Battle of Näfels
| date | April 9, 1388 |
|---|---|
| place | Näfels in the canton of Glarus , Switzerland |
| output | Victory of the Confederation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 6000 | approx. 650 |
| losses | |
|
circa 1700 |
approx. 55 |
The battle near Näfels in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland took place on Thursday, April 9, 1388. It was the last battle of the conflict between the Habsburgs and the Confederates .
prehistory
After the alliance between the state of Glarus and the Confederation in 1352, the old town of Weesen gained strategic importance for the Habsburgs, as it now blocked the exit from the Glarus region and at the same time blocked east-west traffic from Walenstadt to Rapperswil and Zurich via the Walensee-Maag waterway -Linth controlled.
After the battle of Sempach on July 9, 1386, the Confederates moved to the Habsburg town of Weesen on Lake Walen and occupied it, forcing the inhabitants to pay homage. The Glarus people also rose up against the Habsburgs , because they still had rights in the Glarus region . The people of Glarus destroyed Windegg Castle and passed their first land law on March 11, 1387 in a rural community. This decision meant the separation from the Habsburg rule.
The Habsburgs did not put up with this. According to tradition, in 1388 the inhabitants opened the doors to the troops of the Austrian Duke Albrecht III. von Habsburg secretly opened the city gates, so that on the night of February 21st to 22nd, the «Weesen Murder Night» [2] came, in which a large part of the federal occupation, most of them from Glarus, was surprised and killed in their sleep .
The battle
Two months later, the Habsburg army, which had gathered in Weesen, of 600 men on horseback and 6,000 foot soldiers, broke into the Linth Valley and on April 9, 1388 overran the line ( Letzimauer ), which was defended by only 300 Glarnern . The Habsburgs then plundered up the valley and attacked Näfels, Mollis , Netstal and Glarus . The people from Glarus, reinforced by some Uri, Schwyz and men from Unterwalden, who had rushed over the Pragelpass despite snow and rain , gathered behind Näfels on the Rautiberg. When the Habsburg captains saw this small force, they gathered their troops, which were already busy with looting, and attacked the approximately 600 Confederates. Stones and boulders were then thrown into the cavalry of the Habsburgs. The Glarus people took advantage of the confusion among the enemy and drove them to flight; many of them died in the swamp near Weesen.
After the battle, both parties sought peace, which was initially set for seven years. Before it expired, it was extended for another twenty years in 1394. Habsburg renounced all rights in the eight old towns and thus lost access to the Alpine passes.
Näfelser ride
Since then, every first Thursday in April has been a cantonal holiday in the canton of Glarus. Then the Näfelser Fahrt takes place, during which numerous residents walk to Näfels and commemorate the battle with a celebration. In the tradition of the federal battle seasons, the journey played an important role in the formation of the Glarus community and national awareness. Starting around 7:00 am at the armory in Glarus, the citizens, music bands and a delegation of the army walk along the traditional route to the battle memorial on the Letzi in Näfels. On the way you remember the victims of the battle, who are read out by name with their place of origin, and pass small individual monuments. On the way a member of the government speaks in the Schneisigen and every year a Reformed or Catholic priest alternates preaching at the Fahrtsplatz in Näfels.
After the battle
In 1388, the majority of the 54 federal victims of the battle were buried in the then parish church of Mollis . Today, a plaque installed in 1839 commemorates the Glarus people who died in the battle.
The victims on the part of the Habsburgs were first buried on the Letzi . According to the report of the Rapperswil chronicler JH Tschudi, Abbot Bilgeri von Wagenberg asked the Glarus people after the battle of Näfels for permission to bury the Habsburg fallen in their own cemetery and to build a memorial church. When the Glarus refused to do so, he asked to be allowed to bury the dead appropriately. On November 29 or 30, 1389, Abbot Bilgeri dug up about 180 dead from the unconsecrated earth and transferred the victims to the Rüti monastery , including his brother knight Johann von Klingenberg, who was one of the leaders of the Habsburg troops with Heinrich von Randegg and was in the Battle had fallen. In 1982 archaeological excavations in Rüti confirmed the descriptions in Tschudi's chronicle.
Since the 16th century at the latest, the battle of Näfels has been treated in Swiss chronicles as a parallel to the battles of the Central Swiss liberation tradition, especially by Aegidius Tschudi . This tendency is followed by the early modern songs, which have the battle as their theme. From the 16th and 17th centuries, four partially interdependent Näfels battle songs have been handed down in handwritten and printed form.
After the defeat of the Duke near Näfels on April 9, 1388, the people of Glarus and Switzerland destroyed the Habsburg city of Weesen as an act of revenge and, in the peace treaty of 1394, enforced that the city could not be rebuilt. On the area of the old town, the first building was not started until 1838 with the construction of the school house.
literature
- Rainer Hugener: The oldest printed song about the battle of Näfels. Commentary and edition. In: Swiss History Journal. Vol. 59, 2009, pp. 261-278 ( doi : 10.5169 / seals-99172 ).
Web links
- Ernst Tremp: Näfels, battle with. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ^ Ernst Tremp: Battle of Näfels. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 25, 2016 , accessed June 12, 2019 .