Graubünden leaders' strike of 1790
The Bündner Prädikantenstreik of 1790 was a refusal to work by the pastors ( predicant at the time in Graubünden generic term for all clergy in the field service ) of the reformed Bündnerkirche . The strike was decided at the Evangelical-Rhaetian Synod in Ardez in the Lower Engadine in June 1790. It came to an end when the Evangelical Session of the Graubünden Bundestag responded positively to the strikers' demands in autumn that year .
prehistory
Since the Reformation, the Reformed clergy in Graubünden lived alongside a mostly very modest salary from benefices . In addition, there was a sometimes stark difference in remuneration depending on the region. The traditional Graubünden municipal autonomy did not allow any standardization prescribed from above. Numerous pastors were forced to do sideline jobs and B. To operate agriculture. Even "secular" Sunday work by some pastors to secure their livelihood was not uncommon.
Beginning
The initiative to improve wages came from the Igis pastor Lorenz Florian Aliesch , who had co-founded the "Society of Agricultural Friends in Bündten" and wanted to improve the general living conditions in the Free State of the Three Leagues . He particularly denounced the conditions in the Lower Engadine , where parish wages of only 200 guilders a year were not uncommon. For comparison: the smallest pastoral office in the reformed German-speaking part of Switzerland was paid 675 guilders at the time.
Content of the strike decision
At the Ardez Synod in 1790, the pastors decided by a large majority and under penalty of excluding dissenters, to denounce the parishes by St. Andrea's Day (November 30th), unless the wages - divided into four categories depending on the size of the parish - to 250 to 500 guilders would be raised.
End and result
The Evangelical Session of the Graubünden Federal Council dealt with the business in the autumn of that year and expressed itself benevolently towards the basic concerns of the pastors. This led to more than a third of the parishes granting their pastors salary increases or more natural goods without any legal coercion. Only a few pastors had stopped working. The initial indignation of the laypeople over the threat of work stoppage gave way in most cases to an understanding of the precarious situation.
The Legatenkasse the Protestant session was henceforth frequently used to support impoverished clergyman or to subsidize church events. From 1796 the pastors no longer had to pay the travel expenses to the annual synods themselves. A total of 300 guilders was made available to the pastors for this purpose.
Pastor Aliesch was less fortunate in Igis. The community did not want to hear about a wage increase and forced his departure. He accepted a call to Churwalden , where he died in 1794 at the age of less than 50.
literature
- Peter Niederstein: Graubünden Church History Part 4: The Last Three Centuries. Preservation and transformation , Chur 1987, there pp. 61–65
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bündner Kirchengeschichte (see literature), p. 65