Battle of the Gubel
Map of the municipality of Menzingen
| date | October 24, 1531 |
|---|---|
| place | Menzingen in Zug , Switzerland |
| output | decisive victory of the Catholic places |
| consequences | Hegemony of the Catholic places until the Second Villmerger War 1712 |
| Peace treaty |
Second state peace in Kappel November 20, 1531 |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Troop strength | |
| 632 | 5,000 |
| losses | |
|
87 |
about 800 |
The battle or the skirmish on the Gubel took place on October 24, 1531 on the Gubel , a hill in the municipality of Menzingen in the canton of Zug . A part of the army of the Reformed and the Catholic places of the Old Confederation were involved . The Battle of the Gubel was the last battle in the Second Kappel War .
After the battle of Kappel on October 11, 1531, which ended with the defeat of the Reformed towns, the Catholic army holed up on the Baarerboden near Inwil bei Baar . All attempts by the reformed military leaders to lure the Central Swiss out of their strategically favorable position failed. On October 23, the people of Zurich succeeded in an advance with several thousand men against Sihlbrugg , from where they moved via Neuheim and Menzingen to the Gubel, where the night camp was set up. The Catholic army sent a delegation of around 1400 men to observe the enemy.
During the night a small detachment of this Catholic army encountered the Reformed camp. Since numerous boys from the area around Oberägeri / Unterägeri had joined the troops on the way, according to tradition there were 632 men. At two o'clock in the morning, the Catholics attacked the Reformed and defeated them despite their superiority thanks to the surprise effect.
After the defeat of the Reformed on the Gubel, the second Landfriede of Kappel came about on November 20, 1531. A chapel on the battlefield was consecrated in 1559 , which burned down in 1780. The chapel was the destination of annual pilgrimages in the five places. It was immediately rebuilt and supplemented with an inn and a chaplain. After the 300th anniversary in 1831, a society founded a women's monastery for perpetual adoration, which Capuchin women moved into in 1851 . Even after the end of the Old Confederation, the Gubel retained a certain status as a place of pilgrimage for the surrounding communities and Catholic-conservative-minded people.
There are no precise and trustworthy figures about the exact number of men involved in the battle or engagement. While the Reformed side considers the number of troops lying on the Gubel in the night camp to be smaller, local tradition and the Catholic view emphasize how small the group of Catholic or local attackers was. The army of the Reformed on the Gubel will probably have comprised around 5000 men, while the attackers were probably between 600 and 700 men. The surviving approx. 800 dead on the Reformed side and 87 dead on the Catholic side reflect this balance of power and the effect of the nocturnal surprise.
Dreifaltigkeitskapelle Mittenägeri: Christian Iten is said to have gathered the Aeger group here in 1531 before the battle.
Fürschwand Chapel: This is where the people of Central Switzerland gathered for prayer before the Battle of the Gubel on October 24, 1531.
Gubel with monastery from the east
literature
- Jonas Briner: Milk Soup or Bloodbath? The Reformation Wars in Zug's culture of remembrance. Chronos, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-0340-1162-4 (= Historical Association of the Canton of Zug (Ed.): Contributions to the History of Zug , Volume 17).
Movie
- "Ex Voto" by Erich Langjahr
Web links
- The battle of the Gubel on the side of the community of Oberägeri
- Anne-Marie Dubler : Gubel. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Coordinates: 47 ° 9 '42.07 " N , 8 ° 34' 25.6" E ; CH1903: 686 072 / 224035