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Battle of Sörenberg

1380 in Europe14th century in the Old Swiss ConfederacyBattles involving SwitzerlandConflicts in 1380Wikipedia infobox cleanup
Brienzer Rothorn
Brienzer Rothorn

The Battle of Sörenberg was fought in 1380, between the Entlebuch (at the time subject to the House of Habsburg) and Obwalden (a canton of the early Swiss Confederacy). It was the culmination of a conflict over the right to alpine pastures (alps). The immediate cause was a cattle raid at an alp now known as Schlachtalp, at the slope of the Brienzer Rothorn, above the village Sörenberg. As recorded by Renward Cysat in c. 1600, the cattle raid took place in 1374, and the tensions between Entlebuch and Obwalden continued for several years. Finally, the two sides agreed to send a herald each to meet at the border, who would either declare war or make peace. The two heralds met and were later found to have killed each other. As the heralds did not return, both sides assumed the other had taken their herald, and mobilised for war. The two forces met at Schlachtalp. The Entlebuch side was victorious and took the Obwalden banner, which was kept until modern times in the tower at Schüpfheim. Cysat reports that the banner was lost because the banner bearer of Obwalden believing the battle was already won climbed on top of a rock, challenging any man of Entlebuch to come and take the banner. A man called Ring Rüegk (Ring Rüegg) of Entlebuch climbed the rock, killed the banner bearer and took the banner, turning the battle in favour of Entlebuch. Later legend adds additional elements. The hero of Entlebuch now appears under the name Windtrüeb (also Wintrüeb, Wintrüb). In the cattle raid, the Obwalden invaders are said to have thrown the tenant of Schlachtalp into his cauldron of boiling rennet, killing him. They then collected the cattle and drove it away. Windtrüeb, the tenant of the neighboring Blattalp, is said to have pursued the invaders, catching up with them at Mörhalp, back in Obwalden territory beyond the Glaubenbühl Pass. The raiders were drunk from celebrating, and Wintrüeb entered the stable unnoticed and managed to steal back the cattle. The legend goes on to report a deception carried out by Windtrüeb involving cow bells, which for the 14th century is an anachronism. In the battle, the same Windtrüeb is said to have killed the Obwalden banner bearer. In this legend Windtrüeb was assassinated by the Obwalden party a few years later, in 1384, at Steinibach, halfway between Flühli and Schüpfheim. In the aftermath of the battle, the Entlebuch sought an alliance with Lucerne, and became a subject territory of that city, and by extension part of the Swiss Confederacy, in 1385. At the Battle of Sempach in 1386, Obwalden and Entlebuch fought side by side. A memorial stone at Steinibach (Krutacker) marked the site of Wintrüeb's assassination. The memorial stone to Windtrüeb at Steinibach remained standing into the 17th century. In the Swiss peasant war of 1653, as the peasants were uniting under Christian Schybi, the people of Flühli rallied at the stone for their battle prayer, vowing to build a chapel at the spot should they return victorious. They were defeated and killed without exception, and the stone has since been weathered away. An undated wooden plaque exhibited at Schlachtalp has an inscription mentioning the discovery of a document (Schrift) discovered when the previous wooden building was torn down which explained the name Schlacht. A modern Wintrüeb monument was erected at the bridge of Flühli in 1980.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battle of Sörenberg (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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N 46.806388888889 ° E 8.0455555555556 °
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6174
Lucerne, Switzerland
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Brienz railway station
Brienz railway station

Brienz railway station is a railway station in the village of Brienz in the Swiss canton of Bern. Brienz is a stop on the Brünig line, owned by the Zentralbahn, that operates between Interlaken and Lucerne. It is located across the street from Brienz BRB railway station, the lower terminus of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway (BRB) that climbs to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn mountain. The station provides an interchange with the local bus network provided by PostBus Switzerland. Shipping services operated by the BLS AG on Lake Brienz call at a quay adjacent to the station, linking to various lakeside places between Brienz and Interlaken. Amongst other destinations, buses link to the Ballenberg open-air museum, whilst boats link to the lower station of the Giessbach Funicular, which gives access to the Giessbach Falls. The station was opened in 1888 by the Jura–Bern–Lucerne Railway, as the western terminus of the Brünig line, with journeys to and from Interlaken requiring passengers and goods to transfer between trains and boats on Lake Brienz. The Brienz–Rothorn line terminus opened in 1892. Brienz remained the terminus of the Brünig line until 1916, when the line was extended along the north shore of Lake Brienz to Interlaken Ost, thus eliminating the need for transfer. Brünig line trains were hauled by steam locomotives until the early 1940s, when the line was electrified. Ownership of the Brünig line section of the station was transferred to the Swiss Federal Railway in 1903, and to the Zentralbahn in 2004. The Brünig line platforms of the station lie alongside the lake, and comprise two tracks with two flanking platforms. On the northern and inland side, the station building is situated between the platforms and the main road along the north shore of the lake. The terminus of the Brienz–Rothorn rack railway lies on the opposite side of this road, and the two railways and are not physically connected. The bus terminus is located to the west of the station building, between the Brünig line platforms and the main road, whilst the ferry pier is immediately to the south-east of the station, accessed by a level crossing.