Historic Anabaptist Places (Pictures itt)

[Swiss Bro]

It has been a while since my last post in this thread because I think I have covered most Anabaptist places in my vicinity. But recently I thought I had found another one literally on my doorstep. Next to my apartment we have a nice forest with a small duck pond. The path down to the pond was marked "Bruppacher Weg" on a wooden sign post. The duck pond:



I did not know to whom this was dedicated but a bit of googling brought me to Hans Bruppacher, one of the first generation Anabaptists. Hans came from Zumikon and was baptised on the 25 January 1525 by Blaurock in the house at Gstadstrasse 25 in Zollikon, cf. the first post in this thread for reference. This was one of the first baptisms and at that assembly the first communion of the Anabaptists was held as well. Bruppacher was captured with other Anabaptists (amongst others, Manz and Blaurock). He either remained in custody until 1530 or was released and imprisoned on several occasions but in 1530 finally "converted", i.e. renounced the Anabaptist faith and saved his life. In the meantime, other Anabaptists had been drowned (amongst others, Manz in 1527). More about Bruppacher on the website of the municipality of Zumikon (in German, scroll down): https://www.zumikon.ch/geschichte/7421

Anyway so I thought this path might be dedicated to Hans Bruppacher. It would make sense as the path is between Zumikon and Zollikon and I imagined that Hans took it to get to the assembly sneaking through the forest. See below map indicating Zumikon where Hans lived, the path marked red and the house at Gstadstrasse where the Anabaptists met.



I wanted to take pictures of the signpost for quite a while to show this to you but I only got round to do it yesterday. To my great disappointment, the wooden signpost was replaced by a metal one with more explanations on why it is the Bruppacher Weg: It is actually dedicated to one Walter Bruppacher, an architect with no Anabaptist connotations (as far as I know, he might be a descendant of Hans but that would be pure speculation). Here is the new signpost.



To make things worse, I discovered that they have set up a bench at the duck pond for the memory of 500 years of Reformation, with a Zwingli head!





As you can see, to this day Zurich prefers to remember a murderer rather than a martyr (even if Hans wasn't technically a martyr I guess). To be fair, there are some memorial plaques here and there in Zurich remembering the gruesome deeds of the Anabaptist hunters (see some of my other posts in this thread).

Anyway, I would like to seize the opportunity to wish one and all a happy new year, may God bless you.

[temporal1]

Swiss Bro:
It’s so awesome to see you posting again!
i wish all members would check in now+then, or at least yearly.

These pictures, along with your insights, are fascinating.

i wonder, would it be possible for you to be in contact with the park district/those behind the new signs/bench?
on some level, they have interest in this history! they might be happy to learn more.

i have to wonder if it was an error to name Walter? .. i can imagine it might have been an honest oversight.

i would expect your first contacts might want to reject you right off, but the real people behind the scenes might welcome you. i would suggest being careful about getting a good contact.

[Swiss Bro]

Swiss Bro:
It’s so awesome to see you posting again!
i wish all members would check in now+then, or at least yearly.

These pictures, along with your insights, are fascinating.

i wonder, would it be possible for you to be in contact with the park district/those behind the new signs/bench?
on some level, they have interest in this history! they might be happy to learn more.

i have to wonder if it was an error to name Walter? .. i can imagine it might have been an honest oversight.

i would expect your first contacts might want to reject you right off, but the real people behind the scenes might welcome you. i would suggest being careful about getting a good contact.

Thank you! I don‘t think it‘s worth to address this with the municipality as the path is in the municipality of Kuesnacht and Hans Bruppacher was from Zumikon so Kuesnacht has no incentive whatsoever to do something about this. Plus Hans Bruppacher would not even be an ideal „martyr“ to remember as he renounced his faith under pressure and got away (not that I blame him). I think it‘s the wrong hill to die upon. I‘ll simply personally remember Hans and the other Anabaptists when walking that path and certainly never sit down on that Reformation bench. Take that, Zwingli

[temporal1]

Thank you! I don‘t think it‘s worth to address this with the municipality as the path is in the municipality of Kuesnacht and Hans Bruppacher was from Zumikon so Kuesnacht has no incentive whatsoever to do something about this.

Plus Hans Bruppacher would not even be an ideal „martyr“ to remember as he renounced his faith under pressure and got away (not that I blame him).

I think it‘s the wrong hill to die upon.
I‘ll simply personally remember Hans and the other Anabaptists when walking that path and certainly never sit down on that Reformation bench. Take that, Zwingli

i see. i understand.
i would like to add, about Hans B not being an ideal martyr, honestly, his human-ness is compelling, as you say, it was life/death.
in a Christian’s lifetime, there are likely hundreds of moments, usually not dramatic in the moment, but moments that put choice in front of us, and moments we fail. but prefer to forget/deny as quickly as possible.

this suggests Hans B likely represents many (not ideal).
in high elected office, politicians who claim to be Christian while giving full-throated support to abortion are examples. so are those who vote for it while denying and excusing. Hans B was human. he probably went further for his faith than many.
i’m with you. i pray for him, i empathize. i don’t blame him. it’s likely, altho not ideal, Hans B was “above average.”

i didn’t intend to suggest going to the city with “guns blazing.”
i just imagined this might be a moment when a private person might have a word with a hopefully-interested party about a minor correction in local history. (secularists might view it as minor. “it’s a park sign.”) from the little i’ve read, in recent years, some church leaders learning more about those early murderous tragedies, have attempted to correct, understand, and reconcile - i.e., to learn and not deny. (i suspect, without this, the signs+bench would not exist.)

the new sign seems a simple nod to a local architect; Zwingli on the bench suggests “more.”
it would be interesting to understand more about what this is about. it’s peculiar. i suspect ignorance/error.

in this case, i wouldn’t see questioning as waging war. (as popular as that has become.)
i just see it as one person addressing another in attempt to lift ignorance. a small thing. (also a thing most would not do.)

i guess i imagine somewhere behind the sign+bench is someone who is interested. and would be happy to learn more.
that’s all. in my life experience, i’ve learned most workers, even degreed professionals, are fairly anonymous, working in offices+cubicles unnoticed, but they are real people who appreciate being addressed in real life, often not typical for them.
most work is done by those not seen or heard. often, they appreciate an interested living contact.

i appreciate your pictures+insights! i appreciate your passion for the topic/history/faith.
i doubt those involved with this sign/bench have such passion. i hope at least one would have interest! there might be passion.
i would not expect it. not in today’s secular time+place.

this is my feeble attempt to explain myself. not a second request or anything like that.

[ohio jones]

i just imagined this might be a moment when a private person might have a word with a hopefully-interested party about a minor correction in local history. (secularists might view it as minor. “it’s a park sign.”)

It's a sign that is specific enough to leave no doubt about who they intended to commemorate. To "correct" that by suggesting they intended to honor someone else would be quite odd.

[temporal1]

i just imagined this might be a moment when a private person might have a word with a hopefully-interested party about a minor correction in local history. (secularists might view it as minor. “it’s a park sign.”)

It's a sign that is specific enough to leave no doubt about who they intended to commemorate. To "correct" that by suggesting they intended to honor someone else would be quite odd.

The whole thing seems peculiar, questioning it would be odd, i doubt it’s frequent.
The Walter B sign, alone, could just be a stand-alone nod to this contemporary architect, the Zwingli plate is about early Anabaptists.
It’s curious. Also, current municipal boundaries might not match those 500 years ago. What was the original wooden sign about? Maybe not known.

Probably my use of the word “correct” would be better left at “question.” When digging into things, the unexpected tends to arise.
i see no harm in honest questioning. it reflects interest. which is a purpose of historical markers. right?

i can’t read the other plate on the bench.
i would not take for granted there is no innocent ignorance involved. good intentions. i guess i would presume that until proven otherwise. i am coming from a position of ignorance, maybe that’s why.

when i joined this forum, i was a happy Lutheran, knowing nothing of Luther+Anabaptists. what a shock.
life is a learning process.

[ohio jones]

the Zwingli plate is about early Anabaptists.

More likely, the Zwingli plate is about Zwingli. If Zürich is inclined to do park bench plaques saying 500 Jahre Wiedertäufer, they would wait until 2025 when it is actually 500 years.

i can’t read the other plate on the bench.

It's a quote from Zwingli: "Man kann auch ohne Gebrauch der Stimme beten."

[temporal1]

the Zwingli plate is about early Anabaptists.

More likely, the Zwingli plate is about Zwingli. If Zürich is inclined to do park bench plaques saying 500 Jahre Wiedertäufer, they would wait until 2025 when it is actually 500 years.

i can’t read the other plate on the bench.

It's a quote from Zwingli: "Man kann auch ohne Gebrauch der Stimme beten."

yes. more of my poor writing. (i connect Zwingli with Anabaptists.)
along with the sign, now naming Walter B., maybe it’s not meant to be a connection between the sign+bench plates? the more contemporary+historical?

i wonder if Walter is a descendent of Hans? it could be.
i wonder about the original wooden sign, it’s possible no one knows. people often say, “i will never forget.” but forgeting is part of what we do best.

i agree we often pray without even knowing. God knows every inward prayer.

Swiss Bro has made it interesting to wonder.

[ohio jones]

The next destination is Rattenberg, birthplace of Pilgram Marpeck. Rattenberg is the smallest city in Austria, nestled between the Inn river and the mountains, and between the adjacent towns of Kramsach and Brixlegg, which have grown together.







Marpeck was born in Rattenberg around 1495. He worked in the city hospital and the miner's hospice (from 1513), started a business transporting lead sulfide ore across the Brenner Pass (1520), joined the brotherhood of mine workers (1520), and served the city in the offices of lower council (1520-1522), mayor (1522), upper council (1524-1525), and mining superintendent (1525-1528). The Marpeck house (in green, center) is on the street that would have been the main route through town at the time.

Mayor, mountain judge of Rattenberg, hydraulic engineering specialist and important representative of European Anabaptism

Here, in the family home, Marpeck was born in 1495. In 1528 he had to flee Rattenberg because he refused to support the persecution of Anabaptists.

Marpeck was appointed mining superintendent by Archduke Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V and later emperor in his own right. He was responsible to oversee the miners, keep peace among them, obtain raw materials such as timber and water, manage leases, and report to the royal accounting office in Innsbruck. But when ordered at the end of 1527 to assist the sheriff in prosecuting Anabaptists, particularly among the miners, he protested that this was not in his job description, resigned a few weeks later, and soon thereafter fled to Moravia and joined the movement himself.

The miners and the townspeople kept to themselves, even to the extent of segregated seating in church. Marpeck was one of the few who related to both worlds. Some of the miners had become Anabaptists by this time. In addition, several successive parish priests (hired by the city council, rather than appointed by the bishop as was the usual custom) were reform-minded and were jailed or dismissed by the Archduke, a staunch Catholic. And in the final weeks of Marpeck's time in Rattenberg, Leonhard Scheimer, an Anabaptist missionary from eastern Austria, was imprisoned in the castle above the city and almost certainly influenced his beliefs. Scheimer was beheaded and burned before Marpeck fled, the first of 71 martyrs in Rattenberg over the next 15 years. Scheimer's entries in the Kunstbuch were written in the Rattenberg prison during his final days.

If you are in the area, the silver mine in Schwaz (20 minutes west) is also worth a visit. Schwaz was the largest silver and copper mine in the region, Rattenberg was second, and other smaller mines were located throughout the valley. In the Schwaz mine you put on a raincoat and hard hat, climb aboard a miniature train that takes you deep inside the mountain, and learn all about mining. At its peak (during Marpeck's lifetime) the mine employed over 5000 miners, and 600 more whose only job was to bail water from the deepest shaft.

Local trains stop at the Rattenberg-Kramsach Bahnhof hourly in both directions; 45 minutes from Innsbruck, or 2 hours from Munich with a change of trains at the border town of Kufstein.

[ohio jones]

This next one has less direct connections to Anabaptism, but is an important moment in church history nonetheless.



At the Diet of Speyer II (Speyer cathedral pictured above) in March 1529, Archduke Ferdinand, on behalf of his brother Emperor Charles V, announced the renewed enforcement of the 1521 Edict of Worms which condemned Luther and his reforms. Thereupon the rulers who supported the reform movement filed an appeal, or protest, against that enforcement. As a result they were labeled “protestants” – and the name stuck.

Later that year Philipp the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hesse and leader of the pro-protestant Schmalkaldic League, convened a meeting of the leading reformers in an attempt to unify them in opposition to the Catholics. He was primarily concerned with political power, but he saw doctrinal unity as one means to that end. So he invited all the theologians he could persuade to come to his castle in the city of Marburg, then the capital of Hesse, for a discussion that took place October 1-4, 1529.





You might recognize the names of some of the participants: Melancthon, Bucer, Oecolampadius, Osiander. Others are less famous: Justus Jonas, Caspar Hedio, Johannes Brenz. Stefan Castenbaur (aka Agricola), parish priest in Rattenberg from 1520 until his arrest in 1522 and thus an early influence on Marpeck, was there. So was Bernard Rothmann, who later converted to apocalyptic Anabaptism and became the theological leader of the Münster debacle. But the focus of the event was the debate between Luther and Zwingli.

Everyone agreed unanimously, without discussion, on 14 points that were written by Luther and his associates a few months earlier. But the 15th article, the one on communion, was the deal breaker. Luther insisted that when Christ said “this is my body” he meant that the body of Christ was literally, physically present among the elements of bread and wine (although the elements were not transformed, as in the Catholic teaching of transsubstantiation). Zwingli maintained that Christ was speaking metaphorically, and was spiritually but not physically present; the emphasis belongs on “do this in remembrance of me.”



This 1867 painting by August Noack, on display in the Landgrafenschloss museum, shows Luther pointing to the tablecloth, where he has written “THIS IS.” Zwingli gestures with his left hand that the physical and spiritual are two distinct natures, but Luther recoils defensively. Philipp is seated at the left of the table, in the white yoga pants.



The Fürstensaal as it appears today, from roughly the same angle as the painting. However, the museum displays suggest that the colloquy actually took place in a smaller room elsewhere in the castle.

The concluding statement of the meeting says in part “… although we have not been able to agree at this time, whether the true body and blood of Christ are corporally present in the bread and wine, each party should display towards the other Christian love …” but that is not entirely what happened. Zwingli later wrote “There are no people on earth with whom I would rather be in harmony than with the [Lutheran] Wittenbergers.” But Luther said of Zwingli and those who agreed with him “You have a different spirit from ours and cannot be recognized as members of the Church.” So Philipp’s hopes of a united Protestantism were not realized, and the rift between the Lutherans and the Reformed churches widened.

Anabaptists have generally agreed with Zwingli on the memorial view, rejecting sacramental mysticism, but it has become rather fashionable among some Mennonites and Anabaptist-adjacent groups to promote a doctrine of Real Presence that is very similar to Luther's view. While I believe this is in error, I would like to relate to my brothers who have taken this position with Zwinglian grace rather than Lutheran condemnation.