Albert Schreye

Albert Schreye († October 24, 1424 in Hamburg ) was a German merchant , councilor and treasurer in Hamburg. His résumé is an example of the early form of a professional politician in the late Middle Ages.

Live and act

Albert Schreye was a son of the council notary Heinrich Schreye. He had an older brother named Marquard, who was a member of the Hamburg City Council for several years. One of his nephews, who was also called Marquard, was also active in Hamburg politics and had been a councilor since 1387. Albert Schreye became a council member and pension bookkeeper in the parish of St. Petri in 1380 , but initially did not appear. He lived with his family on a large property he had inherited on the Neue Brücke near the mill bridge there. The property bordered the Hasenmoor to the north and had no access to the Alster or Elbe .

Albert Schreye was a member of the England drivers and made a great fortune as a dealer. He was married to Margarethe Rhode, whose family was represented in the Hamburg council. The sons Tydeke and Hinrich as well as the daughter Geseke emerged from the marriage. Tydeke was already allowed to do annuity business when Geseke was born during Albert Schreyer's first year in the council. The last son died early.

After his nephew Marquard became a member of the Hamburg Council, Albert Schreye achieved a political career in Hamburg. Since he worked extensively in the council and also undertook business trips, it can be assumed that he did not undertake any trade trips at this time. While Marquard Schreye became mayor of Hamburg in 1390, Albert Schreye worked in financial administration. In addition to the office of lord of the lord , he controlled the payments of the works duty. In 1395 he was given the post of second treasurer, which he held for 29 years. During the same period he managed the wine stocks. He was a member of the dormant council for a period of two years.

Schreye traveled to numerous northern German cities for the council, including Boizenburg, Stralsund, Prussia, Ritzebüttel, Friesland, Groningen, Meppen, Lüneburg, Rostock, Lübeck and Wismar. He often had to conduct complicated diplomatic negotiations. In 1419 he negotiated with representatives of Count Franko in the Altes Land . During the travels he met Johann Kletze and his father. In 1393, Johann Kletze acquired a plot of land in Schreyes, which was near the footbridges.

In 1400 Hamburg had conflicts with the Vitalien Brothers . Albert Schreye fitted out the ships and went to sea from April 22 to July of the same year to negotiate with the leaders of the Frisians. There was a battle at the mouth of the Weser , during the course of which Schreye gave the order to kill more than 120 opponents. Before or during this dispute, Gödeke Michels and Klaus Störtebeker were able to flee. Schreye could have followed them, but wanted to be back in their home port before the Hanseatic Day on July 21. Instead, he negotiated many contracts with the chiefs of the Frisians, including a ban on billeting opposing pirates. Schreye was able to set up his own Vogt in Emden and thus lay the foundation for Hamburg's later rule over Friesland .

In 1410 there was a dispute with Johann Kletze. Kletze was a member of the College of the Sixties from 1410 and had successfully led an uprising in 1410. Schreye presumably negotiated a recess that settled the conflict, but promoted trade with England. In 1410 Kletze married Schrey's daughter Geseke. Geseke Schreye had previously been married to council member Siegfried Clingspor, who did not appear politically, but helped the Schreye family with political advancement. After Kletze's rise to the Hamburg council, Schreye and his son-in-law worked together. From 1416 to 1418 both administered the works tariff and a newly introduced pound tariff .

In 1420 Hamburg and Lübeck fought against Duke Erich V of Sachsen-Lauenburg and conquered Bergedorf ( Treaty of Perleberg ). Schrey's son Tydeke died as a soldier during the fighting. The tombstone of Schrey's son is exhibited in the Museum for Bergedorf and the Vierlande . Due to an outbreak of the plague in 1421, other family members of Schreyes died, including his wife and a daughter-in-law. During this time, Albert Schreye kept the hereditary books and the contract book of Hamburg. Shortly before his death, Schreye had memoirs made by scribes from the Marien-Magdalenenkloster. Albert Schreye himself died in Hamburg on October 24, 1424.

The Schreye family's influence on politics in Hamburg and the surrounding area came to a standstill a few years later: Johann Kletze was executed in 1428, his daughter founded the Sankt Elisabeth Hospital in 1429. It is also known that a grandson of Schreyes named Johann became provost at Harvestehude Monastery in 1455 .

literature

• Silke Urbanski : Schreye, Albert . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 350-351 .