Klaus Hottinger (died 9 March 1524) was a Swiss shoemaker born in

Zollikon Zollikon is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Meilen District in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland known for being one of Switzerland's most exclusive districts. Besides the main settlement of Zollikon, which lies on the shore of L ...

. A disciple of

Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swi ...

, he took part in the famous "

Affair of the Sausages The Affair of the Sausages (1522) was the event that sparked the Reformation in Zürich. Huldrych Zwingli, pastor of Grossmünster in Zurich, Switzerland, spearheaded the event by publicly speaking in favor of eating sausage during the Lenten fast ...

" of 1522 which marked the public beginning of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

in Switzerland. In 1523, he overthrew a wooden

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

at Stadelhofen on the outskirts of Zurich. He was as a consequence banished from the canton in November 1523. He was executed in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

on 9 March 1524, despite Zurich's effort to intervene on his behalf, and thus became the first martyr of the Swiss Protestant movement.Hans Ulrich Bächtold in the ''Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz'' Retrieved 2011-03-14.
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Notes

References

* * *: "A band of citizens, under the lead of a shoemaker, Klaus Hottinger, overthrew the great wooden crucifix in Stadelhofen, near the city, and committed other ..."

External links

Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online (GAMEO)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hottinger, Klaus 16th-century Protestant martyrs 1524 deaths Swiss Protestants 16th-century Swiss people

Klaus Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus * Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

Year of birth unknown