Stänzler
The Stänzler were professional soldiers in Basel from 1804 to 1856.
history
Until the late Middle Ages, the city of Basel relied on the Basel guilds to defend their city . She maintained this militia system in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Swiss cities had won the Peasants' War in 1653 , but they no longer dared to collect direct taxes on the countryside. As a result, they lacked the money to build a professional army. Basel already had a small city garrison in service in the 17th century, but it only guarded the city gates and walls . In 1799 the garrison was disbanded because the French, who had occupied the city the previous year, took over these tasks.
In 1804 the French withdrew again, and the city built its own professional company with five officers , fifty-two non - commissioned officers and 148 soldiers . This was called Stänzler for short . She was responsible for public safety, guarded the city gates, protected the bridges and public buildings and worked as a fire brigade. They were housed in the former church of the stone monastery under miserable conditions and two soldiers each had to sleep in one bed. Their treatment was bad and when punished they were beaten in public. When the canton was divided, a soldier was even shot dead by the commandant Johannes Burckhardt for refusing to give the order.
In the Baselbiet War of Independence in 1833 , the Stänzler had to take on the brunt of the fighting with 340 men and they were also responsible for the fire in the Pratteln community . During the battle at the Hülftenschanze the commander Johannes Burckhardt was wounded and the Stänzler withdrew. The militias had not advanced that far and withdrew as soon as they were shot. Most of Basel's people died on the way back through the forest, the Hard . Around ten percent of the Stänzler died in this battle.
The Swiss Confederation then ordered the city of Basel to dissolve the professional company, and Johannes Burckhardt put together a new corps , the professional group with 201 men. This was quartered again in the stone monastery. Although the city saved the money for the police, there were voices that such a standing army was too expensive, and it was discussed whether it should be dissolved again. As a result, more and more soldiers deserted in the 1840s and 1850s because they earned better abroad. On June 14, 1856, this force was disbanded as the last standing force in Switzerland.
Relationship to the population
Professional soldiers were traditionally unpopular in Basel. The citizens of Basel were active in the militia themselves and therefore despised the Stänzler, who had often served abroad and then returned to Switzerland.
The Stänzler today
The tradition of the Stänzler was revived and continued in 1922 by the Basler Wednesday Society in 1907 . She took over the uniforms of the former Basel professional company from the 18th and 19th centuries, with which she has since been invited to national and international events and represents the city of Basel. The highlights of their appearances were their participation in the regional exhibition in 1939 , the EXPO 1964, the Carnaval d'Eté in St-Ouen Paris 1969, the Munich Oktoberfest in 1994, 2003, 2010 and 2015, at the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart in 2006, 2012 and 2017, at the Steubenparade in New York in 2014 or at the Sechseläuten in Zurich in 2018. There were other appearances in Basel, for example at the opening of the Grün 80 , at official events of the Basel government, as a Basel delegation at various shooting festivals and at the 450th anniversary - and at the 500th anniversary of Basel joining the Swiss Confederation in 1951 and 2001.
Web links
swell
- Josef Rosen: Financial history of Basel in the late Middle Ages: collected articles 1971–1987 , Franz Steiner Verlag, 1989, p. 410
- Paul Burckhardt: History of the city of Basel from the time of the Reformation to the present , Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1957, p. 188ff.
- “Stänzler” on Basel buildings , accessed on March 19, 2011
- “How to catch fish and live to be 200 years old” by JJ Seiler on grabmacherjoggi.ch , archive version from December 9, 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The Standeskompagnie / Standestruppe 1804–1856 on altbasel.ch , accessed on October 23, 2019
- ↑ Basler Buildings ( page no longer available , search in web archives ): Defense and Guarding of the City, accessed on June 21, 2012