Adrian von Bubenberg

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The statue of Adrian von Bubenberg in Bern
The statue of Adrian von Bubenberg in Bern

Adrian von Bubenberg (born 1434 in Bern; died August 1479 in Bern) was a Bernese knight, general and mayor (Schultheiss) of Bern in 1468-1469, 1473-1474 and 1477-1479. In Switzerland, he is remembered as the hero of the Battle of Murten.

Adrian von Bubenberg was born as the son of Heinrich IV. von Bubenberg, Schultheiss of Bern and lord of Spiez, whom he succeeded in 1465. He was knighted in 1466 during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulchre.

In April 1476 he was appointed commander of Murten. There, he resisted a twelve-day siege by the troops of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, until he was relieved by Swiss forces - and Charles decisively beaten - on June 22.

Numerous times before and after the Burgundy wars, he led Bernese negotiations with other cantons of the old Swiss Confederacy and foreign powers including Savoy, Burgundy, France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Von Bubenberg was buried in the choir of the Berner Münster, the Cathedral of Bern. Ever having been short of funds in spite of being the head of Berne's preeminent noble house, von Bubenberg was posthumously banned for his debts in 1481, but the government resisted Pope Sixtus IV's demand that he be exhumed and dishonourably buried because of this.

After his death, numerous literary and historical works, including Diebold Schilling the Elder's illustrated chronicles, have portrayed Adrian von Bubenberg as the ideal selfless knight and patriotic statesman.

In 1897, Bern honoured the man who was instrumental in saving Switzerland from defeat with a bronze statue on Bubenberg Square in the centre of town. On the pedestal, two of his quotes are engraved:

So lange in uns eine Ader lebt, gibt keiner nach
"As long as a drop of blood is in our veins, no one yields"
Mein Leib und Gut ist euer eigen bis in den Tod
"My life and fortune are yours unto death"

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