutionary and Reformer. Leiden 1978.
  • Werner Legère: The dreaded Gaismair. Berlin 1981.
  • Josef Macek : The Tyrolean Peasants' War and Michael Gaismair. Berlin 1965.
  • Giorgio Politi: Oltre il documento. L'assassinio di Michael Gaismair e le fantasie degli storici , in: Claudio Azzara, Ermanno Orlando Marco Pozza, Alessandra Rizzi (eds.): Historiae. Scritti per Gherardo Ortalli , Venice 2013, pp. 209–217.
  • Karl Springenschmid : The Gaismair Saga - Life picture of a revolutionary . Graz 1980.
  • Oskar Vasella:  Gaismair, Michael. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 40 ( digitized version ).
  • Hermann Wopfner : Sources on the history of the peasant war in German Tyrol 1525. Part 1: Sources on the prehistory of the peasant war. Innsbruck: Wagner 1973.
  • Heinrich von Zeißberg :  Gaismair, Michael . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, p. 313 f.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Aldo Stella: Die Staaträson and the murder of Michael Gaismair , in: Der Schlern 58 (1984) 307-313.
  2. ^ Aldo Stella: Il "Bauernführer" Michael Gaismair e l'utopia d'un repubblicanesimo popolare , Il Mulino, Bologna 1999, p. 212ff.
personal data
SURNAME Gaismair, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gaismayr, Michael (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Farmer leaders in Tyrol and Salzburg during the German Peasant War
DATE OF BIRTH 1490
PLACE OF BIRTH Tschöfs near Sterzing
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1532
Place of death Padua