Battle swordsman
The battle swordsmen are a traditional association within the Horn shooting club . Its foundation goes back to an event that, according to legend, took place around 1485. Today they form a so-called Rott in the Hornschen Schützengesellschaft , which consists of around 16 sword-bearers, a hammer-bearer (as a reminder of the hammer with which the dungeon door was smashed) and a count. They wear dark, tricorn- shaped felt hats, robes made of coarse linen, over them chain mail and boot gaiters on their legs. Impressive are her about two meters long swords as a Bidenhänders . The group is accompanied by a captain, a Rottmeister , an ensign and four drummers.
According to legend, Duke Wilhelm von Braunschweig and Count Bernhard zur Lippe were involved in a feud around 1485 , in the course of which the Count of Lippe was captured near Schwalenberg . The duke had him brought to the permanent castle in Calenberg and demanded a ransom of 200,000 guilders, a sum that was priceless at the time. The Horn citizens decided to raid the castle and free their count. Under the leadership of the knights Carl von Blomberg and Hans von Hammerstein , the young men from Horn moved armed to Calenberg Castle. They managed to climb the castle. The blacksmith smashed the iron door of the dungeon and Count Bernhard was freed. They then returned to Horn triumphant. They took the castle bell, swords, armor and chain mail as their booty . Count Bernhard was delighted with the courageous act of the loyal Horns citizens and promised them to live in their city for life. He guaranteed the citizens numerous freedoms. Since then, the Horns have been allowed to fetch and use all wood that fell in the storm from the count's forests. The Fallholz privilege , the bell in the town hall tower as well as the two-handed swords and the mail shirts are now owned by the Hornschen Schützengesellschaft and are said to date from the time of Count Bernhard's liberation.
As early as 1868, the editors of the Lippische Regesten doubted the truth of the legend and carried out extensive investigations into it. It turned out that the giant two-handed swords could have been made around 1550 at the earliest. Nothing is known historically about the imprisonment of a Lippe sovereign at Calenberg Castle.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hans Vennefrohne: The Hornschen battle swords . In: Heimatland Lippe . Issue 7/1985, pp. 198-202.
literature
- Hans Vennefrohne: The Hornschen battle swordsmen . In: Heimatland Lippe . Issue 7/1985, pp. 198-202.
- Christian Kuhnke: Lippe Lexicon . Detmold 2000, ISBN 3-935454-00-7 .
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 52 ′ 19.8 " N , 8 ° 56 ′ 37.8" E