Hipler, Wendel

Born circa 1465; died circa 1526 in Heidelberg. One of the leaders of the Peasants’ War of 1524-26 in Germany.

A nobleman, Hipler served as secretary to Count Hohenlohe from 1490 to 1514. At the outbreak of the uprising in Franconia (late March 1525), Hipler joined the peasant movement and became one of the most important leaders of the Neckar-Odenwald Troop—the so-called Gay Troop. (He was chief of the field office.) He was a representative of moderate elements in the movement, who were oriented toward an alliance of the burghers and the opposition nobility and who sought to use the revolutionary movement of the peasants to bring about moderate imperial reform. The so-called Heilbronn Program was issued by circles closely associated with Hipler. Götz von Berlichingen was chosen commander of the Gay Troop at Hipler’s insistence. When the peasants were defeated at Königshofen on June 2, 1525, Hipler fled. He was later captured, and he died in prison.