Swiss troops in Austrian service

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1690-1801 there were sixteen Swiss troops in Austrian service , including a Swiss Guard.

In addition to numerous Swiss mercenaries , they served the Habsburgs , partly financed from outside , in the Spanish , Polish and Austrian Wars of Succession, as well as in their seemingly endless disputes with France .

Swiss troops in foreign service was the name of the paid service of commanded, whole troop bodies abroad, regulated by the authorities of the Swiss Confederation by international treaties .

These treaties contained a chapter regulating military affairs: the so-called surrender (or private surrender if one of the contracting parties was a private military contractor).

Overview of Swiss troops in Austrian service

Archduchy of Austria
1453–1806
# off designation year
Count Sigismund of Tyrol 1427–1496
Titular Archduke of Austria 1477–1496
Regent of Upper Austria 1439–1490
Holy Roman Empire
962–1705
Archduke Maximilian I 1493–1519
Duke iure uxoris of Burgundy 1477–1482
Roman-German King 1486–1508
Roman-German Emperor 1508–1519
Archduke Ferdinand I 1521–1564
Roman-German Emperor 1558–1564
Archduke Leopold I 1657–1705
Roman-German Emperor 1658–1705
1 Bürkli regiment 1691-1699
2 Erlach Regiment 1702-1717
3 Nideröst Regiment 1702-1717
4th Battalion Buol 1704-1708
Holy Roman Empire
1705–1745
# off designation year
Archduke Joseph I. 1705–1711
Roman-German Emperor 1705–1711
5 Buol Regiment 1708-1714
Archduke Charles VI. 1711–1740
Roman-German Emperor 1711–1740
6th Schauenstein Regiment 1734-1739
7th Schmid regiment 1734-1736
8th Nideröst Regiment 1734-1736
Archduchess Maria Theresa 1740–1780
9 Regiment spokesman 1743-1749
Holy Roman Empire
1745–1806
# off designation year
Archduchess Maria Theresia 1740–1780
Roman-German Empress 1745–1765
Duke Franz I Stephan
Duke of Lorraine 1729–1736
Grand Duke of Tuscany 1736–1765
Roman-German Emperor 1745–1765
10 Company Hundertschweizer 1745-1767
Archduke Franz II. 1792–1835
Roman-German Emperor 1792–1806
11 Rovéréa Emigrant Regiment 1799-1801
12 Bachmann Emigrant Regiment 1799-1801
13 Salis Emigrant Regiment 1799-1801
14th Paravicini Emigrant Regiment 1799
15th Emigrant Battalion Courten 1800-1801
16 Free Corps Managhetta 1799-1801

Displacement from the old ancestral lands

Habsburg ancestral lands
(map from 1880)

In 1474, Duke Sigismund of Tyrol ended a long conflict with the Confederates.

He made an alliance with the Eight Places and their relatives, the " Eternal Direction ". In it he renounced the Habsburg home countries in the Confederation and secured their support in return for pay.

The capitulation of the Confederates with France in 1480, and especially its financial possibilities, prevented a military rapprochement for a long time.

In 1557 the "Eternal Direction" was renewed by Emperor Ferdinand I with the now thirteen locations (confirmed every 10 years).

A large number of Swiss mercenaries had fought in Burgundy, the Netherlands and Italy under the Landsknechts of Maximilian I : in 1496 Bern and Uri had granted him the recruitment of 4,000 and in 1516 all thirteen places of 15,000 men.

However, it was not until after the French attack by Louis XIV in 1672 on the Netherlands and the change in mood in the Confederation that the strictly Catholic Emperor Leopold I and the Confederates surrendered and raised troops.

War of the Spanish Succession

In 1690 the Thirteen Villages were finally ready to conclude a surrender with the Kaiser for a Swiss troop in Austrian service. In 1702, after the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession , they were doubled. Graubünden followed in 1704.

Name,
duration of use		 (1 from ) Bürkli regiment 1691–1699
Johann Heinrich Bürkli
Year,
contractual partner		 1690, surrender of the Thirteen Places with Nikolaus Graf von Lodron, ambassador of Emperor Leopold I.
Stock,
formation		 1 regiment of 1,700 men in 10 companies, the uniform gray and white with red vest and red facings.
Origin squad,
troop		 Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Basel, Schaffhausen, Freiburg and the prince abbot of St. Gallen, Cölestin Sfondrati, each provided a whole, while Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Zug, Appenzell-Innerrhoden and Glarus Reformed each provided half a company. It was a religiously mixed, federal troop with 5½ Catholic and 4½ Reformed companies.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 Johann Heinrich Bürkli from Trüllikon (Zurich).
Use,
events		 Occupation service in the cities of Waldshut, Laufenburg, Säckingen, Rheinfelden, Konstanz, Bregenz and other places.

Bürkli was even appointed governor of the forest cities in Upper Austria .

Name,
duration of use		 (2 from ) Erlach Regiment 1702–1717
Hieronymus von Erlach ca.1715
Year,
contractual partner		 1702, Surrender of the Thirteen Places with Franz Ehrenreich Count von Trauttmannsdorff, Ambassador of Emperor Leopold I.
Stock,
formation		 1 reformed regiment of 1,080 men in 3 battalions with 4 companies of 90 men.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Bern 6, Basel 2, Glarus 1, Schaffhausen 1, Freiburg 1 and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden 1 company.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1702, Hieronymus von Erlach from Bern (in 1734 it became known that he, blackmailed by Louis XIV for bigamy , had contributed significantly to France's victory as an informant under the code name Baron d'Elcin during the War of the Spanish Succession ); 1715, Johann Franz Tillier from Bern.
Use,
events		 Used mostly in Upper Austria and Freiburg i / B, rarely in forest towns. It excelled in securing Constance against the Bavarians and in the defense of Breisach, Altbreisach and Freiburg i / B against the French.

The regiment is said to have had a "banda" of 8-10 Hautboists .

Name,
duration of use		 (3 from ) Nideröst regiment 1702–1717
Year,
contractual partner		 1702, Surrender of the Thirteen Places with Franz Ehrenreich Count von Trauttmannsdorff, Ambassador of Emperor Leopold I.
Stock,
formation		 1 Catholic regiment of 720 men in 2 battalions of 4 companies of 90 men.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Schwyz 3, Obwalden 1, Freiburg 2 and from the Prince Abbot of St. Gallen, Leodegar Bürgisser, 2 companies.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1702, Franz Leodegar von Nideröst from Schwyz together with François Romain de Diesbach from Freiburg; 1712, François Romain de Diesbach from Freiburg alone.
Use,
events		 Use in the forest cities and Upper Austria.

The regiment took part in the defense of Neuchâtel a / R and Säckingen against France.

The troops of the Confederation could only be used defensively in Austria. Graubünden, on the other hand, approved 1704 units that could also be used offensively outside of the forest cities.

Name,
duration of use		 (4 from ) Bataillon Buol 1704–1708
Year,
contractual partner		 1704, surrender of Graubünden with Franz Ehrenreich Count von Trauttmannsdorff, ambassador of Emperor Leopold I.
Battalion Buol: soldiers (saber, flintlock shotgun , bayonet), officer (sword, spontaneous ), gray-white uniform (vest and red facings).
Stock,
formation		 1 battalion of 680 men in 1 personal company of 160 and 4 companies of 130 men, formed in Merano.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Graubünden.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1704, Johann Anton Buol von Rietberg and Strassberg from Parpan (Graubünden).
Use,
events		 Use in the Upper Palatinate and Italy.
Name,
duration of use		 (5 from ) Buol Regiment 1708–1714
Year,
contractual partner		 1708, surrender of Graubünden with Franz Ehrenreich Count von Trauttmannsdorff, ambassador of Emperor Leopold I.
Stock,
formation		 1 regiment of 1,600 men in 12 companies.
Origin squad,
troop		 The Buol battalion was supplemented by a second battalion from Graubünden.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1708, Johann Anton Buol von Rietberg and von Strassberg (* 1671, † 1717 Vienna, killed in a duel , 1708 appointed colonel by Emperor Leopold I, 1708 district judge and head of the Upper Confederation , last was major general and kk general sergeant ) from Parpan ( Graubünden).
Use,
events		 The regiment served under the Austrian general Prince Eugene of Savoy in Spain.

After the Peace of Rastatt in 1714, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession , Lombardy was returned to the Austrian Habsburg Emperor Charles VI. had been awarded, he succeeded in 1726 in renewing the Milan Convention concluded with Graubünden in 1639 by the Spanish Habsburg Philip IV .

The levies in Graubünden in 1734 and 1743 followed from the alliance solemnly sworn by both sides in the Cathedral of Milan.

War of the Polish Succession

The War of the Polish Succession was fought in Poland, on the Rhine and in Italy, where Austria had to assert its position. The emperor also reinforced his army with Swiss troops. They were released again after the peace treaty in Vienna in 1738 at the latest .

Name,
duration of use		 (6 from ) Schauenstein Regiment 1734–1739
Year,
contractual partner		 1734, surrender of Graubünden with Johann Anton Graf von Prié, ambassador of Emperor Karl VI.
Stock,
formation		 1 regiment of 1,600 men in 2 battalions. Of the 12 companies, the Supreme Company was 170 men, the remaining 11 130 men. The regiment was formed in Feldkirch and Meran.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Graubünden.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 Thomas Franz von Schauenstein from Trin (Graubünden).
Use,
events		 The regiment was deployed in Tyrol and as a crew in Mantua. It was released in Cremona in 1739.
Name,
duration of use		 (7 from ) Schmid Regiment 1734–1736 / (1740)
Year,
contractual partner		 1734, capitulation of the Thirteen Places and of Bern additionally with Johann Anton Graf von Prié, ambassador of Emperor Karl VI.
Stock,
formation		 1 reformed regiment of 12 companies of 90 or 130 men in case of peace or war.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Bern 3, Zurich 3, Basel and Schaffhausen 2 each and Glarus Reformed and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden 1 company each.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1734, Colonel Kaspar Schmid von Goldenberg (appointed kk general field sergeant major in 1636 by Emperor Karl VI) from Zurich.
Use,
events		 The regiment was in garrisons in Constance, Freiburg i / B, Laufenburg, Rheinfelden, Waldshut and in the forest cities without enemy contact. It was abdicated in 1736, with the three Bern companies remaining in imperial service until 1740.
Name,
duration of use		 (8 from ) Nideröst Regiment 1734–1736
Year,
contractual partner		 1734, surrender of the Thirteen Places with Johann Anton Graf von Prié, ambassador of Emperor Charles VI.
Stock,
formation		 1 Catholic regiment of 12 companies of 90 or 130 men in case of peace or war.
Origin squad,
troop		 From the Catholic cantons of Lucerne 2, Schwyz 2, Zug 3, Uri, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Solothurn and from the Prince Abbot of St. Gallen, Joseph von Rudolphi , 1 company each.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1734, Franz Anton Nideröst von Schwyz, son of the commandant of the regiment from 1702.
Use,
events		 Use in the forest cities , in Freiburg i / B, in Breisgau and in Konstanz without contact with the enemy.

War of the Austrian Succession

When in 1740 the last Austrian Habsburg, Emperor Karl VI. , Died in 1740 without a male heir, his successor and daughter, Maria Theresa , who had been designated under the pragmatic sanction , had to assert himself against three other applicants for his inheritance. In the peace treaty of Aachen in 1748, however, Austria ultimately only had to leave Silesia to Prussia and Maria Theresa had prevailed as heiress. She was also supported by a Graubünden regiment.

Name,
duration of use		 (9 from ) Regiment Speakers 1743–1749
Year,
contractual partner		 1734, surrender of Graubünden with Johann Anton Graf von Prié, ambassador of Emperor Karl VI.
Stock,
formation		 1 regiment of 2,300 men in 3 battalions with 5 companies of 140 men and 2 grenadier companies with 100 men. It was set up in Feldkirch and Meran.
Origin squad,
troop		 From Graubünden.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1743, Salomon spokesman for Bernegg von Chur.
Use,
events		 The regiment successfully fought against the King of the Two Sicilies in the War of the Austrian Succession in central and northern Italy.

Maria Theresa married Duke Franz Stephan of Lorraine as early as 1736 . He brought his Lorraine Swiss Guard, with the approval of the Catholic localities, to Vienna.

Franz Stephan had renounced the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar in favor of his marriage to Maria Theresa .

As an allowance , he received entitlement to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany , which he took over a year later, after the death of the last Medici, in Habsburg secondary school . From 1739 the couple lived in Vienna; the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was administered by officials as one of its financial sources.

When Charles VI. Died in 1740, the imperial throne went to the curb-Bavarian Wittelsbacher Karl VII.

Franz Stephan, Grand Duke of Tuscany, became co-regent of Maria Theresa. As the heir to Charles VI, she was now Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and thus ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands.

But that's not all: when Charles VII died in 1745, Franz Stephan was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in Frankfurt am Main. So in just nine years he had risen from a simple duke to the most powerful emperor in Europe and founder of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty .

Name,
duration of use		 (10 from ) Company Hundertschweizer 1745–1767
Year,
contractual partner		 see Swiss troops in service in Lorraine .
Stock,
formation		 In 1760 the Hundertschweizer company consisted of 141 men: 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 1 ensign, 3 sergeants, 1 clerk, 1 fourier, 1 doctor, 1 profos, 3 tambours, 1 whistler, 5 corporals and 121 guardsmen.
Origin squad,
troop		 Nominally from the Catholic cantons of Switzerland with a heavyweight from Lucerne, the officers almost always from (the city) Lucerne.
Owner,
commander,
namesake		 1745, Captain Alphons Franz Pfyffer von Altishofen; 1753, First Lieutenant Fridolin Leonz Hartmann.
Use,
events		 The Swiss Guard accompanied Franz Stephan from Nancy to Florence in 1737 and from there to Vienna in 1745.

She took part in his coronation as emperor in Frankfurt am Main and led a peaceful life in Vienna, housed in the Swiss wing of the Hofburg, with guard duty and as a representation troop at parades and ceremonial occasions.

Vienna Hofburg with Swiss wing, Swiss Gate (far right) and statue of Emperor Franz I (center)

Only after the death of Emperor Franz I in 1865 was it finally dissolved in 1767 by his son and successor Joseph II, a supporter of Enlightenment absolutism with a reform-oriented spirit.

Maria Theresa campaigned for the continued employment or compensation of the dismissed, their relatives and survivors.

When she died in 1780, the pensions still running were cut, which in Switzerland led to some diplomatic aftermath with Austria

Coalition wars

In 1797, the Peace of Campo Formio ended the First Coalition War of revolutionary France against Austria, which had been defeated by the military.

In 1798, under the direction of the Austrian chief minister Franz von Thugut, a plan was drawn up at the imperial court in Vienna, which ultimately led to the financing of several Swiss emigrant regiments in the Austrian army in English pay.

Name,
duration of use		 (11 from ) Rovéréa Emigrant Regiment 1799–1801
(12 from ) Bachmann Emigrant Regiment 1799–1801
(13 from ) Salis Emigrant Regiment 1799–1801
(14 from ) Paravicini Emigrant Regiment 1799
(15 from ) Emigrants Battalion Courten 1800–1801
(16 from ) Freikorps Managhetta 1799–1801
Year,
contractual partner		 1798, Plan Thugut.
Stock,
formation		 4 regiments and 1 battalion between 300 and 1,300 men and a free corps of varying sizes.
Origin squad,
troop		 Mostly emigrants and militias from Switzerland.
Owner,
commander,
namesake
  • 1799, Colonel Ferdinand Isaak de Rovéréa (see web links) from Vevey.
  • 1799, Major General Niklaus Franz von Bachmann (ex Sardinian-Piedmontese service) from Näfels Canton Glarus.
  • 1799, Lieutenant General Anton von Salis-Marschlins von Igis in Graubünden as owner. Absent from abroad, he did not lead the regiment himself. Lieutenant Colonel Josef Vinzenz von Salis-Samaden was in command.
  • 1799, Emil Paravicini from Glarus.
  • 1800, Lieutenant Colonel Eugène de Courten from Sierre.
  • 1799, the imperial-royal Rittmeister Managhetta von Lerchenau from a noble family from Lower Austria.
Use,
events		 These Swiss troops in English pay in Austrian service fought from 1799 in the Second Coalition War , which turned Switzerland into a widely devastated theater of war , but then in vain as part of the Allied forces in the First and Second Battles near Zurich against the French occupation of the country.

The Treaty of Lunéville in 1801 nevertheless left Switzerland as a «Helvetic» French subsidiary republic.

The retreat to Windischgraz

The history of the Rovéréa , Bachmann , Salis and Paravicini regiments , the Courten battalion and the Managhetta Freikorps ended far away from Switzerland.

The Treaty of Lunéville required the retreat of the imperial troops far to the east: for the Swiss associations this meant to Lower Styria , where they were released.

The march there was an extreme feat, with corresponding losses from illness, gangrene, death from exhaustion and desertion. Finally, a typhoid epidemic broke out. France had won.

Anyone wishing to return home received their discharge papers in Maribor, and officers and NCOs received a decent exit regulation.

These emigrant units were the last Swiss troops in Austrian service.

literature

  • Beat Emmanuel May (by Romainmôtier): Histoire Militaire de la Suisse et celle des Suisses dans les differents services de l'Europe. Tome VIII, JP Heubach et Comp., Lausanne 1788, OCLC 832583553 .
  • Felix Burckhardt: Die Schweizerische Emigration 1798-1801 , Dissertation University of Basel, Verlag von Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1908.
  • Moritz von Wattenwil: The Swiss in foreign military service. Separately printed from the Berner Tagblatt , Bern 1930, OCLC 72379925 .
  • Ferdinand Schramm-Schiessl von Perstorff: The Swiss and Graubünden regiments in imperial Austrian service from 1691-1750. Article, Bündnerisches monthly newspaper: Journal of the history of the Graubünden, regional and folklore 1691–1699, issue 1, 1937.
  • Paul de Vallière, Henry Guisan , Ulrich Wille : Loyalty and honor, history of the Swiss in foreign service (translated by Walter Sandoz). Les éditions d'art ancien, Lausanne 1940, OCLC 610616869 .
  • René Chartrand: Émigré and Foreign Troops in British Service (1): 1793–1802 , Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85532-766-5 , Oxford 1999.
  • Marc Höchner: Self-testimonies from Swiss mercenary officers in the 18th century (=  rule and social systems in the early modern times , volume 18). V & R Unipress, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8471-0321-9 (Diss. University of Friborg, 2013, 284 pages).
  • Hubert Foerster: Success despite failure: The uprising and the war of liberation in Switzerland in 1799; A contribution to the anti-Helvetic movements . Series of publications by the Federal Military Library and the Historical Service, No. 48, Bern 2012, ISBN 3-906969-47-9 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Ferdinand Schramm-Schiessl von Perstorff: The Swiss and Graubünden regiments in imperial Austrian service from 1691–1750. Article, Bündnerisches monthly newspaper: Journal of the history of the Graubünden, regional and folklore 1691–1699, issue 1, 1937.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Heinrich Türler, Victor Attinger, Marcel Godet: Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz , fourth volume, Neuchâtel 1927.
  3. ↑ Lorenz Hollenstein: Sfondrati, Cölestin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ↑ Glarus was a religiously largely equal canton. However, state power was divided. There were three rural communities: one of each of the members of the two faith groups and the common one.
  5. ^ Martin Lassner: Bürkli, Hans Heinrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  6. ^ Rolf Stücheli: Trauttmansdorff, Franz Ehrenreich von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  7. ↑ Barbara Braun-Bucher: Erlach, Hieronymus von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  8. ^ Thomas von Graffenried: Tillier, Johann Franz. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz .
  9. ↑ Werner Vogler: Bürgisser, Leodegar. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  10. ↑ Franz Auf der Maur: Nideröst, Franz Leodegar von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  11. ↑ Benoît de Diesbach Belleroche: Diesbach, François Romain de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  12. ↑ Franz Gall: Military Relations between Switzerland and Austria , Article ASMZ, Volume 133, 1967.
  13. ↑ Peter Conradin von Planta: Schauenstein (von). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  14. ↑ Peter Erhart: Rudolphi, Joseph von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  15. ^ Franz Auf der Maur: Nideröst, Franz Anton von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  16. ^ Kurt Wanner: Speaker, Salomon (from Bernegg). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  17. ↑ a b The last mayor of Bern who emigrated to Augsburg, Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger , had established a connection with the British Foreign Minister, Lord Grenville , through the British legation secretary James Talbot . He had also brought together the most important Swiss emigrants in southern Germany. He belonged to the illustrious group that got together in Vienna. He won over the leading minister of Austria, Johann Amadeus Franz von Thugut , other important personalities and the leading Swiss emigrants against Napoleon and the Helvetic Constitution for the following plan:
    1. The English cabinet provides the necessary funds for agitation in Switzerland and - when the war breaks out - sufficient subsidies for the formation of Swiss troops;
    2. Austria takes into its service the Swiss troops who rise under their own banner to liberate their fatherland;
    3. Schultheiss Niklaus Friedrich von Steiger travels to Berlin to bring Prussia to the Anschluss with Austria and, through the mediation of the Russian envoy in Berlin, Prince Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Repnin , to support the Austro-Russian attempts at rapprochement;
    4. Coadjutor Karl Theodor von Dalberg represents the Swiss cause at the German imperial estates;
    5. Prince Abbot Pankraz Vorster of St. Gallen made his clergy available for the agitation in Eastern Switzerland and himself maintained the connection with Franz von Thugut ;
    6. General Friedrich von Hotze , in connection with the imperial chargé d'affaires in Chur, Anton von Cronthal (see web links), carefully prompts the people of Graubünden to seek help from the emperor;
    7. Isaak de Rovéréa takes over the leadership of the agitation, which is to be conducted according to generally approved regulations.
  18. ↑ a b c d e f g Felix Burckhardt: Die Schweizerische Emigration 1798-1801 , Dissertation University of Basel, Verlag von Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1908.
  19. ↑ a b c d e f René Chartrand: Émigré and Foreign Troops in British Service (1): 1793–1802 , Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85532-766-5 , Oxford 1999.
  20. ^ Sébastien Rial: Rovéréa, Ferdinand Isaak de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  21. ↑ Hans Laupper: Bachmann, Niklaus Franz von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  22. ^ Silvio Färber: Salis, Anton von (Marschlins). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  23. ↑ Veronika Feller-Vest: Paravicini, Emil. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  24. ^ Frédéric Giroud: Courten, Eugène de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  25. ↑ Karin Marti-Weissenbach: May, Beat Emmanuel (from Romainmôtier). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  26. ↑ Olivier Meuwly: Valliere, Paul de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .