Altenburg prince robbery
The Altenburg prince robbery , also known as the Saxon prince robbery , is a historic event in Saxon-Thuringian history. On the night of July 7th to 8th, 1455, the knight Kunz von Kauffungen kidnapped the 14- and 11-year-old princes Ernst and Albrecht , who are considered to be the founders of the states of Thuringia and Saxony in later life . With the kidnapping, the knight Kunz von Kauffungen wanted to force the Elector of Saxony , Friedrich the Meek , to meet his demands for compensation for his lost lands, but this failed.
Events
The differences between Kunz von Kauffungen and the Saxon Elector Friedrich the Meek (1428–1464) go back to the Saxon Fratricidal War (1446–1451). Von Kauffungen took part in the war on the Electoral Saxon side, allegedly at Friedrich's request, but was soon captured and had to pay a ransom of 4,000 guilders for his release. After the end of the war (probably 1451–52) he demanded compensation from the elector for the ransom, for the destruction of his estates in Thuringia and the expropriation of his manor in Schweikershain . The elector rejected the demands, however, arguing that Kauffungen had entered the war as a free knight at his own risk, and in turn made an invoice to Kunz. After years of debate, it was finally decided in 1455 that an arbitration tribunal would review it. The courts in Magdeburg and Friedberg approved of Kunz von Kauffungen, the court in Leipzig, Saxony, approved of the elector, and this judgment ultimately counted.
In view of the expected verdict, however, Kunz von Kauffungen's plan matured to enforce his supposed right on his own.
Course of the kidnapping
Together with the knights Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfeld , who also had a bill with Electoral Saxony , and a troop of 30 horsemen, he marched on the night of July 8, 1455 to the castle of the elector, today's Altenburg castle , and kidnapped the two sons of Friedrich, the princes Ernst and Albrecht. He benefited from his local knowledge as the former commandant of the palace, as well as the circumstances that the elector was traveling and the rest of the court was at a wedding party. The day before, Kauffungen, Mosen and Schönfels had sent feuding letters (formal declarations of war) to the elector. The kitchen boy Hans Schwalbe helped him prepare his plan in the castle. The alarm was immediately sounded (loud, long church bells are considered to be a message to other places), only not in Zwickau and Chemnitz, whose mayor asked Kunz not to do so.
After the deed was done, the kidnappers separated. Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfeld wanted to travel with Prince Ernst via the Vogtland to Bohemia , while Kunz von Kauffungen tried to reach his estates in safe Bohemia with Prince Albrecht via an eastern route via Stollberg and Thalheim . From there they wanted to make ransom demands. On the same day summoned men (according to various sources: villagers, charcoal burners, monks) confronted and overwhelmed Kunz von Kauffungen and his riders at Waschleithe near the Grünhain monastery in the Ore Mountains .
(Another source reports: Kunz von Kaufungen wanted to flee to Bohemia with a prince via Wolkenburg, Stollberg, Zwönitz and Grünhain. The second group under Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfeld with the second prince should take the more dangerous route via Callenberg, Tirschheim, Kuhschnappel , Lichtenstein and finally camped for two days in the "Prinzenhöhle", a mining tunnel near Hartenstein near Stein Castle.)
From Mosen and von Schönfeld came with the other prince via Zwickau into the Hartensteiner Flur. There they hid Prince Ernst in the Prinzenhöhle . After von Mosen and von Schönfeld learned of the capture of Kauffungen and realized that their plan was doomed to failure, they started negotiations with the Hartenstein lord of the castle, Friedrich von Schönburg , and obtained impunity and free withdrawal with subsequent exile in exchange for the other prince.
Kunz von Kauffungen, however, was charged with breach of the peace in Freiberg before the mountain jury court. During the negotiation, he relied on his justified demand and on the feud, which, according to the law of the time, suspended the peace in the country. However, this feud letter (allegedly), like the feud letters from Mosen and von Schönfeld, was not received until the day after the kidnapping at Altenburg Castle.
Conflict between the Electorate of Saxony and Bohemia as "security" for the kidnappers
Ultimately, the prince robbery was also a side event of the long-standing disputes between the Saxon elector and the king of Bohemia, Ladislaus Postumus . The relationship between the two states was determined by violent border disputes. The Hussite raids on Saxony and the Bohemian armies in the civil war did the rest. In Bohemia the Bohemian line of the Lords of Kaufungen sat at Eisenberg Castle . This castle is believed to have been the target of the kidnapping. It is undisputed that Kunz von Kaufungen and the second group of kidnappers had to reach the Kingdom of Bohemia in order to be safe from access by the Saxon elector and his judiciary. However, this would also have given the King of Bohemia direct access to the princes and a strong pledge against the Saxon elector in contract negotiations. That is why the Bohemian king wanted the kidnapping to be a success. The relationship between Electoral Saxony and Bohemia only improved with the Treaty of Eger , which was concluded by the new King George of Podebrady , crowned in 1458 , and which resolved the border disputes.
Punishment of the perpetrator
After von Mosen and von Schönfeld became aware of the capture of Kauffungen near Grünhain / Waschleithe and realized that their plan was doomed to failure, they entered into negotiations with the Hartenstein castle lord Friedrich von Schönburg and, through a contract with him, obtained impunity and free withdrawal subsequent exile (expulsion from Saxony) in exchange for the other prince.
On July 13, 1455, only five days after the act, Kunz was found guilty by Kauffungen and sentenced to death. After he was brought to the city of Freiberg, the city gates were closed immediately so that no one could come in or out. The following day, he was beheaded on the Freiberg Obermarkt, along with some of his helpers. The place where the severed head is said to have rolled is still marked today with a blue cobblestone. The eyes of the stone head on the town hall bay (see illustration) are directed towards this point.
Dietrich von Kaufungen wasbeheadedon July 31, 1455 as a confidante in Altenburg . The kitchen boy Hans Schwalbe from Altenburg Castle was“pinched”as a helper on July 28, 1455 in Zwickau with glowing pliers and then quartered.
Family members of Kunz had to leave Saxony. His manors and castles in Saxony were razed to the ground. This is said to have affected the castles of Kaufungen and Wolfsburg near Streitwald-Wolftitz and allegedly also the Kohren Castle .
Post-events
After the execution of the noble Kunz von Kaufungen, the elector in Dresden received hundreds of letters of complaint from nobles from all over Europe. In such a case, the execution of a man of nobility was considered unjustified / unlawful.
In Saxony it was forbidden to talk about prince robbery.
After the death of Kunz von Kauffungen, the Bohemian King Ladislaus Postumus took care of his sons.
In the aftermath of the Saxon prince robbery, the parents of the rescued princes, Elector Friedrich the Meek and his wife Margaretha , made a pilgrimage to the collegiate church in Ebersdorf (today's district of Chemnitz) on July 15, 1455 to see the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary there, in order to save their children to bring a solemn offering of thanksgiving. The arrival in Ebersdorf took place at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Margaretha donated an altar and the princes' clothes and the cap of the charcoal burner who had caught Kunz von Kauffungen were hung in the church as a souvenir. They are still kept in Ebersdorf today. Out of gratitude for the rescue of her kidnapped sons, the monastery in Neukirchen / Pleiße was converted into a Carthusian monastery in 1478 on the initiative of the widowed Electress Margaretha with the approval of Pope Sixtus IV .
Fabulous
The manor in Callenberg was owned by Dietrich von Kaufungen, a relative of Knight Kunz. Parts of it were still preserved until the GDR era, a barn with a Renaissance seat niche portal (see illustration in the literature mentioned: Fig. 4 p. 40). According to tradition, rope ladders are said to have been tied here, with which the kidnapping of the princes from Altenburg Castle was ultimately supposed to have been carried out. Instead of the manor, which was probably demolished, there is said to have been a plaque with an older inscription in 1981:
- The devil made ladders here,
- Kunz Kaufung, to rob the land of Perl,
- Hans Schwalbe was ready for it.
- Praise be to God forever.
- SDG (i.e. Soli Deo Gloria)
As late as 2010, parts of the wall with medieval loopholes are said to have existed.
In addition, a group of two old oaks is said to have been planted as a reminder of the prince robbery.
According to Callenberg's list of monuments, there are remains of an older (before 1800) and a newer (from 1800) manor .
In Kohren-Sahlis it is legendary that Kunz von Kaufungen is said to have stayed at Kohren Castle before the prince robbery and that this castle was therefore razed after the prince robbery failed to erase the memory of the events.
Historical places and buildings of the prince robbery
Altenburg Castle with the keep "Bottle" and the rounded Gothic ring wall of the Zwinger (around 1952)
Place and ruins of the Grünhain monastery (around 1630)
Fuchsturm in Grünhain Monastery, where Knight Kunz and his companions are said to have been held prisoner
Stein Castle (older upper castle) near Hartenstein, where a prince is said to have been handed over to Friedrich von Schönburg
Hartenstein Castle (Vorburg), seat of Friedrich XX. von Schönburg (Herr von Waldenburg), this is where Prince Ernst was probably brought before his transfer to Chemnitz
Callenberg Manor (1856)
Kohren Castle, this is where Kunz is said to have stayed the day before the kidnapping
Theatrical performances
Since the 500th anniversary in 1955, the prince robbery has been performed several times by amateur actors at the original location in the Altenburg castle courtyard. In the summer of 2005, professional actors from the Altenburg-Gera Theater took on this task for the first time, together with over 200 amateur actors. The premiere took place on July 8, 2005, the 550th anniversary of the event. Until 2011, the annual prince robbery festival paid tribute to the historic event.
In 2012 the Prinzenraub was released as a mobile street theater (director: Markus Ditz) under the name Prinzenraub on Tour . In addition to the street theater, the Festival project premiered on August 8, 2013 with another prince robbery production by Markus Ditz under the name of Kaufungen's feud . The roles were again taken on by amateur actors from Altenburg and the surrounding area.
In addition, the Latin comedy Plagium was written by Daniel Cramer in Wittenberg as early as 1593 , which deals with the robbery of a prince. A German translation was made by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt from Langfeldt.
literature
- Fiction
- Moritz Götze: The Prince Robbery . Altenburger Verlag, Altenburg 1992, ISBN 3-929210-04-5 ( Graphic Novel )
- Regina Röhner : The Saxon Prince Robbery. The story of Kunz von Kauffungen . 4th edition Chemnitzer Verlag, Chemnitz 2002, ISBN 3-928678-11-6 (EA Chemnitz 1993).
- Hans R. Schröter: The Altenburg prince robbery. A historical narrative . Knabe Verlag, Weimar 1974.
- Therese Thurm: The Altenburg prince robbery. Narration . Bonde-Verlag, Altenburg 1932.
- Manuscripts
- Karl Lochbaum: Der Prinzenräuber , unpublished machine manuscript , without a year (in the archive of the Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau)
- Non-fiction
- Georg Piltz : The robbery of princes and other historical criminal cases , Das Neue Berlin , Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-360-02188-5 .
- Joachim Emig in connection with Wolfgang Enke u. a. (Ed.): The Altenburger Prinzenraub 1455. Structures and mentalities of a late medieval conflict . 2nd edition Sax-Verlag, Markkleeberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86729-021-0 .
- Wilhelm Schäfer: Errors and legal dispute between Elector Friedrich II. And Conrad von Kaufungen and the result on 7./8. Prince robbery brought about in July 1455 . Meinhold-Verlag, Dresden 1855 ( digitized version )
- Rolf Kirchner: Kaufungen and the Saxon prince robbery (Chronicle of Wolkenburg-Kaufungen; Vol. 4). Beran & Beran publishing house, Langenweißbach 2004, ISBN 3-937517-12-X .
- Uwe Schirmer : Kunz von Kauffungen and the prince robbery of Altenburg (1455). Structures of a late medieval conflict . In: Journal for Historical Research , Vol. 32 (2005), Issue 3, pp. 369-405, ISSN 0340-0174
Web links
- Literature about Altenburg prince robbery in the Saxon Bibliography
- Saxon prince robbery on residenzschloss-altenburg.de
- The Saxon prince robbery texts and images
Individual evidence
- ↑ Saxon prince robbery at residenzschloss-altenburg.de The Saxon prince robbery at Altenburg at Residenzschloss-Altenburg.de .
- ↑ Steffen Winkler: The historic barn in Callenberg and the Saxon prince robbery in 1455 . In: Special edition series (legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area), Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau, 1981, Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfeld p. 6
- ↑ Steffen Winkler: The historic barn in Callenberg and the Saxon prince robbery in 1455 and the oaks near Callenberg . In: Special edition series (legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area), Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau, 1981, pp. 6–7, Fig. 4 on p. 40 Barn with niche portal as part of the Callenberg manor
- ↑ Steffen Winkler: The historic barn in Callenberg and the Saxon prince robbery in 1455 and the oaks near Callenberg . In: Special edition series (legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area), Museum and Art Collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau, 1981, pp. 6–7, Fig. 4 on p. 40 Barn with niche portal as part of the Callenberg manor
- ↑ Steffen Winkler: "The historic barn in Callenberg and the Saxon prince robbery in 1455" and "The oaks near Callenberg". Series of publications special issue, legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area , museum and art collection Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau, 1981, p. 6–7, Fig. 4 on p. 40 Barn with alcove portal as part of the Callenberg manor
- ↑ Steffen Winkler: Special edition series (Legends and legendary stories from Glauchau and the surrounding area), Museum and Art Collection, Schloss Hinterglauchau, Glauchau, 1981, GDR, literature sources p. 35