Battle of Dornach
The Battle of Dornach 1499 on a woodcut
| date | July 22, 1499 |
|---|---|
| place | Dornach in the Canton of Solothurn , Switzerland |
| output | Decisive victory for the Swiss Confederation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| a total of approx. 10,000; Dutch mercenaries, imperial troops, Swabian knights | a total of approx. 7200; Main hardness approx. 6000; Rear guard around 1200 |
| losses | |
|
approx. 3000 dead, all artillery, field camp and train |
around 500 dead |
Triesen · Hard · Bruderholz · Hallau · Schwaderloh · Frastanz · Calven · Dornach
The Battle of Dornach on July 22, 1499 was the last armed conflict between the Swabian Confederation and the Confederation during the Swabian War .
March
In the course of the Swabian War, the troops of the Swabian Confederation, headed by Count Heinrich VII von Fürstenberg , marched from Sundgau against Dorneck Castle near Dornach , the first castle on federal territory, which was defended by Captain Benedikt Hugi . On July 19, they reached the Birstal and began to occupy neuralgic points, such as the Birs Bridge near Dornachbrugg , and to cross the Bruderholz .
The confederates were also on their way to Dorneck Castle to save it from the impending assault. On the evening of July 21st the whole Swabian army was already in the Birseck . Most of the teams camped near Dornach and Arlesheim , only the Welsche Guard camped on the other side of the Birs in Reinach . The Swabians raised many cannons between Dorneck and Arlesheim and a crew surrounded the castle at dusk.
Benedikt Hugi noticed this and let a messenger down the castle wall. He slipped between the Swabian guards and hurried over the Gempen to Liestal , where he met the federal teams. He urged them to hurry so that Dorneck Castle did not fall into the hands of the enemy. Despite the prohibition of the city of Basel (at that time not yet part of the Confederation), the confederates who were staying near Liestal were reinforced by the local residents ( Upper Baselbieter ).
battle
On the morning of July 22nd, the Swabians began to bombard the castle with a single cannon . The rest were still camped at their tents. From the Gempenstollen the approaching Bern and Solothurn troops overlooked the whole Swabian camp. But since they were still too weak to attack, they waited for reinforcements. When the people of Zurich and the main troops of the Bernese arrived, Solothurn people with knowledge of the country led the Confederates through the thicket to the enemy. Using the surprise effect, the federal troops succeeded in destroying the besiegers. The Swabian leader, Count Heinrich von Fürstenberg , was one of the first to fall .
The rapid victory over the besiegers led the federal vanguard to advance further from the castle. This hasty approach was almost doomed for them, because the Welsche Guard intervened in the battle. The battle lasted for hours and swayed to and fro until the Confederates had to retreat towards Dorneck Castle. At 7 p.m., however, 1000 people from Lucerne and Zug appeared on the battlefield from Gempen and intervened in the battle, whereupon the Swabian army withdrew.
The confederates captured the tent camp, many artillery pieces, the war chest and numerous flags and banners . Many nobles had died in the battle. The families of the nobles tried in vain to obtain permission for the recovery and transfer of the corpses to Basel via Basel monks who were sent as messengers to the Confederate camp. The answer is said to have been: "The gentlemen should stay with the farmers!"
In southwest Germany and Alsace , the news of the defeat at Dornach had spread like wildfire. King Maximilian received the news in Überlingen and, according to tradition, was crushed.
After the battle
The local population was left with nothing: the houses were looted and burned down, the harvest was gone or destroyed.
In 2008, anthropologist Christine Cooper examined 105 skulls and 33 thigh bones found on the battlefield. According to their forensic investigations, the several thousand dead are said to have remained on the battlefield, at least in part for several years; the bones showed traces of animal damage and were weathered. Only when they were skeletonized were some of them transferred to an ossuary .
According to Cooper, only the federally fallen and some of the opposing dead were properly buried. This was possibly also due to logistical reasons, as it was difficult to bury several thousand dead in a very short time.
Many of the injuries appeared to have been inflicted on the victims while they were already incapacitated. This confirms the statements of written sources, which report on the "culling" of the battlefield. Prisoners were not usually taken and war surgery was not yet possible. On average, each skull had four injuries, the majority of which were blows from swords or halberds . Possible traces of mutilations in the eyes, nose and ears were also found.
peace
On September 22nd, the peace was made in Basel and the Swabian War ended.
monument
-
In Dornach there is a battle relief near the former monastery, next to it are some bones of fallen soldiers in an ossuary.
- In the local history museum in the old church hangs a plaque with the inscription «Here rest the enemy leaders of the battle of July 22nd, 1499, Court Marshal Count Heinrich von Fürstenberg, Baron Mathias von Castelwart, Herr zu Bitsch & zu Lichtenberg».
- In Gempen , outside the village, there is a monument to "The victors of Dornach 1499". The memorial, created in 1854, depicts a tree trunk with a sack of oat hanging from it, behind which is a halberd.
See also
Web links
- The Battle of Dornach: the Confederates refuse to extradite the fallen knights. After an original drawing by E. Klein . In: Die Gartenlaube (1899), p. 473
- Report on the battle
- Thomas Schibler: Dornach, Battle of. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Werner Meyer : Dornacher Schlachtholzschnitt. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland.
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literature
- Hans Rudolf Kurz: Swiss battles . Second, revised and expanded edition. Francke, Bern 1977. pp. 165-171 ISBN 3-7720-1369-4
- Hans Freiherr von und zu Aufsess: End of the lecture explaining a photographic reproduction of a copperplate engraving by an unknown master from the beginning of the 16th century to commemorate the so-called Swabian War of 1499 , In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 2. Jg. 1871, pp. 99-113 Scan
- Hans Freiherr von und zu Aufsess: An old woodcut with a folk song about the battle of Dornach 1499 , In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 3rd year 1872, pp. 128-138 Scan
- Rochus von Liliencron : The historical folk songs of the Germans from the 13th to the 16th century. Volume 2, pp. 398-406 online in the Google book search
- Ernst Hermann Joseph Münch: Bilibald Pirkheimer's Swiss War and honor trade with his enemies in Nuremberg. Basel 1826, pp. 179–184 online in the Google book search
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Sigrist: Benedikt Hugi the Younger, Niklaus Conrad. Two images of life. For the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Dornach. Chapter I: Benedikt Hugi the Younger . In: Yearbook for Solothurn History . tape 22 , 1949, pp. 7-35 , doi : 10.5169 / seals-323089 .
- ↑ Erich Meyer: Benedikt Hugi. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . January 16, 2008 , accessed June 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Dina Sambar: Hunger followed the slaughter . In: Basler Zeitung of July 22, 2011
- ↑ Wound ballistics at the battle of Dornach in: Der Bund from January 26, 2009