Frundsbergfest, the German event honoring a soldier who fought for the Spanish Empire

Today there are many historical reenactment events in Europe, and one of the most impressive is held every summer in Mindelheim.

Ommegang: the great annual parade that shows flags of the Spanish Empire in Brussels
When the infantry of Spain and Poland fought under the same Cross of Burgundy

That city in the southwest of the Free State of Bavaria, in southern Germany, hosts the Frundsbergfest every year at the beginning of July, an event organized in honor of Georg von Frundsberg, a knight who was Lord of Mindelheim, the town where he was born on September 24, 1473, and where he died on August 20, 1528, after a life dedicated to warfare. Frundsberg is known for being the founder and leader of the Landsknechts, a German mercenary force in whose creation he played a prominent role. He fought for almost his entire life in the service of the Holy Roman Empire, serving the Habsburgs in various wars in several European countries.

After Charles V ascended the imperial throne, Frundsbergfest became an ally of the Spanish Empire. At the head of a force of 6,000 Landsknechts, a number theoretically insufficient to face a much larger French army, he went to the Battle of Pavia in 1525, playing a very prominent role in that Spanish imperial victory, which culminated in the capture of King Francis I of France.

In 1526, Frundsberg came to the aid of the Imperial Army in Lombardy with 18,000 Landsknechts. He crossed the Alps in a grueling march in November of that year, ready to face a war that pitted the Spanish Monarchy and its allies in the Duchy of Ferrara against a powerful coalition formed by the Papal States, France, the republics of Venice, Florence and Genoa, and the Duchy of Milan.

The war began with one of the events that most disturbed Frundsberg, who hated the Pope and sympathized with Martin Luther (as did many of his German Landsknechts) but remained a lifelong Catholic. His troops, starving and suffering the aftereffects of the arduous crossing of the Alps, mutinied before reaching Rome due to a delay in their pay, and Frundsberg fell ill. Without their commander at the helm, the Landsknechts stormed the Eternal City and subjected it to a devastating sack for weeks in the spring of 1627. This event became a personal tragedy for Emperor Charles V, who had always distinguished himself as a great defender of the Catholic Church.

The Sack of Rome was so painful for Frundsberg that he was unable to recover from his illness, retiring to Mindelheim, where he died the following year. Throughout his life, he had been a valiant soldier, a man who, despite being a mercenary, risked his fortune and even his wife's jewels to recruit soldiers for the Spanish Empire, always acting as a loyal soldier of the House of Habsburg.

During Frundsbergfest, Mindelheim steps back to the 16th century for a few days, with thousands of reenactors dressed in Renaissance clothing and armor. Here's a video of this year's event, published by Der Landsknecht:

And here's another video of the Frundsbergfest 2026 parade, published a few days ago by tief-im-allgaeu.de:

You can see some screenshots from this latest video here. In it, you can see flags with the Cross of Burgundy, which was first used as an emblem of the Hispanic Monarchy at the Battle of Pavia in 1525.

One of the most prominent weapons in this very long parade is the pike, a very long spear (between 3 and 5 meters) that played a key role in the defeat of heavy cavalry as a decisive weapon in the final stage of the Middle Ages. The pike was one of the most important weapons of the Renaissance.

In the parade we can observe one of the characteristics of the Landsknechts: their colorful clothing. It was their particular way of standing out in combat and, also, of showing off to others.

---

Main image: tief-im-allgaeu.de.