Chasing off the Austrians was a huge building block toward building a modern Switzerland. So why not remember an important battle in that struggle. Well you might say that the modern multiethnic Switzerland has little to do with a confederation of cantons chasing off Holy Roman Hapsburgs that even the Austrians themselves have now chased off. Think about if the battles had gone the other way and the land was still Austrian. Would not the people have been kept down with all the wars and would the area have achieved such peace and prosperity. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Visually this stamp is a mess. The old style cursive writing style is unreadable and the red playing card with the old fashioned guy also makes no sense. I doubt better eyesight and a knowledge of old German helps much. Fail
Todays stamp is issue A367 a 50 cent stamp issued by Switzerland on March 8th, 1988. It was a single stamp issue remembering the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Nafels fought between the Canton of Glarus of the Old Swiss Confederacy and Hapsburg Army of Austria. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
The Old Swiss Confederacy grew up as Alpine market town dominated cantons began buying more self rule from their ruling but apparently cash poor Austrian nobility. At this point there was still tribute due the Hapsburg Holy Roman Empire but on the ground there was fighting for the allegiance of Swiss towns.
In 1388 Austria sent two armies of over 5000 men toward the town of Nafels with the goal of capturing it and then breaking the Canton of Glarus away from the Swiss. The town only had 400 defenders and after a short siege the town fell with the defenders fading intact into the surrounding hills. The Austrians than broke military formation to loot the town. Remember the armies then were put together by knights in service to the King but with a definite profit motive for the knight. At the height of the looting of Nafels the Swiss counter attacked to great success with the total element of surprise. The Austrians retreated in some disarray and this was compounded by a bridge collapsing on the Linth River. 20-30 % of the large Austrian Army was lost. A peace treaty was signed in Vienna the next year acknowledging the Swiss claim to the area. The loss of the area to the Holy Roman Empire meant there was now a buffer zone between Hapsburg Austria and Bourbon France. The old Swiss Confederacy ended when it was conquered by Napoleon in 1799.
Every year on the first Thursday in April, the is a pilgrimage to the site of the battle called the Nafelser Fahrt. Usually in attendance is a potential pretender to the Hapsburg Throne for whom it is possible to spit upon for a small fee. I am kidding about that last part.
Well my drink is empty and the first Thursday in April is a while off so there is time for another round. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.