In the year 1298 a man from Bohemia named Ulrich von Buol (spelled also von Bul, von Bulen) enters our known history. He and his son Hans fought in the battle of Göllheim am Donnersberg on July 2nd, a battle over the throne between Duke Albrecht I of Habsburg and King Adolf von Nassau-Weilburg. Albrecht's forces won and as a result Albrecht was made King of the Romans (that is, Holy Roman Emperor). In the Battle of Göllheim, Ulrich served as Captain of the Spear-bearing knights (Hauptmann der Spiessträger), and his son Hans was the Ensign, or Flag-bearer (Fähnrich), under the command of his father Ulrich. Ulrich and Hans settled in Davos some time after the battle. Davos is located in modern Graubünden, Switzerland, but at the time had only recently been settled by Walser immigrants under the permission of the Barons of Vaz, who I believe had their fiefdom under the Holy Roman Empire. Thus it seems that it was not an accidental wandering that brought Ulrich and Hans von Buol into Davos, but was rather due to their service of Albrecht, the eventual Habsburg king. Ulrich was still living in the year 1340, but Hans had died presumably around 1327, at the age of 47.
The Buol history remains fairly quiet from the mid-1300s until about 1478. Between this time various Buols seem to have served as military captains under the Kingdom of France. The family tree for this time, however, tends to be somewhat patchy, and there are a couple unknown generations. In the mid-1400s several Buol brothers serve as the founders of various lines of the family. One of the more prominent was Hans von Buol, a captain in France in 1470, whose son Paul was born in 1478. Paul, known as "Der Lux" (the Lynx), was quite an illustrious man, and propelled the Buol name into higher standing. Paul Buol lived from 1478-1567. He was renowned in the League of Ten Jurisdictions (of which Davos was the capital) and its region of influence. Paul held the office of Landammann in Davos and Bundslandammann of the League of Ten Jurisdictions numerous times. He was a judge over troops from the League that were serving the French army and was also a captain in French service. He had twenty five children and lived to see 300 of his descendants.
From Paul the Buol family tree spread out significantly. One of his great-granddaughters married the illustrious hero of the Three Leagues (modern Graubünden), Georg [Jörg] Jenatsch, and several other of his great-grandsons were close companions of Jörg. His grandson Meinrad von Buol orchestrated the purchase of freedom for the Three Leagues from Austria in 1649. Salomon von Buol (1549-1624), son of Paul "der Lux," my ancestor, was a marriage judge, treasurer, and procurator of Davos. He was also a Lieutenant Colonel in French military service, and was knighted by the famous French king Henry IV in February 1607.
Descending from Paul's uncle Bernhard von Buol (abt 1450-1510) were many large branches of Buols who lived in Davos and Klosters, but particularly in the rural communities of Davos: Frauenkirch, Glaris, and Monstein. These branches are still strong today, although scarcely any remain in the rural communities of Davos
Descending from Paul's cousin Ulrich's son Hans von Buol, who had relocated to the Swiss town of Kaiserstuhl near the Bodensee were the branches that came to be known as von Buol-Berenberg and von Buol-Wischenau. They were Freemen and Barons. The von Buol-Wischenau were located in Austria and the von Buol-Berenberg were spread from Southeastern Germany (The von Buol-Berenberg family were lords at Mühlingen, near Bodensee) and Austria, particularly Vienna. Both of these branches had many notable members. For example, Rudolf von Buol-Berenberg was President of the German Reichstag from 1895-1898. An exceedingly large number of members of both branches were engaged in military service (as captains, colonels, lieutenants, majors, generals, etc) for various Holy Roman Emperors. Other branches from Hans spread to the French portion of Switzerland (Neuchâtel), some of whom later emigrated to Green County, Wisconsin.
Paul's son Hans (abt 1500 - 1570) founded a prominent line centered out of Churwalden, not terribly far from Davos. This line would boast of both the von Buol-Strassberg and von Buol-Schauenstein lines. Men like Paul von Buol-Strassberg u. Rietberg were very influential nobility of their day in the Three Leagues. Karl Rudolf von Buol-Schauenstein was Prince-Bishop of Chur (and later St. Gallen). His nephew, Karl Ferdinand von Buol-Schauenstein, was the Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire from 1852 - 1859, during the Crimean War. Members of the von Buol-Schauenstein line largely relocated to Vienna.
Paul's other sons and their descendants were prominent particularly in Davos and Chur. Many Buols held various offices in their towns or canton (Landammann, Judge, Bundslandammann, etc), and served with distinction for French and Austrian kings (depending on which kingdom was favored by the Three Leagues at the time). Buols would also establish successful branches in Davos-Dorf and Davos-Platz, St. Antönien, Klosters, Bergün, Parpan, Churwalden, and perhaps other Swiss towns as well.
Many Buols seemed driven to explore beyond their known territory. While many people in late medieval and early modern Switzerland would perhaps not venture far beyond their valley, Buols, as has already been noted above, often moved to new towns or countries, held prominent military positions and served in wars across Europe, and so on. Many Buols also immigrated to other countries. As noted earlier, Buols moved to Germany and Austria. Through Austria, some found their way to Italy (although some went to Italy directly via Switzerland, since the Three Leagues held control over what is today northern Italy. Some Buols would also move to South America, some to Russia. Strong branches were founded in Belgium and England as well. Of course, many Buols also relocated to America, with the largest amounts seeming to be found in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, although many other states would also be home to Buols: Washington, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Montana, California, Nevada, Illinois, South Dakota, and others.
In the modern day, Buols occupy a wide variety of jobs and live in many cities, states, and countries, just as in the previous seven centuries. Many have been farmers, some are doctors, some have been or are mayors, some are chefs, or engineers, or name any job.
I hope through this website to be in contact with many other Buols, and to expand our knowledge of the Buol family, past and present.