Vintler (noble family)

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Family coat of arms of the Vintlers of Bozen, after Siebmacher

Vintler (also Ritter, Freiherren Vintler von Runkelstein and Plätsch ) is the name of a Tyrolean noble family that has been in Bolzano since the 13th century .

history

Location of Vintl in the Puster Valley
Runkelstein Castle ,
the Rafenstein ruins on the horizon
Fresco at Runkelstein Castle 1
Fresco at Runkelstein Castle 2
Vintlerstrasse in Bolzano

Legendary origins

In older research, it was assumed that the Vintlers belonged to the oldest and most famous Tyrolean aristocratic families and were mentioned in documents as early as the middle of the 11th century. The von Vintler family is said to have appeared in history as early as 1076. Almost a century later, around 1140 in Bozen Dietlin, the Vintler is said to have already lived as a wealthy man. These assumptions, which essentially go back to a family chronicle written in the 17th century, are now considered largely out of date in historical research. The fact that the family from Vintl in the Pusteria Valley immigrated to Bolzano is not historically verifiable, but it is possible. Today's coat of arms of the village of Vintl was only designed in the 20th century after the family coat of arms of the Vintl family.

Bourgeois beginnings in Bolzano

In fact, the Vintlers are only documented at the beginning of the 13th century in Bolzano , where they did financial transactions and took the initiative in the wine trade. From Konrad I. Vintler, a coherent genealogist can also be created. Older genealogies, which go back further, are based on untenable hypotheses for the early days. In 1224, three Vintlers are attested, Ludwig, Morhard and Reimprecht, who act as witnesses in a sales letter next to Reimprecht von Greifenstein, whose brother Konrad sold a piece of land in Sibedat ( Haslach near Bozen). In a document dated June 13, 1227, an Odelrich Vintler is mentioned, in 1234 a Berchtold, called Vintullarius , already living in Bozener Wangergasse, appeared as a witness, in 1255 Heinrich Vintler appeared as a witness in a Latin notarial deed from Wilten Abbey , together with Friedrich von Greifenstein and Hiltiprant from Brandis. This Heinrich was married twice. The first wife was Eva von Bozen, the second Elsbeth, sister of Schweikhart von Reichenberg . The daughter Jutta from the latter marriage was married to Jakob von Schrofenstein and still lived in 1327. Mathias Vintler appears in a document in 1286 and 1292. He had bought the Wangergasse from the noble free von Wangen from the Franciscan monastery to the Vintlertor in Bozen. His wife was Konrad von Greifenstein's sister. Furthermore, in 1288 a Friedrich Vintler, a son of Nikolaus, appeared in a document, Frilig and Ancius (Heinz), Vintler's sons, appeared as witnesses in 1295, and finally a Frizelin Vintler from Bozen was named as a witness in 1305, Frilig again together in 1320 with Messrs. Konrad and Merklin von Schenkenberg. In more recent research it is certain that the Vintlers were part of the urban bourgeoisie of Bolzano until the 14th century. 1368 awarded Duke Leopold III. Agnes Vintlerin and her sons Niklas , Hans and Franz the lucrative balance in Bozen .

Vintler from Runkelstein

The rise of the family into the nobility began with Niklas Vintler , son of Konrad II. His mother Agnes was a landlord's daughter in Bolzano. From 1392 Niklaus was the highest bailiff in Tyrol. He repeatedly granted the sovereign major loans. He died in 1413, probably in Bolzano. In 1385 he acquired Runkelstein Castle , built by the Lords of Wangen in 1237 , a fief of the Church of Trento . After purchasing the castle, he also called himself Vintler von Runkelstein . The name of the Vintlertor was derived from his house in Wangergasse . After a serious quarrel with Duke Friedrich with the empty pocket (1408 because of his participation in a noble conspiracy), he fell out of favor with him, and the Habsburg ruler took most of his goods from him and reimbursed him for only 5,000 ducats. Although pardoned in 1413, this reprimand broke the power of the house for a time. Neither Nikolaus nor his brothers could ever recover from this blow, and their line soon died out.

Niklas' nephew Hans, on the other hand, proved to be more skilled. The latter fully responded to Friedrich's intentions and won his full confidence. Therefore, soon afterwards, he received the Tyrolean general tax office, which his uncle Nicholas had held, and was usually called the treasurer. In 1415, the Roman-German King Sigismund granted Hans Vintler von Bozen the freedom to use “a golden cron” on his helmet, taking into account his and his ancestors' merits. Hans Vintler was enfeoffed with the Oberplätsch tower as early as 1413 by Bishop Ulrich I von Brixen, together with Hans the Plätscher, a Brixen bishopric nobleman from a ministerial family. When he died in 1418, his brothers Leopold, Joachim and Christof did not share his fortune without a long dispute over inheritance.

The Vintlers maintained close contacts with the noble families of Tyrol such as the Botsch and the Rottenburgers , the Habsburgs as well as to Germany and Venice . In the period around 1411, the Vintlers seemed to have already broken away from the citizens' association and a gradual process of advancement to the nobility took place.

After Hans der Plätscher died in 1427 without heirs and the last sister of the last Plätscher was married to Leopold Vintler von Runkelstein, Bishop Berthold von Brixen bequeathed several fiefdoms to Plätsch to Conrad III.

Conrad III. Vintler von Runkelstein and Plätsch was possibly more powerful than any of his descendants. In his youth he went several times against the Hussites in Bohemia and then served as captain in Primör and caretaker in Sarnthal. Archduke Siegmund was particularly fond of him. In 1454, after the death of the sword Fuchs, he became the highest bailiff of the sovereign at the head of the financial administration and in this capacity carried out a detailed investigation of the manorial income. New land registers were opened, and waste was stopped everywhere. Probably for this purpose he was given the power to appoint and remove all civil servants in Tyrol. When a dispute broke out between Archduke Sigmund and the Bavarian Duke Ludwig in 1460, he and Oswald von Wolkenstein moved to Kufstein and negotiated peace between the two neighboring countries. His thorough knowledge of the law made him a popular arbitrator across the country. Archduke Siegmund added his coat of arms to him again around 1480 (square and adorned with a second helmet) and awarded the knighthood. The sovereign's wife, Eleonora, Queen of Scotland, appointed him her court master, and through her confessor she was in intimate correspondence with him. He fathered six sons and six daughters with his second wife Agnes Anich von Kurtatsch . Three sons died childless; the other three, Nikolaus, Hanns and Georg, became the progenitors of three different lines, one of which still exists in several branches to this day.

Another Konrad from the Vintler family married in Gottmadingen around 1600 . He promised the citizens of the Ebringer a church. However, due to the notorious lack of money, there was only enough for a small chapel for St. Afra . The lack of money was caused by his lavish behavior, which made him quite unpopular in his small reign of Heilsperg. Apparently this went so far (he attacked the knights of the mighty Konrad Widerhold vom Hohentwiel from time to time ) that that Vintler's residential tower, Burg Heilsperg, was destroyed in the Thirty Years War . Before that, he crossed the Rhine to Diessenhofen . This Vintler went down in the Gottmadinger world of legends as Finkler and, like the Hohenkräher Poppele, has since annoyed the forest visitors.

In 1673, Emperor Leopold I raised Adam and Wilhelm, who later became Auxiliary Bishop of Brixen, to the rank of baron.

The von Vintler family continues to this day and lives in Zollfeld ( Carinthia ), but the baronial branch of the family seems to have died out in the male line. In Bolzano the Vintlerstraße , the Vintlergang and the famous Gothic frescoes at Runkelstein Castle , which they commissioned, are reminiscent of the Vintler . With the painting of Runkelstein Castle, the Vintlers created the largest still preserved profane fresco cycle of the late Middle Ages.

coat of arms

The municipal
coat of arms of the Pustertal village of Vintl with the silver bear paws in memory of the Vintlers

Family coat of arms

Blazon : The family coat of arms from 1414 shows the shield in red with two upright, silver bear paws ; on the crowned helmet , the bear paws of the shield; the ceilings are red-silver.

Declaration of coat of arms: In the old days, when the Sarntal was still a dark forest and men from Bozen only hunted wild animals there, a gigantic white bear drove around, which terrified all hunters. Then a Bolzano citizen named Vintler, who was considered a brave man, decided to kill the white monster. He rode into the forest ravine, and he actually managed to track down and kill the bear. To prove to his fellow citizens that he really had killed the white bear, he cut off both front paws of the dead animal and took them with him. He also decided to have two white bear paws in his coat of arms as an eternal memory of his heroic deed. With this bear paw coat of arms he then also sealed.

The municipal coat of arms of the Pustertal village of Vintl also shows two upright white (= silver) bear paws facing each other on a red background .

Honored coats of arms

Blazon: The increased coat of arms from 1480 shows the shield squared ; Fields 1 and 4 in red, on them two upright, silver bear paws (family coat of arms); Fields 2 and 3 in gold are three black bear paws lying on top of each other; on the shield two crowned helmets, on the right the bear paws of the family coat of arms, on the left two upright black bear paws; the ceilings are red-silver and black-gold.

Blazon: The increased coat of arms from 1673 shows the shield squared with a heart shield ; Fields 1 and 4 in red with two upright, silver bear paws (family coat of arms). 2 and 3 in gold three black bear paws lying on top of each other (Thurn zu Bozen); in the heart shield in red a silver tip (splash); on the shield three golden crowned helmets, on the right the bear paws of the family coat of arms, on the middle a flight in the colors and figures of the heart shield, on the left two upright black bear paws; the covers are red and silver on the right and black and gold on the left.

Personalities

  • Niklas Vintler von Runkelstein (* around 1340; † 1413/14): Judge von Gries (since 1373); Board member of the Heilig-Geist-Spital (City Council in Bozen); 1392 to 1402 Salzmaier in Hall as well as court banker, district judge in Bozen and sovereign captain on the Adige
  • Hans Vintler von Runkelstein (*?; † 1418/19): nephew of Niklas; Poet (translated the poem "Die Pluemen der Tugent" from Italian into German in 1411 and expanded his own sections to over 10,000 verses)
  • Conrad III. Vintler von Runkelstein and Plätsch (*?; † after 1480): imperial captain; Carer in Sarntal ; highest bailiff of the sovereign in the financial administration (was allowed to control the manorial income as well as appoint and remove officials; to get the expenses under control, he created new land registers )
  • Georg Nikolaus Vintler von Plätsch (* 1588 near Brixen, † December 22, 1661 in Bozen): Member of the Teutonic Order (from 1615); acquired the lordly Landeck castle and court in 1621 ; Commander in Lengmoos (1625-26); Komtur in Sterzing (1626–1638), 1638 governor and since 1641 Landkomtur of the Ballei “ On the Adige and in the mountains ”; designed the residence and wine yard of the order in Siebeneich (near Terlan ), he also took care of the artistic design of Reifenstein Castle near Sterzing
  • Baltasar Vintler von Runkelstein und Plätsch (*?; † April 4, 1659): Canon of Brixen (1626) and administrator of the prince-bishop's hospital.
  • Wilhelm Vintler von Runkelstein and Plätsch (* 1631; † March 9, 1697 in Brixen): Baron; Canon (1648); Provost of the Cathedral (1677); Vicar General, President of the Consistory and Auxiliary Bishop of Brixen in 1682; Nephew of the aforementioned Balthazar.

literature

  • René Wetzel: Quis dicet originis annos? The Runkelsteiner Vintler - construction of a noble identity. In: Runkelstein Castle - The Picture Castle. Edited by the city of Bozen. Bozen 2000, pp. 291-310.
  • René Wetzel: The wall paintings of Runkelstein Castle and the Bolzano family of the Vintler: Literature and art in the context of a Tyrolean rising family of the 14th / 15th centuries. Century. Thèse d'habilitation: Univ. Friborg, 1999. 507 pages. on-line
  • Claudia Feller: Heinrichs von Rottenburg's account book: a testimony to aristocratic rule and economic management in medieval Tyrol. Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2010.
  • Volker Stamm : The wealth of Niklaus Vintler after the land register from approx. 1400. In: Tiroler Heimat 75 (2011), pp. 91-103.
  • Armin Torggler: The time of Hans Vintler , in: War - Usury - Superstition. Hans Vintler and Runkelstein Castle (= Runkelsteiner writings on cultural history 3). Athesia-Verlag, Bozen 2011, pp. 13–44, ISBN 978-88-8266-787-0 .
  • Beda Weber : Meran and its surroundings or The Burgrave Office of Tyrol. Wagner'sche Buchhandlung, Innsbruck 1845.
  • Oswald Zingerle:  Vintler, Hans . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, pp. 5-7. (Family item)

Web links

Commons : Vintler  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The History Friend . Contributions to patriotic history . Volume 1, No. 6-10, June-October 1866, printed and published by A. Weger's Buchhandlung, Brixen 1866, p. 298 ff.
  2. ^ Hannes Obermair : Bozen Süd - Bolzano Nord. Written form and documentary tradition of the city of Bozen up to 1500 . tape 1 . City of Bozen, Bozen 2005, ISBN 88-901870-0-X , p. 368, no.755 .
  3. Claudia Feller: Heinrich von Rottenburg's account book: a testimony to aristocratic rule and economic management in medieval Tyrol . Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2010, p. 61 ff.
  4. a b Beda Weber : Meran and its surroundings or The Burgrave Office of Tyrol . Wagner'sche Buchhandlung, Innsbruck 1845.
  5. ^ Anton Schwob (ed.): The life testimonies of Oswald von Wolkenstein . Volume 3, 1428-1437, No. 178-276, Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2006, p. 56 ff.
  6. ^ Hannes Obermair: Venice in Tyrol. The Venetian lead seal from Tyrol Castle . In: Tyrol - Austria - Italy. Festschrift for Josef Riedmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday (Schlern-Schriften 330), ed. by Klaus Brandstätter and Julia Hörmann. Innsbruck: Wagner 2005. ISBN 978-3703004001 , pp. 525-531, here: p. 529.
  7. Gustav Pfeifer: "New" nobility in Bozen of the 14th century: Botsch von Florenz and Nikolaus Vintler , in: Pro Civitate Austriae NF Volume 6, 2001, p. 19 ff.
  8. ^ Anton Schwob (ed.): The life testimonies of Oswald von Wolkenstein . Volume 3, 1428-1437, No. 178-276, Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2006, p. 56 ff.
  9. a b Otto Titan von Hefner : The nobility of the princes of Tyrol , in: Siebmacher's great book of arms. Vol. IV, 1st department, Bauer & Raspe publishing house, Nuremberg 1857. Name index and coats of arms p. 18
  10. http://www.stiftungsparkasse.it/Job.Aspx?FILE=Main&ID=11272131&Tx=Bildergalerie&L=D
  11. ^ A b Rudolf Granichstaedten-Czerva: Brixen - imperial principality and court . Vienna 1948, p. 5