Battle of Frohse

The Battle of Frohse was a battle of the Second Askanian War on January 10, 1278 near Frohse , today a district of Schönebeck .

prehistory

During the interregnum from 1257 to 1273, the secular rulers of the Ascanians , Guelphs and Wettins had made efforts to bring under their control the spiritual principalities, which were no longer protected by a central authority. The Archdiocese of Magdeburg was particularly affected . However , the prince archbishops were able to hold their own, particularly thanks to the support of the citizens of Magdeburg .

After the death of Archbishop Konrad II , the Ascanians then tried Erich von Brandenburg , a younger brother of Margrave Otto IV of Brandenburg, as archbishop. The election, which Otto and Duke Albrecht of Saxony , Otto's ally, attended, was surprisingly lost for them, despite the fact that the Ascanians had previously brought several canons on their side. Probably due to the numerous Magdeburg citizens who were invited, a majority decided in favor of Burchard von Querfurt as the new archbishop.

Otto IV accused the Magdeburgers of influencing the election results by threatening violence. He announced a feud in Magdeburg . A short time later, they agreed on Günther von Schwalenberg as the new archbishop, but Otto pursued the feud and the appointment of Erich with military means. He confiscated merchandise and then invaded the Magdeburg area with troops. At the end of 1277 he had devastated areas east of the Elbe , then crossed the river and camped at Frohse . From him the saying made there is handed down: he wolde the other day sine perde stallen laten in the dom to Magdeborch .

battle

Archbishop Günther spoke to the citizens gathered there in Magdeburg's old market in front of the town hall. He asked for assistance in defending the country and vowed to grant rights and freedoms. The citizens let the storm bells ring and formed an army, among them wealthy citizens in armor on warhorses and common people with clubs and spears.

The army marched south along the course of the brawn under the flag of Saint Mauritius . Troops of Count Otto von Anhalt , an Ascanian relative of the Brandenburg Margrave but also a vassal of the archbishopric, as well as Thuringian lords joined the army.

The troops under Margrave Otto IV, to which allies were also added, marched against the Magdeburgers.

On January 10, 1278, there was a bloody battle with many dead, which the Magdeburg citizens were able to win. In particular, they succeeded in capturing Otto and 300 knights and servants.

consequences

Margrave Otto IV managed to bribe archbishop councilors who recommended that the archbishop be released for a ransom of 4,000 marks in silver. Once again free, Otto continued the war. However, he was again militarily defeated in Staßfurt . Larger areas and castles fell to the archbishopric. After various other battles, Erich von Brandenburg became archbishop in 1283 , which ended the war. (Archbishop Günther had resigned in the face of the ongoing conflict in 1279, his successor Bernhard von Wölpe resigned in 1282, and Erich von Brandenburg followed after a vacancy .)

Allegedly to commemorate the victorious battle of Frohse, two wooden figures were equipped with looted armor and shown in Magdeburg Cathedral . 400 years later the figures were still there in the cathedral. At the southern border of the district of Westerhüsen , a place north of Frohse that belongs to Magdeburg today, is a parcel called Wahlwiesenbreite , which is a modification of Walstatt from the battlefield of the Battle of Frohse.

At the request of the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen parliamentary group , the city council of the state capital Magdeburg decided in 2010 to remember what happened at the location of the events in a suitable form.

literature

• Helmut Asmus: 1200 Years Magdeburg , Volume 1, 805 - 1631, Scriptum Verlag, Magdeburg 1999, ISBN 3-933046-15-7 , p. 276 ff.

Coordinates: 52 ° 2 ′ 51 ″  N , 11 ° 41 ′ 24.8 ″  E