Zumbrun Genealogy

Life Sketch
Johannes Zumbrunnen was the oldest son of Landammann Johannes Zumbrunnen and Margarita Hofer. He was likely born in the mid-1400s.

Perhaps due to his father’s political prominence, he became involved in civic life at a very young age. He was a representative to the Swiss diet from 1475 to 1481. In 1477 he was appointed the bailiff of Baden, where he would have lived in the Bailiff’s Castle of Baden. I think he was likely in his teens or early 20s when assuming these jobs.

He was married twice. First to Dorothea von Beroldingen, with whom he had two children: Mansuetus Zumbrunnen and Andreas Zumbrunnen. He was married a second time to Verena Reichmuth. I don’t know what happened to Dorothea. With Verena he had a daughter, Anna Zumbrunnen.

He must have taken a break from civic life, perhaps to run the family’s farms and business. He was a landowner in Altdorf and Isenthal, suggesting he may have been involved in shuffling the family’s lands around. In 1515 he became the Landamman of Uri, becoming the third generation in a row to hold the title after his father and grandfather Walter Zumbrunnen. By this time he must have now been in his late 50s or early 60s.

His time as Landammann was brief. During his first year in office he lead the men of Uri at the famous Battle of Marignano on September 13, 1515. According to the historian Paolo Giovio, as paraphrased by Jean Francois Girard, “[Johannes] fought fiercely and bravely and lost his life gloriously and was worthy of a better fate, if there be one more envious than that of shedding his blood for his country.”

Vital Information

Name: Johann Zumbrunnen
Sex: Male
Birth: Mid-1400s
Residence: Altdorf and Isenthal
Offices: Swiss diet representative, 1475-81; Landvogt of Baden, 1477; Landammann of Uri, 1515
Death: September 13, 1515

Family Members

Father: Johannes Zumbrunnen I
Mother: Margarita Hofer
Siblings: None known

Spouse: Dorothea von Beroldingen; Verena Reichmuth
Children
with Dorothea: Mansuetus Zumbrunnen, Andreas Zumbrunnen
with Verena: Anna Zumbrunnen

Cousin: Ulrich Zumbrunnen

Sources

Johann Zumbrunnen entry (translated to English) in the print version of the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. The old print version says he was the son of Heinrich Zumbrunnen but all other sources I’ve found say he was the son of Johann I.

Johann Zumbrunnen entry (in German) in the online version of the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Johann Zumbrunnen entry in the Nobiliaire Militaire Suisse

Johann Zumbrunnen entry at FamilySearch.org (free registration required).

Johann Zumbrunnen entry at Stammler Genealogie.

Johann Zumbrunnen entry at Zumbrunnen-Family.ch genealogy website. There is a street in Altdorf called Zumbrunnenweg (Zumbrunnen Way in English), which the site says is named after this Johannes Zumbrunnen. If so, it might suggest a possible location for his residence.

Johann Zumbrunnen is in the Necrology of the Brotherhood of Old Grysen.

Johann Zumbrunnen is included in Bucelin’s genealogy of the Zumbrunnen family from the 1600s. (He is in the seventh line from the bottom; his name is written in Latin as “Joannes zum Brunnen olim ab Ettighausen” and on the second line of his entry it says something about Marignano.)