How Bern and Solothurn almost started a civil war: the Klushandel

In the early winter of 1632, the Dünern, a small tributary of the Aare in the Solothurn Jura, revealed a terrible discovery. The body of Hans Breiter, a soldier from the canton of Bern, was found. The discovery of the body was the final sad witness to an event that had brought the Old Confederacy to the brink of civil war: the Klushandel of September 1632.

The Klus, a Jura valley between Oensingen and Balsthal and through which the Dünern flows towards the Aare, was for centuries an important pass to reach Basel via the Obern Hauenstein. Numerous castle ruins and fortresses that still exist today in the area around the Klus prove the importance of the pass since the High Middle Ages. Two castle complexes still dominate this part of the Solothurn Jura today. The one that is visible from far away “New Bechburg” near Oensingen guarded the southern entrance, while the castle “Old Falkenstein” controlled the narrow northern exit in present-day Balsthal.

It was precisely this job that would become the scene of the above-mentioned event in the autumn of 1632, which brought the cities of Solothurn and Bern dangerously close to military conflict and threatened to overthrow the shaky confessional peace between the Catholic and Reformed estates. .

The situation between the Reformed and Catholic places in the Confederacy has been more than tense since the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Although confessional relations had been settled since 1531 with the Second Peace of Chapel, there was mutual distrust in both camps. This was further strengthened by the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).

While the reformed places oriented themselves towards the Protestant Union, the Catholic estates retained their ties with the Imperial Catholic League. The Confederation declared itself neutral in this hegemony conflict in the Holy Roman Empire. Internally, however, this devastating war proved to be a test for the Confederation of States.

In the case of the relationship between the Catholic estate of Solothurn and Reformed Bern, the tense situation was further heated by incidents that only increased mutual distrust. For example, in April 1629 in Olten a Capuchin who had converted to the Reformed faith was arrested together with his Bernese companion, a theologian, which probably later led to an attack on a Capuchin from Solothurn in Bätterkinden in Bern by the local village population. .

When Protestant Swedes intervened in the Thirty Years’ War, Reformed volunteers tried to enter military service, even though the federal parliament had banned their support. In March 1632, a group of Bernese rice runners marched through the Klus without permission from the council of Solothurn to join the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf (1594–1632). In response to Solothurn’s protest, Bern’s city council said only that they knew nothing about this influx, a claim that later turned out to be a lie.

However, it was agreed that Bern would have to obtain permission from Solothurn for future troop passages. Nevertheless, Solothurn raised the guard in the Klus, which in turn angered the neighbors in Bern’s Oberaargau.

A rifle lieutenant named Stein entered into this tense relationship with a squad of 40 to 50 Bernese musketeers. Mühlhausen, threatened by the war on the other side of the Rhine, approached his reformed allies in the Confederation with a cry for help, which Bern answered by sending this force. Lieutenant Stein and his soldiers also took the route over the Klus to reach Mühlhausen via Basel. When he arrived in De Klus on September 16, 1632, he requested passage.

Governor Urs Brunner, who was supposed to oversee the passage through the Klus at Falkenstein Castle, refused to allow the passage because Lieutenant Stein could not produce a passport. The governor sent a letter to Solothurn the same day. The next day the Bernese moved from their marching camp in Niederbipp to the Klus. As no news had yet arrived from Solothurn, Governor Brunner refused to open the pass again. The Bernese lieutenant, who was again rejected, then sent a letter to Bern apparently describing the situation more dramatically than it actually was.

The Council of Solothurn, concerned about the Bernese soldiers in the Klus, asked in Bern what the purpose of this force was. At the same time, the council renewed the ban on passage without passes and warned the bailiff of the Bechburg, Philipp von Roll, to support his colleague in the north of the Klus.

In the meantime, the Council of Bern also responded. On the one hand, Solothurn was informed of the situation, on the other hand, Lieutenant Stein was ordered to march further because the Klus was open. Both letters were received by the recipients on September 20. Postponed for days and with a letter from Bern in hand, the visibly angry Stein now demanded permission for the passage from Governor Brunner. He and 400 men from the area gathered under Falkenstein Castle and closed the road. At the time, Brunner was unaware that the passport slip, hastily approved by Solothurn, was already on its way by courier.

This is how people from Bern and Solothurn faced each other. The teams looked intently at each other, the musket fuses smoldering, their hands clenched around the weapon handles. What is going to happen now? Do you attack? Do you have to defend yourself? To underline his desire for the blockade, Governor Brunner had warning shots fired by the guard and the castle. Then Lieutenant Stein gave in and reluctantly allowed his troops to retreat.

But before the Bernese could reach the cantonal border, they clashed with a force of 150 Solothurns at the southern exit of the Klus. Alarmed by the warning shots, the bailiff of the Bechburg, Phillip von Roll, had put his troops on the march and now drove the Bernese ahead of him, back into the Klus. There the Bernese now stood, surrounded by the Solothurns to the north and south, between the rock walls of the Klus and the Dünn, heavily swollen by persistent rain.

Now Vogt von Roll, who was said to have drunk up his courage beforehand, stepped in front of the surrounded people and shouted: “For God’s sake, Bernese and kittens” tell them to extinguish the lighted fuses of their muskets. A Bernese gunman who did not immediately comply with this demand was thrown to the ground by a Rolls employee. With this struggle, Philipp von Roll seemed to have lost all his scruples. “Druff, push, you can’t get hurt!” Screaming, Von Roll fired his pistol at the Bernese pile. At the same moment a shot rang out from Falkenstein’s side and Solothurn’s compatriots attacked the Bernese.

All restraint was gone. The defenseless Bernese soldiers could only do one thing: flee. But where? The pass road was closed and the slopes of the Klus are steep. So some tried to escape through the thinners. However, this was so violent at this point that many were carried to a jetty, where other residents of Solothurn were already waiting for them and attacked the swimmers with half guns and muskets.

When Governor Brunner finally managed to put an end to the frenzy, nine Bernese soldiers had fallen victim to the frenzy. The Solothurns captured 28 Bernese, some of whom were wounded, and Lieutenant Stein was led away by 100 musketeers and placed under guard in the Klus. One Bernese, Hans Breiter, went missing, the rest found salvation by fleeing. An hour later the courier from Solothurn arrived in the Klus with the passage permit for the Bernese contingent.

The consequences of this disproportionate attack followed immediately. Bern let Solothurn feel his anger and demanded satisfaction. The perpetrators had to be punished and high compensation was demanded. On Solothurn’s side, many supported the bailiffs involved and their influential families. Fearing a military attack, the Solothurn countryside was put on alert.

Bern, in turn, was planning a revenge campaign and both sides called on their allies for support in the event of a military conflict. Ultimately, Solothurn requested a federal arbitration tribunal at the Diet to clarify the matter.

For Bern, the main culprit in this Klus disaster was clear: Solothurn must pay! The meeting mainly followed the Berne proposals. After much back and forth, including attempts at bribery by Solothurn, Solothurn removed the two bailiffs from their offices and imprisoned peasants.

For Bern these were insufficient steps. The Bernese mobilized their troops and placed a trade embargo on Solothurn. For better or for worse, Solothurn had to punish the two bailiffs Brunner and von Roll and summon them to court. However, these two had already left for Burgundy. In their absence, Philipp von Roll was punished with 101 years and Brunner with 6 years of exile and their property was confiscated.

But Bern wanted the ‘fratricide’ to be repaid in blood and both sides saw themselves and their allies ready for a military confrontation. To avoid a civil war, the Catholic side gave in and Solothurn had to bear the brunt. In 1633, Solothurn paid 5,000 crowns in damages to Bern and sentenced three fellow countrymen to death. On April 11 they were executed by sword in Solothurn.