Baltringer Haufen The Baltringer Haufen ( also spelled " Baltringer Haufe " , German for Baltringen Band , Baltringen Troop or Baltringen Mob ) was prominent among several armed groups of peasants and craftsmen during the German Peasants ' War of 1524 - 1525 . The name derived from the small Upper Swabia n village of Baltringen , which lies approximately south of Ulm in the district of Biberach , Germany . In the early modern period the term " Haufe ( n ) " ( literally : heap ) denoted a lightly organised military formation particularly with regard to Landsknecht regiments . Formation of the " Baltringer Haufen " . According to the account of a nun from nearby Heggbach Abbey , local peasants assembled and conferred in an inn at Baltringen for the first time on Christmas Eve 1524 . From then on regular meetings took place , the number of attendants reaching 80 at the beginning of February 1525 . Whereas in other regions the peasants met and discussed at markets , in Baltringen this occurred during the " Fastnacht " ( Carnival ) season , which aided conspirative gatherings in that peasants were wont to travel from village to village for eating and drinking , giving them the opportunity to discuss matters at hand . Drawing participants from the whole region , these meetings eventually became more regular , taking place every Tuesday with the number of attendants gradually swelling to 400 , at which point meetings were beginning to be held in open space , the " Baltringer Ried " , a boggy area ( now drained ) just outside the village of Baltringen . On 3 or 4 February 1525 the peasants chose as their representative Ulrich Schmid ( Huldrich Schmid ) , a blacksmith from the nearby village of Sulmingen , who hesitantly accepted the task . The peasants ' demands . Soon the authorities learnt of these meetings and representatives of the Swabian League , an association of Imperial cities , principalities , both ecclesiastic and secular , and knights , contacted the " Baltringer Haufen " . While the Imperial cities advocated negotiations and mediation , the princes pleaded for a strategy of violence . The Imperial League chose as their representatives Johann von Königsegg , Wilhelm von Köringen and the mayor of Ulm , Ulrich Neidhardt , who met the peasants in the " Baltringer Ried " on 9 February 1525 asking them to write down their complaints . One week , later , on 16 February 1525 , in the presence of between 10000 to 150000 peasants , a list of complaints was delivered in written form to the representatives of the Swabian League : more than 300 written complaints , one for each village . The main complaint made by the Baltringen peasants was the fact that they were serfs . They also requested the reduction of rents and annual duties in kind , as well as the abolition of death duty . Furthermore , they asked not to be burdened with socage any longer and to be allowed to utilise timber from the forests . They also opposed the little tithe but were prepared to pay great tithe in order to provide for the upkeep of their respective local priest . Following the reply by of the Swabian League , delivered on 27 February 1525 , Ulrich Schmid justified the peasants ' demands by referring to the " Divine Law " , the concept of which , as opposed to the Traditional ( Old ) Law , meaning the traditional legal norms , offered a completely new perspective in the legal relationship between lord and peasant . The political order had to be compared with the divine will as manifested in the Bible . By doing so , the peasant challenged the whole concept of traditional law . Ulrich Schmid , the representative of the " Baltringer Haufen " , rejected the traditional legal process through the Imperial Chamber Court to solve the complaints of the peasants . Theologians had to decide as to whether the peasants ' demands were justified . Ulrich Schmid proposed that a group of men , learnèd and steeped in Christian lore , should decide what constitutes this " Divine Law " . The representatives of the Swabian League concurred and announced that they would also pray to God in order to ensure that these learnèd men would be chosen . Ulrich Schmid hoped that regarding this issue he would be helped in Memmingen where he managed to recruit Sebastian Lotzer , a journeyman furrier , to take on the role of clerk to the " Baltringer Haufen " . On 28 February 1525 , the " Baltringer Haufen " officially declared its formation to the Imperial city of Ehingen in a missive composed by Lotzer . The wording of this missive seems to imply that there may already have been contacts between Lotzer , who resided in Memmingen and had been active as clerk to the Memminger peasants , and Schmid well before the end of February 1525 . Formation of the Christian Alliance . On the initiative of Lotzer and Schmid , representatives of three peasants ' armies , the " Baltringer Haufen " , the " Allgäuer Haufen " and the " Seehaufen " ( based near Lake Constance ) , both of which had formed shortly after the " Baltringer Haufen " , met in Memmingen where they decided to merge and , on 6 March 1525 , formed the Christian Association . In a letter they informed the Swabian League of the association ' s formation and declared their intention not to use violence while asking the League to refrain also from violence . Based on the demands by the " Baltringer Haufen " and with the probable participation of the Memmingen preacher Christoph Schappeler the association worked out the most famous document of the German Peasants ' War , the Twelve Articles , in which the idea of " Divine Law " was combined with the peasants ' demands . On 7 March 1525 Sebastian Lotzer , the Baltringers ' clerk , also penned the Federal Ordinance ( " Bundesordnung " ) , the Christian Association ' s draft constitution . On 15 and 16 March 1525 , during further deliberation of the assembled peasants at Memmingen , a list of persons , who were supposed to evaluate and examine the peasants ' wishes , demands and aims , and were to ascertain what actually constitutes " Divine Law " was published . It contains 14 names amongst which were well - known reformers such as Martin Luther , Philipp Melanchthon and Huldrych Zwingli as well as Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and Frederick of Saxony . The Swabian League rejected the list . It seems that this list was the main bone of contention in the negotiations between the representatives of the Swabian League and the peasants . A second , amended list was published on 20 March 1525 and presented to the Swabian League in Ulm on 24 March 1525 . The names on this list were supposed to be less contentious , comprising persons of more local and regional importance . The following day , a new proposal , developed by the mayors of Kempten and Ravensburg , was handed over to the peasants ' representatives , containing demands for the dissolutions of the Christian Alliance , the formation of an arbitration court , distancing of the peasants from the idea of " Divine Law " and obedience to the authorities . The peasants were given until 2 April to decide on these counter - demands . Escalation . The Swabian League had been in conflict with Duke Ulrich of Württemberg for several years . As a consequence , at the beginning of 1525 the troops of the Swabian League commanded by Georg Truchsess von Waldburg ( later known as " Bauernjörg " ) were occupied in suppressing an attempt by Duke Ulrich to regain his throne . At the behest of Leonhard von Eck , the Bavarian chancellor and the most influential person within the Swabian League , negotiations with the peasants were to be stalled until the war against Duke Ulrich was successfully concluded , so that the League ' s troops deployed in this war could be utilised against the peasants . During the second half of March 1525 the Swabian League ' s military action against Duke Ulrich of Württemberg finally ended which freed forces to intervene in Upper Swabia . In a letter dated 25 March 1525 the " Baltringer Haufen " complained that soldiers belonging to the Swabian League had started to attack villages . They emphasised again that they demanded nothing but the application of the " Divine Law . " The situation escalated after news that troops of the Swabian League , consisting of 8000 footsoldiers and 3000 cavalry , had arrived at Ulm reached the peasants on 26 March 1525 . The same day the peasants looted Schemmerberg Castle which was in the possession of the Salem Abbey . The following day , as a reaction to the slaying by troops of the Swabian League of a landlord from Griesingen returning from Memmingen , 8000 enraged peasants stormed and looted , amongst others , Heggbach Abbey , Laupheim Castle , Untersulmetingen Castle and Achstetten Castle , the latter two were also burnt to the ground . The monasteries of Gutenzell , Ochsenhausen , Wiblingen and Marchtal were forced to support the " Baltringer Haufen " by provisioning the peasants with goods . At the same time intense diplomatic activities by the Upper Swabian cities were instigated in order to prevent a military confrontation between the peasants and the Swabian League by appealing to both parties to refrain from violence . In the end all these efforts were to no avail . On 31 March 1525 troops of the Swabian League based at Erbach moved towards Dellmensingen in order to loot the village . Even though the commanding office of this detachment , Count Wilhelm von Fürstenberg , had planned to cross the Danube with all his forces , he did not manage to have his artillery traverse the river and due to the boggy terrain the cavalry could not be utilised either . Parts of the " Baltringer Haufen " , however , had been deployed at Dellmensingen . During the ensuing battle 50 soldiers of the Swabian League lost their lives . Consequently , the attacking troops retreated over the river Danube . Further skirmishes took place near Achstetten , Oberstadion and Zwiefalten during which several villages , after having been looted , were set ablaze by troops of the Swabian League . Following these first unsuccessful attempts to subdue the " Baltringer Haufen " , Georg Truchsess von Waldburg then turned to face the challenge of the seemingly more threatening peasant army that had formed near Leipheim . During the ensuing battle , the " Leipheimer Haufen " was utterly defeated on 4 April 1525 ; their leaders , Hans Jakob Wehe and seven others , were executed by being beheaded the next day . On 10 April 1525 the Swabian League ' s army under the command of Georg Truchsess von Waldburg departed Leipheim in order to return to Upper Swabia . The next day the army encountered a band of peasants near Laupheim who decided to make a stand on the hill where the local church stood . During the ensuing battle , the army of the Swabian League killed 150 farmers , scattering the survivors into the surrounding forests . This enabled Georg Truchsess von Waldburg to proceed to Baltringen where he arrived on 12 April 1525 , accompanied by a force of 400 men . The remaining forces of the " Baltringer Haufen " between Biberach and Ulm capitulated unconditionally . In spite of orders by the Swabian League , the village of Baltringen was not burnt to the ground . Aftermath . Some units ( " Fähnlein " ) of the " Baltringer Haufen " , however , took part in the Battle of Leipheim on 14 April 1525 , whereas others had joined forces with the " Seehaufen " and the " Allgäuer Haufen " and were part of the forces confronted by Georg Truchsess von Waldburg in mid - April 1525 near Weingarten . The army of the Swabian League was clearly outnumbered by the peasants . Georg Truchsess von Waldburg did not dare to attack the " Haufen " and chose instead to negotiate . This led to the Treaty of Weingarten , a treaty between the Swabian League and the " Seehaufen " and the " Allgäuer Haufen " on 17 April 1525 . The Swabian League , however , refused the subsequent application of the treaty ' s terms to the " Baltringer Haufen " . After their military defeat , the peasants had to renew their oath of allegiance , followed by a wave of claims for compensation . The peasants form Baltringen were punished particularly severe : even though the village was not put to the torch as ordered by the Swabian League , they had to pay double the punitive damages other villages had to pay . Generally , villages that were thought to have been involved with or sympathetic to the " Baltringer Haufen " were ordered to pay fines . In Biberach , for example , the " Spital " , a charitable institution and at the same time a large landowner in Upper Swabia , imposed fines on 684 of its approximately 2400 subjects in 38 villages . The leaders of the " Baltringer Haufen " , Ulrich Schmid , Sebastian Lotzer and Christoph Schappeler , managed to save their lives by escaping to Switzerland . The immediate retribution of the Swabian League consisted of the execution of those leading figures of the uprising it managed to apprehend . Since most of the prominent figures of the " Baltringer Haufen " had eluded capture , the Swabian League resorted to executing a number of peasants as a deterrent . Yet , even six months later , in September 1525 , Hans Burkhard von Ellerbach , the lord of Laupheim , had 14 peasants arrested , two of which were executed by decapitation . Assessment . The " Baltringer Haufen " had a major influence on the German Peasants ' War in Upper Swabia and beyond . Even though it was not successful in persuading the other " Haufen " to follow its demand of non - violence and its invocation of the " Divine Law " , its leaders nevertheless suggested the merging of the three dominant peasant armies in the region to form the Christian Alliance . The influence and contribution of the " Baltringer Haufen " is clearly visible in the Twelve Articles and the Federal Ordinance both of which became the most important manifesto s of the German Peasants ' War . The insurrection failed because the " Baltringer Haufen " supported a policy of non - violence until the arrival of the troops of the Swabian League and was therefore unprepared for a military conflict . Even though many of the peasants had some military experience and the " Baltringer Haufen " had artillery at its disposal , they lacked cavalry . What turned out to be even more important , however , was the lack of military and political leaders who were able to survey and assess the situation as a whole and combine the multitude of local complaints into an effective challenge the Swabian League had to reckon with . Differences in opinion between the three " Haufen " with regards to the Federal Ordinance meant that the " Allgäuer Haufen " and the " Seehaufen " did not come to the aid of the " Baltringer Haufen " once the Swabian League moved its troops against it . The Swabian League was well aware of this disunity . None of the various " Haufen " seemed to have been generally prepared to operate outside their own region , or come to the assistance of other " Haufen " under attack , which facilitated the suppression of the insurrection by the troops of the Swabian League . Yet , the peasants ' uprising left its marks on Upper Swabia . Following the Treaty of Weingarten , a series of contracts between peasants and their lords was concluded with the result that the situation of the peasants slowly began to change for the better , economically as well as legally . In particular , the living conditions of the serfs began to improve ; serfdom was gradually to be phased out over the next centuries . The " Baltringer Haufen " remembered . In the basement of Baltringen ' s town hall two rooms are dedicated to the commemoration of the Baltringer Haufen . The museum , called " Place of Remembrance for the Baltringer Haufen - Peasants ' War in Upper Swabia " , evolved out of a former single - room museum , called the " Peasants ' War Parlour " , founded in 1984 , following a resolution by the local council , and designed by Franz Liesch . Its purpose was to document the history of the Baltringer Haufen . By doing so , Baltringen became the first place in West Germany to establish a museum dedicated to the Peasants ' War . On the 475th anniversary of the events in 1525 , the new premises , following a concept designed by Benigna Schönhagen , were opened on 7 April 2000 by Peter Blickle .