Werra pile

The Werrahaufen was a union of farmers and craftsmen in the German Peasants' War in 1525 in the southwest of what is now Thuringia . This army was named after the river Werra , which shaped the landscape .

history

The Twelve Articles of Memmingen (1525)

Memorial plaque for Hans Sippel in Vacha

Hans Sippel, a citizen from Vacha , was the leader of the Werra horde of rebellious farmers. Coming from Vacha, the group, which initially consisted of around 8,000 farmers and craftsmen, moved into the city of Salzungen , where numerous citizens joined them under massive threats. The peasant army then moved up the Werra valley in April 1525 with almost 10,000 insurgents. The Werrahaufen encamped on April 23, 1525 outside the city of Lengsfeld . The former Hessian court master Ludwig I von Boyneburg , banished from the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1514, had to sign the farmers' demands, pay them 500 Meißnian guilders and accompany the Werra heap as a hostage on the campaign towards Meiningen.

Frauenbreitungen was reached on April 24th , where the farmers looted the nunnery and took the Herrenbreiter monastery without a fight. In this context, farmers from the surrounding villages used the opportunity to destroy the Frankenberg Castle and the Wallenburg , which they hated .

The Werrahaufen reached Schmalkalden on April 27th . The walled city was in a state of defense ready, but inner-city quarrels resulted in the disempowerment and expulsion of the rulers of the city, and the Werra was allowed into the city. The Council gave in and took Twelve Articles of Memmingen on. After the Walpurgis Night on May 1, 1525 , the Werrahaufen moved on towards Meiningen . In the meantime the army had grown to around 13,000 people. On May 2, 1525, the Lower Gate in Meiningen was reached, where the Werrahaufen received information about the alliance between the city of Meiningen and the Bildhäuser Haufen . After Count Wilhelm IV of Henneberg-Schleusingen (1478–1559) had recognized the Twelve Articles of the Peasants, the Werra heap dissolved.

The leaders of the rebellious farmers moved to Eisenach and wanted to negotiate with the authorities. The leaders were lured into the city, immediately arrested and tried, in which they were sentenced to death. On May 11, 1525, the leaders of the Werrahaufen imprisoned at the Wasserburg Klemme were executed on the market square in Eisenach . Hans Sippel from Vacha, Jakob Töpfer from Berka / Werra, Jörg Hain from Witzelroda, Herrmann Stork from Eisenach and Heinz Bittemer from Nesselröden were beheaded. A memorial cross in the pavement of the Eisenacher Markt commemorates the execution. A plaque commemorates Hans Sippel at Wendelstein Castle in Vacha.

literature

Günter Vogler (Ed.): Peasants' War between Harz and Thuringian Forest (= historical communications. Supplements 69). Steiner, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-515-09175-6 .

Web links

http://www.bauernkriege.de/GrosserDeutscherBK.html

Individual evidence

^ Walter Clemen: Schmalkalden in the peasant war . In: Schmalkalder history sheets. Schmalkalden 1994, No. 1, pp. 43-45.
↑ Hermann Helmboldt: The castle clamp and the Clemda in Eisenach . In: Max Kürschner (Hrsg.): Heimatblätter for the Eisenach district . tape 9 , issue 1-2. Max Hense printing and publishing house, Eisenach 1943, p. 51-56 .
^ Cross in the pavement will be reintroduced eisenachonline.de from December 11, 2015, accessed on June 19, 2019

[Clemen-1] Walter Clemen: Schmalkalden in the peasant war . In: Schmalkalder history sheets. Schmalkalden 1994, No. 1, pp. 43-45.

[2] Hermann Helmboldt: The castle clamp and the Clemda in Eisenach . In: Max Kürschner (Hrsg.): Heimatblätter for the Eisenach district . tape 9 , issue 1-2. Max Hense printing and publishing house, Eisenach 1943, p. 51-56 .

[3] Cross in the pavement will be reintroduced eisenachonline.de from December 11, 2015, accessed on June 19, 2019