Richensee

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Richensee
State : SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland
Canton : Canton lucerneCanton lucerne Lucerne (LU)
Constituency : Hochdorf
Residential municipality : Hitzkirchi2 w1
Postal code : 6285
Coordinates : 661 553  /  230348 coordinates: 47 ° 13 '16 "  N , 8 ° 15' 5"  O ; CH1903:  661 553  /  230348
Height : 466  m above sea level M.
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Richensee (Switzerland)
Richensee
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Parish before the merger on June 1, 1897

Richensee has belonged to the municipality of Hitzkirch since June 1, 1897 .

history

From the beginning to the Kyburgers and Habsburgs

Around 8000 BC First settlers settled on Lake Baldeggersee . Around 3800 BC Stone Age people lived on the sea mat. Around 1000 BC There were bronze casters in the moss for the first time. Between 400 BC BC to approx. 500 AD Celts , Romans and Alemanni immigrated one after the other .

Count Hartmann IV. And Hartmann V. von Kyburg received a piece of land in Richensee from the Canons of St. Michael Beromünster around 1237 in return for a contract. The counts wanted to build a fortification in this area. That was probably the laying of the foundation stone for the town of Richensee. The Kyburgers must have arranged for a tower castle with a city wall and the town to be built between Lake Hallwil and Lake Baldegger. Because around 1242 an Arnold von Richensee was first mentioned as a Kyburgian Vogt . After the Kyburgs died out, the Habsburgs inherited Richensee.

The heyday of Richensee

Richensee had a city wall, city rights and market rights. The village held four markets a year and became the official capital.

The trade routes from north to south ran through Richensee and so the Kyburgers decided to collect customs. But the residents of Grünenberg Castle also wanted to collect customs, the dealers were taken advantage of.

In its heyday, Richensee was a lot bigger than today's neighboring village of Hitzkirch.

During the Sempach War

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During the month of January, the city of Richensee got into a hopeless dilemma. Rothenburg had already been destroyed by the Lucerne people. And now the Lucerne people came to the Seetal. Baldegg, Grünenberg, Nünegg and Oberreinach were torn down. Should the next Habsburg fortress Richensee be razed to the ground? Richensee, one can only assume, saw his rescue in the flight ahead. The town formed an alliance with Lucerne and thus betrayed the Austrian duke (Leopold III von Habsburg).

Baldegg, Grünenberg, Nünegg and Oberreinach were destroyed by the Lucerne people (Heidegg was castle right with Lucerne). The Habsburgs wanted revenge on the faithless Seetalern. Under the command of the two Habsburg field captains Johann Ochsenstein and Johann Truchsess von Waldburg , Richensee was sacked on February 9, 1386. 200 people died. The village lost its castle rights and became a farming village again. Five months after the destruction of Richensee, the battle broke out: Leopold III. gathered his army at Sursee and led his well-armored army to Sempach on July 9th. The feudal lords formed a lance-armored, hedgehog-like defense. The closed ranks of the feudal lords awaited the attack, the lances of their foremost four rows forming an insurmountable obstacle. The Confederates were the stark contrast to the heavily armored knights. They consisted only of the common rank and file. “According to legend, a man from Unterwalden, Arnold Winkelried , sacrificed himself , over whose corpse the Confederates now penetrated the center of the Habsburg position. The halberds led with the later notorious vigor helvetii now held a bloody harvest among the knights, who were more handicapped than protected by their heavy armor. "

Leopold III. (Habsburg) was murdered and the Habsburgs were crushed. The village lost its town charter and became a farming village again, but remained under the control of the Habsburgs. Richensee did not come to Lucerne until 1415, when the confederates conquered Aargau after the imposition of the imperial ban on Duke Friedrich of Austria.

Further developments

From 1425 Richensee belonged to the Freiamt and was jointly administered by the seven (later 13) old towns of the Confederation.

In 1803 Richensee was assigned to the Canton of Lucerne. After that, Richensee participated in the construction of the Seetalbahn and thus got very deeply into debt. Therefore, the canton decided to dissolve the Richensee community. There were four options to choose from:

  • 1. three large communities in the Seetal
  • 2. united with Ermensee
  • 3. divided into three parts
  • 4. a single large parish

None of the four options stood a chance. The fourth idea wasn't even discussed. So after a few negotiations, Hitzkirch decided to incorporate Richensee.

Megalithic tower

Around the year 1237 the megalith tower (megalith = large stone) in Richensee is built by the Counts of Kyburg, and the town is founded. The tower used to have a wooden structure that protruded over the tower. The tower is the official and residence of the bailiff, center of power, status symbol and fortification. The floor space is approx. 11.5 m by 11.5 m. The average wall thickness at ground level is about 3.5 m. There was an apartment in the tower that could be reached via a high entrance at a height of 9.2 m. A stone staircase led to the high entrance, which could be removed in case of war. The passage leading to the tower at ground level dates from the 19th century when a nail forge was located there.

In the 1920s, the tower was restored by the canton. In 2013, extensive renovation measures began with the aim of stabilizing the masonry.

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

  • Richensee defense tower

The legend of the Black Knight

A girl from Richense loved the young knight Konrad, who lived as a Habsburg servant on the tower in the middle of the town. When the Sempach War broke out and the army ban called the knight to Duke Leopold's camp, the two parted with a heavy heart. 'If something human should happen to me,' he said in parting, 'I'll get in touch with you.' While the battle of Sempach was being fought , the girl sat sadly on the ruins of the destroyed town near the tower. It thought of its distant lover and sighed softly from the bottom of its heart: 'Konrad, Konrad!' Suddenly a deep voice answered: 'Here Austria!' At the same time a black knight was standing on the tower wall with a bloody head, almost split in half, and a deep stab wound in the chest. The two voices can be heard ringing out of the old walls anew on July 9th, when the anniversary of the battle begins at midnight.

Attractions

literature

  • Bruno Häfliger, Richensee: In the footsteps of a bygone town, Comenius Verlag AG, Hitzkirch, 1997
  • Emil Achermann, Mein Tal, Martinusverlag Hochdorf 1976
  • Erich Stössel, Battle of Sempach
  • Tschudi, Aegidius: Chronicon Helveticum; Historical-critical edition in 22 partial volumes; Basel 2001; ISBN 3-8551-3126-0

Web links

Commons : Richensee  - Collection of images, videos and audio files