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The Smith of
The Smith of Kochel
Kochel am See is a municipality and a town in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria, on the shores of Kochelsee. The municipality consists of the districts Altjoch, Brunnenbach, Ort, Pessenbach, Pfisterberg, Walchensee and Ried.
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is a figure from Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n myth. According to this myth, he was a soldier in the Habsburg-Ottoman Wars ( Battle of Vienna). Armed with nothing but a bar, he supposedly stoved in the gates of Belgrade. He refused rewards for his heroic deed from the prince electors.
Another legend attributed to him is leading the farmer rebellion against the imperial troops of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to:
*Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283
* Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711)
*Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696)
*Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...
during the War of Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phili ...
. This culminated in the Sendlinger Mordweihnacht ("Sendling Christmas Massacre"). In literature, the smith is described as a man of over 70 years of age, yet great in stature and power. For the revolt, he supposedly armed himself with a spiked club of his own making that weighed over 100 lb (50 kg) . On the night of the massacre, the smith fought in the ranks of the rebels at the Sendling
Sendling is a borough of Munich. It is located south-west of the city centre and spans the city boroughs Sendling and Sendling-Westpark. Sendling is subdivided into Obersendling, Mittersendling and Untersendling. Untersendling and Mittersendl ...
Parish Church. There he died heroically, the last man to fall.
History
Historical research about the smith of Kochel has shown that he was probably only a legend and a symbol rather than a real person, possibly invented to make the defeat of the revolt more bearable. The smith is known as ''Balthasar'' with a last name of either ''Mayer'' or ''Riesenberger''. A ''Balthasar Mayer'' (born January 6, 1644 in Waalkirchen) actually existed, but no evidence of this person being a smith in Kochel could be found. A ''Balthasar Riesenberger'' (born in Bach bei Holzolling) took part in the battle in Sendling, but no evidence of his being a smith in Kochel could be found either. The fact that Kochel belonged to the court district of Murnau at the time of the revolt, which did not take part in the Oberländer rebellion, also speaks against the Kochel theory. In memory of the Sendling Christmas Massacre and the Smith of Kochel, there are regular pageants and events in Bavaria. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith of Kochel Culture of Altbayern German folklore Bavarian folklore Legendary German people Fictional smiths Fictional soldiers Germany in fiction Fictional characters from Altbayern