Nuremberg Stock Exchange

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The market in Nuremberg by Lorenz Strauch (1594). The exchange was in the northwest (top left).

The Nuremberg stock exchange was one of the first German stock exchanges in the 16th century on the main market in Nuremberg . It was a link in trade between Italy and other European economic centers. Both goods and financial products were traded. After the Thirty Years War , the Nuremberg Stock Exchange increasingly lost its importance as a European financial center . Exchange rates have not been quoted in Nuremberg since the second half of the 19th century . Since then, the city has only been indirectly connected to the international financial markets via other trading centers .

founding

In the main building of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (construction status before the renovation from 2014), the trading board of the stock exchange held its deliberations from 1566.
Procession at the Herrenmarkt. This is where the stock exchange was created. In the background you can see the market bell over the bread arbor of St. Sebald. Engraving by Johann Azelt (around 1682).

Beginnings

In the Middle Ages, Nuremberg was on important trade routes and developed into a European economic metropolis from the 14th century. Nuremberg maintained a lively exchange with German cities and international trading partners such as Venice , Antwerp and Lyon .

In the 15th and 16th centuries, important trading families were active in Nuremberg. They included the Hirschvogel , Imhoff , Kreß , Stromer and Tucher . The wealth that they acquired in the trade in goods gave them the opportunity to conduct financial transactions on a large scale. The Nuremberg long-distance trader and banker Wilhelm Rummel was considered the main financier of King Ruprecht . In 1401/02 he financed the Italian campaign together with his Florentine business partners. Other prominent customers of the Rummel bank were the Nuremberg burgrave Friedrich and King Sigismund . The Augsburg Fugger , the Welser and numerous foreign companies also had trading offices in the city.

The north-western part of today's Nuremberg main market was formerly known as the Herrenmarkt . Here the big merchants went about their business. In the immediate vicinity there were already two institutions in the 15th century that made a significant contribution to the development of the stock exchange:

  • the public scales
  • the change

The public scales (also called Fronwage ) had been together with the men's drink room in a building built by Hans Behaim since 1497 . Traders had the opportunity to do business and weigh their goods directly in an environment protected from fraud. The public changers had their booth near the beautiful fountain . At first they only offered an actual change of coins. Later bills of exchange in the form of securities were also traded on the men's market. In the coin show, located next to the Sebalduskirche since 1520 , merchants could have coins checked for authenticity. This institution was also called the Schauamt or Alte Schau .

At what point in time one can speak of an exchange at the Nuremberg Herrenmarkt depends on the definition of the term. With the Fronwage, the change and the coin show, a public infrastructure was in place early on. Several sources name the year 1540 or the first half of the 16th century as the date of foundation. According to this, the Nuremberg Stock Exchange, together with the one in Augsburg , would be the first institution of its kind in Germany.

Market organization

In 1560, 61 merchants submitted a document to the high council of the city of Nuremberg. This contained the request to improve the organization and order of the trading center. As a result, the council issued trading rules in a market organization and affixed them to a board at the men's market that was visible to all. In 1562 the council appointed the two market lords Martin Pfinzing and Hans Welser to ensure this . Both came from respected Nuremberg patrician families . From 1566 they were supported by five (later four) traders who were market managers. Together they formed the trading board of the exchange.

The market regulation restricted the trading hours at the Herrenmarkt to 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The beginning and end of trading was rung in with a bell. The market bell was attached to a buttress of the Sebalduskirche. The ringing of the market was done for the first time by the bag maker and sermon chair maker Hans Öfner. He was also given the task of collecting a gold shilling from anyone who traded outside of market hours.

After the new market organization was established, the merchants rented a market vault. The trade board held its deliberations there. The market vault was located between the beautiful fountain and the Sebalduskirche and is now the seat of the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Middle Franconia . A separate stock exchange building as in other cities was planned in Nuremberg, but it was never realized. At least some of the trading on the men's market took place in the open air.

Merchandise

Nuremberg Reichsguldiner from 1573

Both goods and financial transactions were concluded on the Nuremberg Stock Exchange.

In the goods area, metal products and cloths should be mentioned. These goods were not only sold in Nuremberg, they were also produced in large quantities. Their widespread use led to the saying Nuremberg Hand goes through all the country . Later on, the slightly modified proverb Nuremberg trinket goes through all the country developed from this . Spices were also traded at the men's market. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Nuremberg was an international hub for saffron and pepper .

The objects of trade in the financial sector were coins ( sorts ) and bills of exchange. Bills of exchange played an important role in long-distance trading, as they enabled cashless payment transactions. This saved effort and reduced the risk of an attack. Since 1583 exchange rates of the most important trading partners have been regularly quoted at the request of the merchants. In addition, loans were issued on the Herrenmarkt . Another commodity was share certificates in mines, so-called kuxe . With their acquisition, Nuremberg merchants ensured the local craftsmen were supplied with metals.

Commercial customs

History painting on the facade of today's main IHK building in Nuremberg. It shows a corresponding scene from the 16th century under the title Nuremberg merchants' procession in the escort . Painting by Georg Kellner (1910).

The Nuremberg Stock Exchange was a trading center for large merchants. Influential merchant families and trading companies went about their business at the Herrenmarkt . The retail trade was strictly separated from the stock exchange and took place in other areas of today's main market.

The Nuremberg wholesale merchants initially organized themselves informally in the men's drink room in the old weighing building. Lorenz Meder recorded the customs of that time in his trading book in 1558. With the market regulation established in 1560, the merchants gave themselves official rules. The trading board of the exchange was responsible for their implementation. He punished violations with fines or imprisonment. The Nuremberg civil legislation published in 1564, Der Stat Nürmberg verneute Reformation [sic] , contained further regulations on commercial transactions in the city.

Public exchange rates were quoted on the Nuremberg Stock Exchange from 1583 onwards. Merchants could exchange foreign currencies at the official changers at the men's market at the regularly published rates. The customary practices there were recorded in various change orders. Due to the competitive situation at the time, the Augsburg merchants tried to stop the price quotations on the men's market through Emperor Rudolf II . However, it was unsuccessful.

The Nuremberg trade customs and laws were relevant in the early modern period beyond the local borders and also applied in other cities. They formed one of the foundations of today's German commercial law . The previous version of the HGB , the General German Commercial Code , was written in Nuremberg.

Trading partner

The Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, rebuilt in 1508 after a fire. Like all German merchants, Nuremberg traders had to live in the building and only conduct their business there through Venetian brokers ( sensali ). They had priority there: the first division, the Nürnberger Tafel , included not only the residents of Nuremberg but also dealers from Cologne, Basel, Strasbourg, Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Frankfurt and Lübeck.

Nuremberg was a trading and financial center of European rank in the 16th century. Exchange rates for the following trading partners were listed on the Nuremberg Stock Exchange:

The Nuremberg Stock Exchange served as a link in trade between Italy and other European economic centers. The transfer of goods from Venice to the port cities on the North and Baltic Seas played an important role . Nuremberg merchants used the Fondaco dei Tedeschi as a trading post in Venice , as did all traders from the empire who wanted to participate in trade with Venice. Conversely, Italian merchants settled in Nuremberg. This rarely happened in the Middle Ages, for example by the Venetian Amadi from the middle of the 14th to the beginning of the 15th century. In 1574, 18 “Welsche” families were already active in the city. In addition to the favorable location, the privileges that Nuremberg citizens enjoyed in other commercial metropolises such as Frankfurt am Main and Antwerp were attractive to them.

The first treatise on bookkeeping in German was published in Nuremberg in 1537 . This has been translated from Italian. In 1585 it was Nuremberg merchants who, together with their Italian trading partners, initiated the establishment of a stock exchange in Frankfurt am Main. In the middle of the 17th century the Nuremberg merchants had become so international that the turnover of foreign traders far exceeded that of local companies.

Banco Publico

Gustav Adolf's entry into the Herrenmarkt in 1632. The building in the middle is the Alte Schau. Painting by Paul Ritter (1884).

In 1618 the Thirty Years War began in Germany. The enormous need for weapons of war led to a deterioration in the quality of coins in the financial metropolises and thus to inflation. The coin scoring at that time is known as the tipper and wipper period . The trade posed great problems for them. At the suggestion of market manager Bartholomäus Viatis , the City Council of Nuremberg therefore decided to found the Nuremberg Banco Publico in 1621 . This was a municipal giro bank that enabled cashless payment transactions with trading partners. Nuremberg merchants were obliged to deposit funds at the bank and to conduct all business there whose value exceeded 200  guilders . There were similar institutions in Amsterdam, Hamburg and Venice.

The law establishing the Banco Publico was passed by Andrew III. Imhoff wrote. As a public institution, the bank was located in the Nuremberg town hall . The supervision of the institute was subject to the Bancoamt. This body consisted of two council members, two lawyers and the market managers of the stock exchange. The board of directors could not prevent the city council from repeatedly accessing the bank's deposits. This worsened when the Swedish king and military leader Gustav Adolf set up camp near Nuremberg in 1632. The city had to pay for the costly provisions for his army. The king also demanded a war loan from Nuremberg. In the following years there were several fighting in the urban area. When this ended in 1635, Nuremberg was heavily in debt and Banco Publico was bankrupt.

In 1635 the council undertook to repay the withdrawn funds in monthly installments to the Banco Publico. In order to prevent future attacks on the bank's deposits, the Bancoamt was supported by 12 market adjuncts elected by the council . They came from the merchant class and were supposed to protect their interests. In addition to pure banking supervision , the Bancoamt also performed the tasks of an arbitration tribunal . This resulted in the Mercantile and Bancogericht in 1697 as an independent judicial instance. This commercial court was responsible for jurisprudence in Nuremberg and prepared expert reports for foreign legal matters.

By founding the Banco in the 17th century, Nuremberg managed to keep up with other important financial centers. However, the city's economic importance declined during this period.

Change orders

Nuremberg course sheet from 1842

In addition to regulations for the compulsory payment in good currency, the Bancoordnung of 1621 also included paragraphs on bills of exchange. When it was renewed in 1654, the bill of exchange regulations were transferred to a separate bill of exchange regulations. Regulations of the Northern Italian trading venues were included. In particular, the regulation of the Regent Claudia von Medici for Bolzano from 1635 served as a model. The Nuremberg Exchange Order was the first in the Holy Roman Empire to be shaped by Italian predecessors. The exchange regulations of Frankfurt am Main from 1581, the oldest in Germany, were based on the model of Dutch regulations. The Nuremberg Exchange Order of 1654 contained a ban on multiple endorsements . This represented a compromise. While the northern European merchants used endorsements, they were forbidden in northern Italy. In 1700, a revised version of the bill of exchange regulations was issued, which also allowed multiple endorsements in Nuremberg.

The Nuremberg bill of exchange regulation of February 16, 1722 was a completely new version. It was significantly more extensive than its predecessor and regulated the bill of exchange business in detail. A paragraph created tension with the neighboring city of Fürth , which stipulated that bills of exchange that read "alternative in Nuremberg or a neighboring place, payable [sic]" always had to be paid in Nuremberg. This regulation mainly affected Jewish merchants from Fürth and the surrounding area. As a result, they were forced to do their bills of exchange in Nuremberg instead of in their home town.

Decline

In the 18th and first half of the 19th century, Nuremberg increasingly lost its position as an international trade and financial center to Frankfurt am Main and Munich . There are multiple reasons for that. For one, trade routes in Europe had changed permanently with the discovery of America. In addition, the city suffered from the ravages of the Thirty Years' War for a long time and was heavily indebted due to a failed economic policy.

In 1806, Nuremberg lost its status as an imperial city due to the Rhine Confederation Act and was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bavaria . The market bell attached to the Sebalduskirche in 1560 was removed in 1813. The market manager Gottfried Kießling bought it for material price. The Bavarian government dissolved the Banco Publico in 1827. In 1843 the Middle Franconia Chamber of Commerce was founded in Nuremberg and from 1854 took over the duties of the Board of Commerce . In the form of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it is still based at the former men's market. It is known from 1858 that Nuremberg no longer quoted its own exchange rates, but took over the exchange rates from Frankfurt am Main. As a result of these changes, the city was only indirectly connected to the international financial markets.

literature

  • Richard Ehrenberg: The old Nuremberg stock exchange. In: Communications from the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 8. Nuremberg 1889 (online) .
  • IHK Nürnberg (Hrsg.): Under the sign of the scales - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. IHK Nuremberg 1985.
  • Markus A. Denzel : The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-515-10135-6 .
  • Michael Diefenbacher , Rudolf Endres (Hrsg.): Stadtlexikon Nürnberg . 2nd, improved edition. W. Tümmels Verlag, Nuremberg 2000, ISBN 3-921590-69-8 ( online ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang von Stromer deals with the role of Nuremberg as a financial center : Oberdeutsche Hochfinanz. 1350-1450. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1970. The habilitation thesis deals primarily with the "high finance" with Kern in Nuremberg.
  2. ^ Nils Hack: The spice trade in Nuremberg on the 14th-16th centuries. Century. Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg 1995, pp. 31-33.
  3. ↑ Eckart Schremmer (Ed.): Economic and social integration in a historical perspective. Marburg 1995, pp. 66-67.
  4. ^ Hans Pohl (Ed.): German stock exchange history. Frankfurt am Main 1992, pp. 53-57.
  5. ^ Kurt Müller: Nuremberg's financial strength was in great demand. Money and Credit in the Changes of Time . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, pp. 94-96.
  6. ^ Christa Schaper: The Rummel Ratsfamilie - merchants, financiers and entrepreneurs . In: Communications from the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 68. Nuremberg 1981, pp. 26–38.
  7. ^ Richard Ehrenberg: The old Nuremberg stock exchange . In: Communications of the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 8. Nuremberg 1889, pp. 70–74.
  8. ^ Herbert Rosendorfer: German history - an attempt. Volume 4: The Thirty Years War. Munich 2007, p. 41.
  9. ^ Otto Hintner: Stock exchanges. Wiesbaden 1961, p. 14.
  10. ↑ The beginnings of German stock exchanges. aktiendepot.com, February 23, 2015. Accessed April 9, 2016.
  11. ^ Richard Ehrenberg: The old Nuremberg stock exchange . In: Communications of the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 8. Nuremberg 1889, pp. 70–85.
  12. ↑ Michael Diefenbacher: The Nuremberg commercial director and its founders . In: Communications from the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 102. Nuremberg 2015, pp. 34–35.
  13. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, pp. 35-36.
  14. ↑ A small bell ended the chaos. nordbayern.de , September 16, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  15. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 35.
  16. ^ Richard Ehrenberg: The old Nuremberg stock exchange . In: Communications of the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 8. Nuremberg 1889. P. 82–86.
  17. ↑ From the commercial board to the IHK ( Memento from January 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). IHK Nuremberg for Middle Franconia. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  18. ↑ This appears, for example, in Johann Christoph Wagner: Delineatio Provinciarum Pannoniae et Imperii Turcici in Oriente. Koppmayer, Augsburg 1687, p. 105.
  19. ^ Michael Diefenbacher and Horst-Dieter Beyerstedt: Nuremberg. In: Wolfgang Adam and Siegrid Westphal (eds.): Handbook of cultural centers in the early modern period - cities and residences in the old German-speaking area. Boston / Berlin 2012, p. 1586.
  20. ^ Martin Schieber: History of Nuremberg. Munich 2007, p. 52.
  21. ^ Nils Hack: The spice trade in Nuremberg on the 14th-16th centuries. Century. Otto Friedrich University Bamberg 1995, p. 4.
  22. ↑ Eckart Schremmer (Ed.): Economic and social integration in a historical perspective. Marburg 1995, pp. 66-67.
  23. ^ Otto Hintner: Stock exchanges. Wiesbaden 1961, p. 14.
  24. ↑ Christine Bortenlänger, Ulrich Kirstein: Exchange for dummies. Weinheim 2013, p. 32.
  25. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 35.
  26. ↑ Lorenz Meder: trade book. Nuremberg 1558.
  27. ^ Reichsstadt Nürnberg: The Stat Nürmberg verneute Reformation. Nuremberg 1564.
  28. ↑ III. The imperial city (1254/72 to 1806). 8. Development of commercial law. City of Nuremberg. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  29. ^ Central Institute for Franconian Regional Studies and General Regional Research at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: Yearbook for Franconian Regional Research: Volume 41. Erlangen 1981, p. 162.
  30. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 37.
  31. ^ Central Institute for Franconian Regional Studies and General Regional Research at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: Yearbook for Franconian Regional Research: Volume 41. Erlangen 1981, p. 162.
  32. ^ Mathias Schmoeckel: Legal history of the economy: since the 19th century. Tübingen 2008, p. 104.
  33. ↑ Eckart Schremmer (Ed.): Economic and social integration in a historical perspective. Marburg 1995. pp. 66-67.
  34. ^ Wolfgang von Stromer: Upper German high finance. 1350-1450. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1970, p. 51.
  35. ^ Hans Pohl (Ed.): German stock exchange history. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 55.
  36. ↑ Hajo Lindstadt: With Nuremberg trinkets through all the country . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 72.
  37. ↑ Jane Gleeson-White: Debit and Credit: Double-entry bookkeeping and the emergence of modern capitalism. London 2012, p. 140.
  38. ↑ Alexander Dietz: Frankfurt trade history. Frankfurt 1910, p. 214.
  39. ^ Nuremberg, imperial city: trade. Historical lexicon of Bavaria. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  40. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 37.
  41. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, pp. 81-100.
  42. ↑ Christoph von Imhoff: Ministerials became merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 33.
  43. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 37.
  44. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, pp. 89-90.
  45. ^ Stephan Donaubauer: Gustav Adolf and Wallenstein before Nuremberg in the summer of 1632 . In: Communications of the Association for the History of the City of Nuremberg, Vol. 13. Nuremberg 1899, pp. 53–78.
  46. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, p. 128.
  47. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, pp. 128–129.
  48. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, pp. 37-38.
  49. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, p. 90.
  50. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, pp. 101-107.
  51. ^ Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg Banco Publico, its merchants and their payment transactions (1621-1827). Stuttgart 2012, pp. 107-112.
  52. ↑ Hajo Lindstadt: With Nuremberg trinkets through all the country . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, pp. 72-76.
  53. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, pp. 39-44.
  54. ↑ A small bell ended the chaos. nordbayern.de , September 16, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  55. ↑ Rudolf Endres: The independently acting merchants . In: Under the sign of the Libra - economy and society in transition - 425 years of Nuremberg commercial director. Nuremberg 1985, p. 37.
  56. ↑ From the commercial board to the IHK ( Memento from January 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). IHK Nuremberg for Middle Franconia. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  57. ↑ a b Markus A. Denzel: The Nuremberg exchange market in the late 18th century . In: Rainer Gömmel, Markus A. Denzel (Hrsg.): World economy and economic order: Festschrift for Jürgen Schneider on his 65th birthday . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-515-08043-9 , pp. 191–192 ( google.com [accessed July 27, 2016]).

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 '17 "  N , 11 ° 4' 36.9"  E

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on June 14, 2016 in this version .