Christian Wierstraet

Beginning of incunable printing

Christian (us) Wierstraet (1466-1475 mainly in Neuss ; † perhaps around 1490) was town clerk and notary for the city of Neuss.

Life

He became known for his chronicle about the siege of Neuss by Karl the Bold in 1474/75. At that time he had already been working as a “notary” in Neuss for a number of years, for example as “Christian Weierstraiß” on August 16, 1471. Wierstraet had probably enjoyed spiritual training and belonged to the Archbishopric of Cologne as a clergyman. He allegedly died in Neuss in 1496, for which the Neuss Book of the Dead is given as a source.

However, Karl Tücking writes about the year of death:

“(…) We have here without a doubt a reprint of the first edition, and since such a reprint could not be produced without the consent of the author if he was still alive at the time, one must assume that Wierstraiss died in 1496 at the latest. ²⁾ This year is also given in the Book of the Dead of the Poor Clares in Neuss as the year of the death of Christian Wierstraiss; However, if we have to regard this as our Wierstraiss, the mistake has been made that he is referred to as the father of Prioress Anna W., who appeared much later. "

Anna Wierstrais, prioress of the Poor Clares monastery in Neuss is named in document 231 of the documents and files from the archive of the Poor Clares in Neuss. Document 231 is dated November 20, 1626.

Karl Meisen emphasized that Christian Weißerstraß , father of the prioress, named in the Book of the Poor Clares for 1596 (not: 1496) , could not be the chronicler. The date of death is therefore open.

Notarial sign 1469

History culture

Today there is a Christian-Wierstraet-Schule in Neuss as a municipal secondary school for boys and girls in the Neuss district of Furth . There is the Wierstraet Weg in Neuss - along the western part of the city wall on Erftmühlgraben.

Works

• Dye hystorij des beleegs van Nuys . Arnold ter Hoernen, Cologne 1476. Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf
• Christianus Wierstraat: Histori des beleegs van Nuis . In: Constantin Nörrenberg , Adolf Ulrich (Hrsg.): The chronicles of the Westphalian and Lower Rhine cities. At the instigation of His Majesty the King of Bavaria, ed. by Karl Lamprecht, Joseph Hansen, Johannes Franck, Constantin Nörrenberg, Adolf Ulrich, Franz Jostes and Theodor Ilgen . S. Hirzel , Leipzig 1887 (The Chronicles of German Cities from the 14th to the 16th Century 20) pp. 479–638 Internet Archive .

literature

• Karl Tücking : Christian Wierstraiss, the singer of the Neuss War . In: Contributions to the history of the Neuss-Grevenbroich districts . Volume I (1899) - Volume VII (1905). Published by Kreisheimatbund Neuss e. V. Neuss 1992 (publications of the Kreisheimatbund Neuss 2), Part II, pp. 49–55 and pp. 65–72.
• Helmut Wessels: Neuss and St. Quirin on foot - 3 tours through medieval Neuss . 2004, ISBN 3-7616-1801-8 (English ISBN 3-7616-1956-1 )
• Christian Frommert: Tour through medieval Neuss . Edited by the Association of Heimatfreunde Neuss e. V. 2nd edition. Neuss 2008.
• Rochus von Liliencron :  Wierstraat, Christianus . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 42, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1897, p. 427.
• Theodor Ewald Meinerich: Linguistic investigations into Christian Wierstraat's chronicle of the city of Neuss: a contribution to the linguistic history of Middle Franconian in the XV. Century . 1885. Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf

Web links

Wikisource: Burgundian Wars  - Sources and full texts

• Christian Wierstraet in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"
• New High German text from the Wierstraet Chronicle
• Titmouse attachment

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Christian Frommert: Tour through medieval Neuss. Edited by the Association of Heimatfreunde Neuss e. V. Neuss. 2nd Edition. 2008, p. 25.
2. ^ Rudolf Brandts : The archive in the Falkenstein house in Neuss. Neuss 1964, p. 126 No. 616. 1472 October 14 he appears as Christian von Düsseldorf, Secretary of the City of Neuss in the Cologne Cathedral Chapter Protocols : Klaus Militzer: The Protocols of the Cologne Cathedral Chapter 1 (2009), p. 166 No. 673, p 623.
3. ^ Karl Tücking: Christian Wierstraiss, the singer of the Neuss War . In: Contributions to the history of the Neuss-Grevenbroich districts . Volume I (1899) - Volume VII (1905). Published by Kreisheimatbund Neuss e. V. Neuss 1992 (publications by Kreisheimatbund Neuss 2), Part II, pp. 49–55 and pp. 65–72, here p. 54.
4. ^ Karl Tücking: Documents and files from the archive of the Poor Clares at Neuss . Schwann, Neuss 1896, p. 72. Full text ( DjVu format) in Wikisource