The Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg, Vorderösterreich and the Confederation
10 January 2025
This article looks at the relationship between Vorderösterreich (Further Austria/Anterior Austria) and the Confederation. Also, it serves as preparation for an even more differentiated follow-up article on the Swabian War of 1499 (Swiss War or Engadine War, depending on your perspective). The circumstances, actions and conflicts of that time can only be understood in the context of the somewhat entangled history.
For this reason, this article is written in general terms; the relationships and roles of France, the Dukes of Bavaria, Savoy, Burgundy, Lorraine, Milan, the Margraves of Baden and other state entities are not considered. However, they also influenced the balance of power between Vorderösterreich and the Confederation and its towns and cantons.
The Holy Roman Empire, around. 1400. Image: Ziegelbrenner/Wikipedia
Holy Roman Empire
Looking at the current borders of France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria today, it is hard to imagine that the situation of territories and dependencies was utterly different 500 years ago.
The Holy Roman Empire (in the 16th century, also called the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation for the sake of precision) was founded in 962 under the Ottonian dynasty, with Otto I (912-973) as the first emperor. It was the successor to the Carolingian Empire, which was divided up in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun.
Various dynasties (including Ottonian, Salian, Hohenstaufen, Guelph, Wittelsbach, Luxembourg and Habsburg) provided the emperors and kings of the Empire. The seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire elected the king and Emperor.
Basel, Münster. Emperor Henrich II (973-1024) and Empress Kunigunde (975-1040)Copy. The originals are in the Museum Kleines Klingental
This election was regulated in the Golden Bull of 1356. The Pope anointed the Emperor. From 1440 to 1806, the Habsburgs were emperors and kings in succession almost without interruption. 1555, the Empire was divided into a Spanish branch (1555-1700) and an Austrian branch (1555-1918). Vorderösterreich fell under the Austrian branch.
The Goldene Bulle, Image: Wikipedia
The Emperor was the highest authority in the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial Diet was the legislature, the Imperial Chamber Court (in Worms, Speyer and finally in Wetzlar) and the Court Council in Vienna were the highest courts. The (tax) laws and ‘foreign judges’ of the Empire were also the basis for the ‘Swabian War’.
This article deals with the Habsburg territory in Vorderösterreich, distinguishing it from the Habsburg territories in Inner Austria (Duchies of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and Mark), Lower Austria (Duchy of Austria), and Upper Austria (the so-called Erblande), as well as the County of Tyrol (a Habsburg possession since 1379).
Until 1753, Vorderösterreich was not a political entity but comprised many political units. Initially, part of present-day Switzerland also belonged to this territory.
Habsburg and the Swiss Confederation
The Swiss Confederation developed at the end of the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1513, it consisted of 13 sovereign cantons that were often at odds with each other. Although the Confederation formally remained part of the Empire until 1648, it had already de facto ceased recognising its supreme authorities two centuries earlier. The refusal and cessation to pay certain taxes demonstrated this in concrete terms.
Habsburg lost territories and influence in a series of conflicts: 1315, 1386, 1388, 1415 (conquest of the Aargau apart from the Fricktal, Rheinfelden and Laufenburg), 1460 (conquest of the Thurgau) and finally in 1499 in the Swabian War.
Basel, Rudolf Wettstein statue, Basler negotiator and diplomat at the Peace of Westphalia
In the 15th century, successive Habsburg emperors attempted to reconquer the Swiss territories. However, the ‘Eternal Direction’ (1474), the lost ‘Swabian War’ and the Peace of Basel (1499) ended almost two centuries of war with the Peace of Westphalia (1648) as international (de facto) recognition of the Confederation.
Vorderösterreich, Breisgau around 1725
Vorderösterreich and its political role
From 1499, Vorderösterreich encompassed the area from the Arlberg to Alsace (including Sundgau), the Fricktal, the four Waldstätte (Säckingen, Waldshut, Laufenburg and Rheinfelden), Breisgau and regions in Lorraine, Swabia, Bavaria and the Black Forest.
From 1499, Vorderösterreich encompassed the area from the Arlberg to Alsace (including Sundgau), the Fricktal, the four Waldstätte (Säckingen, Waldshut, Laufenburg and Rheinfelden), Breisgau and regions in Lorraine, Swabia, Bavaria and the Black Forest.
Ensisheim (Alsace) was the administrative centre of Vorderösterreich from 1444 to 1638. Freiburg, however, was the most important economic, religious (diocese) and cultural centre with a university (1457). The Basel chapter (until 1679) and Erasmus (until 1535) sought refuge in Fribourg in 1529 because of the Reformation.
Breisgau, Münster
Wars and territorial changes
From the 16th century onwards, France and Bavaria became threats to the Habsburgs’ possessions in the Austrian Forelands. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) and the Dutch War (1672-1678, Peace of Nijmegen) led to territorial losses (Alsace, Sundgau, Breisgau, Freiburg) to France. During this time, the provincial government of Vorderösterreich was based in Waldshut and the university was temporarily housed in Constance.
The Peace of Rijswijk (1697) ended the War of the Palatinate Succession (1688-1697). Alsace (and Strasbourg) remained with France, while Freiburg and Breisach returned to Habsburg. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the towns of Neuchâtel on the Rhine, Breisgau, Villingen and Freiburg were again occupied by French troops and (again) plundered.
In the Peace of Rastatt (1714), these towns reverted to the Habsburgs. During a new war (Austrian War of Succession 1740-1748), France again occupied Freiburg and returned it after the Peace of Aachen (1748).
Freiburg, building of merchants, around 1530
Reforms
In 1753, Empress/Regent Maria Theresa (1717-1780) and Joseph II reorganised and reformled the administrative system. The previously fragmented Vorderösterreich became the political unit of the province of Vorderösterreich.
This was due to the rise of another threat: Prussia. From 1753 to 1806, during the last phase of Habsburg rule, Freiburg was once again the administrative centre of the province of Vorderösterreich. After 1789, however, the threat again came from the French side.
Vorderösterreich, a. 1790. Image: Karte: Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, Vorderösterreich in alten Karten und Plänen, Begleitheft zu Ausstellung Stuttgart, 1998
Dissolution of Vorderösterreich
In 1803, Napoleon assigned the Fricktal, Laufenburg, and Rheinfelden to the canton of Aargau, with the Rhine as the border. In 1806, Vorderösterreich ceased to exist as part of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. The remaining territories of Vorderösterreich fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria, the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Kingdom of Württemberg, and the Austrian Empire. It meant that Vorderösterreich was a thing of the past for the Confederation.
Rheinfelden (kanton Aargau)
Aftermath
Or not quite. The village of Büsingen lies in the centre of the canton of Schaffhausen. Habsburg never wanted to cede the town to the canton. The village was then annexed to the Grand Duchy of Baden and then to the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, despite a referendum in 1918: 96% of the inhabitants wanted to join the Swiss Confederation.
There is a parallel with Vorarlberg: in 1919, 81% of the inhabitants wanted to join the Swiss Confederation. Switzerland did not like this for various reasons. Almost a tiny part of Vorderösterreich had joined the Confederation after 1918!
Incidentally, the Habsburg presence in the new canton of Graubünden lasted until 1803 (Tarasp) and 1819 (Rhäzuns). This area was administered from Innsbruck.
And yet, the Habsburg presence was not over. As early as the 13th and 14th centuries, the Habsburgs focused on Basel as a residence and administrative centre. However, this did not materialise.
Basel, Cathedral
Bern
Eugen Ferdinand Pius Bernhard Felix Maria, the Archduke of Habsburg (1863-1954), lived in a suite in the Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel from 1919 to 1934. He was a nephew of Karl von Habsburg (1887-1922), the last Emperor of the Habsburg Empire. He bid farewell to Basel in style in 1934, also on behalf of his ancestors, and Basel bid him farewell with the city’s highest honours.
The cathedral also houses the (empty) sarcophagus of Gertrud Anna von Hohenberg (1225-1281), the wife of Rudolf I (1218-1291), the first German-Roman king of the dynasty. The name Habsburg remains associated with Basel, the cathedral, and Switzerland.
Emperor Karl and Empress Zita (1892-1989), Austria’s last empress, were dethroned after a reign of only two years. After 1919, they lived in exile. After Emperor Karl’s death in 1922, Empress Zita raised her eight children, including Otto von Habsburg (1912-2011), on her own. She lived in Zizier (canton of Graubünden) for 27 years – from 1962 until her death in 1989.
Conclusion
Relations between the Confederation and Vorderösterreich remained peaceful after 1499. Calm returned, mainly as other (religious) conflicts arose.
Although the Swabian War marked the final spiritual and de facto separation, trade, universities (Freiburg, Constance, Basel), language (Alemannic), and personal contacts remained a solid basis for cooperation.
Despite the numerous conflicts before and after 1648, the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg dynasty coats of arms were often not removed from public spaces. The prestige and respect for the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor and the (German-Roman) King were such.
Breisach
(Source: D. Speck, Kleine Geschichte Vorderösterreichs, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, 2010; Uri Robert Kaufmann (Red.), Die Schweiz und der deutsche Südwesten, Ostfildern, 2006; Arzner, B. Oeschger, J. Scharf-Anderegg (Red.), Nachbarn am Hochrhein, Möhlin 2002; A. Jochim, F. Hanöffner (red.), Die Habsburger im Mittelalter. Aufstieg einer Dynastie, Speyer 2022)