Hans Waldmann (mayor)
His mother, née Katharina Schweiger, was the daughter of a salt merchant from Lucerne, who had already acquired the citizenship in Zurich in 1409, and inherited his significant fortune.
[5] Waldmann lead the Confederates in the Burgundian Wars, defeating Charles the Bold with an army estimated at 12,000 men gaining fame and a significant reputation in Zurich and the Swiss Confederacy.
The influence of his seat in the Small Council and his reputation, which he gained in the Burgundian Wars, led to numerous pensions with which he could enrich himself.
The Duke of Milan, Sigismund the Archduke of Austria, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Louis XI of France should be mentioned here.
The financial means provided by his patrons and the thus enabled connections allowed Waldmann almost full control over all political activities in Zurich.
However, after the mediation Waldmann had the agreement with the peasants rewritten (i.e. falsified), which led to another uprising, in which large parts of the urban population rose up.
Not only had their mayor caused the death sentence of allied confederates through the betrayal of a campaign in Valais and Lucerne, but now he even wanted to leave their city to the emperor so that the county of Kyburg could be handed over to him.
It was the subject of controversy for artistic reasons, deemed by conservative critics as being overly modern for the historical city centre.
