[Till J. Lodemann]

Hi

Today, I started reading Willhelm Tell by Schiller and after the first few pages, wondered enough about the history of Swiss to ponder Wikipedia and the net for it.

I soon came to look for the battle of Sempach (9th of July 1386) and studied the list of noble austrian losses of the german Wikipedia page ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_gefall...ei_Sempach )

I already knew the "Hohenklingen"-Effigy

from previous research, as many other people here will surely know as well. So I also looked for the famous Walter von Hohenklingen in the casualty-list.
As it happens to be, there was no single Hohenklingen killed in the battle ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_gefall..._Sempach/H ). Yet there were killed all the 4 males from House Klingen, a relative family branch of the Hohenklingens. ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_gefall..._Sempach/K )
Then I found out, that the Hohenklingen branch of house Klingen did have a different coat of arms then displayed on the effigy and also on the depiction of the Minnesänger Walther von Klingen in the Codex Manesse
The Hohenklingen coat of arms is said to be this one:

at least since 1225 AD!

So the said effigy is thought to be of Walter von Hohenklingen, and also thought to be connected to the Battle of Sempach.
But the knight Walter von Hohenklingen did not die in this battle (at least not according to the casualties list on wikipedia) and did carry a different coat of arms then the knight depicted by the effigy.
Now the casualties list has four "von Klingen" listed, Albrecht von Klingen, Burkhart von Klingen, Conrat von Klingen and Heinrich von Klingen, all of them bearing the same coat of arms as shown on the said effigy.

What should I make of this?

Every where I look, the effigy is said to depict Walter von Hohenklingen, died at Sempach. Yet Walter survived Sempach and inherited the Klingen holdings and their home-castle Altenklingen in 1394, described here: http://www.swisscastles.ch/Schaffhausen/hohenklingen_d.html

Has Walter changed his coat of arms to the one of the older Klingen-Line when he inherited the Klingen property?

Might be possible, but wouldn't he also change his name from Hohenklingen to Klingen then?

Does the effigy depict one of the Klingens slayed at Sempach and not Walter at all?

I don't see any inscriptions on the effigy, besides the coat of arms, how is the effigy dated and connected to Walter von Hohenklingen?

[Kurt Scholz]

Could he have fought on the Swiss and not on the Habsburg side?

[Till J. Lodemann]

I don't think so. His liege was the duke of Austria and his property Hohenklingen and the village Stein am Rhein were he was reeve belonged to the hapsburgian territory until 1484.
It would be highly unlikely for him to fight against his natural liege and family and afterwards succeed to the barony and castle of Altenklingen.

[Johan S. Moen]

According to this http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D19737.php as well as other sources, the Hohenklingen line splits up into two branches in 1347, so perhaps some of them chose new coats of arms in order to differentiate themselves from the others?

Johan Schubert Moen

[Gottfried P. Doerler]

I´d say, obviously the historians were erroneous.
who has ascribed this effigy to hohenklingen ?
i think 19th cent. historians were quite often inaccurate.

[Till J. Lodemann]

Though in the last part of the article in the Lexikon der Schweitz Johan cited, it states: