Dockman

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dockmann was in parts of the Baltic , between the 16th and 19th centuries, and in some independent cities (eg. As Riga since 1589), according to the city orders of the head of the Citizens' Assembly . He was both the representative and spokesman for the citizens .

Naming

It got its name from the Docke (a small squat column) on which a small statue of the Virgin Mary stood. Under this he had his place at meetings and hit them with a stick when he asked to be heard or called for order.

records

In the fourth volume of the “Monumenta Livoniae Antiquae”, Riga and Leipzig , 1844, p. CCCXXIV. Up to CCCLV a list of the elder men, elders and dock men of the great guild in Riga was printed, the former from 1520, the latter two from 1604 up to the year 1843 […] The list printed in the Monumenta is taken from a book which is at of the great guild in Riga and on the title page it reads:

“In the name of the saints, the Trinity is also undivided. In the year 1656 with the government of the elderly man Eberhard Witte this book was modified and its written and marked the gentlemen of the elderly of these great guilds as they ruled one after the other from the year 1520; likewise Messrs. Eltesten, as well as dock people from the year 1604, as they belonged from year to year in the Elsten Bänke; when and about which year the Bencke went to council for advice; as well as at what time in God the Lord they fell asleep gently and similarly "

- Monumenta Livoniae antiquae

Duties and functions of the dockman

In the Baltic region, the names, functions and tasks for the dockman differed slightly, but they were the representatives of the citizens everywhere:

  • In Riga ( Livonia ) the dockman was the annual elected representative of a guild for the citizens' meeting. Complaints and requests from the citizens were presented by him to the elder of the guild, who then presented them to the city council with the elder (BPR).
  • In Dorpat (Livonia) each guild had two voluntary dockers elected for life (BPR § 1099). The two oldest dockers were members of the Stadtkassakollegium (tax and finance committee), all four dockers were members of the district college (BPR I §§ 676, 681).
  • In the Estonian cities of Walk , Fellin and Werro , the board of the guild was called Dockmann (BPR II § 1109) and they were elected for life. In Werro, the Dockmann was a member of the cash desk (tax administration).
  • In the rest of the Estonian and Courland cities, they were called elders.
  • In Reval (Estonia) the representatives of the guild were referred to as spokesmen (BPR II § 1120), occasionally also as dockmen (§ 1372).

The Elders Bank

The Elders Bank was a board of the merchants' guild . It was an important member of the local government , from which the commercial members of the city ​​council were elected. In addition, members of the public administration were sent from him to work in various colleges and administrations . It was founded in 1589 by means of a contract, the so-called "Severini Contract" (because it was concluded on the day of Severini (October 23)). In 1604 the task was changed.

The dockman

According to this contract, the dockman presided over the meeting of the citizens 'meeting when the citizens' meeting met without the presence of the elders. He was both the representative and spokesman for the citizens. The election procedure stipulated that three candidates had to be proposed by the citizens , from this list of proposals the bank of elders and the council elected the dockman at a joint meeting and in a personal vote . This election took place annually in the assembly before Michaelmas (September 29th). But his term of office did not begin until the next carnival meeting. The predecessor of the newly elected Dockmann succeeded the first vacant position in the Elders Bank . In 1723 there was a change to the election candidates, there it now read: “While the commercial members of the council were previously not only elected from the elders but also from the other citizens, the council decided on April 22, 1723 not to vote learned members only from the bank of elders and the dockers of the great guild and opened this resolution on September 18, 1723 to a deputation of the bank of elders who appeared in the council chamber. Since then, it has remained so and has become an explicit law ”.

New city constitution of Riga

In 1787, a new city constitution was introduced in Riga , which overcame the limitation of power to the traditional three "estates" ( magistrate , large guild and small guild ) and opened up a say for broader circles of the citizenry. Under the new constitution, the residents of Riga, approximately 30,000, were divided into civil classes as follows and the post of dockman was reassessed.

Citizen classes

1st class: The actual city dwellers who usually owned a house or other building or piece of land in the city. 2nd class: The three guilds, they are again subdivided into those who stated a capital of 10,000 rubles or more, those who stated a capital of 5,000 to 10,000 rubles and finally into those who stated a capital of 1,000 to 5 000 rubles stated. 3rd class: The guilds for which a renewed and for their benefit established rules of trade were given. 4th class: Are the foreigners or all those persons from other Russian cities, as well as from foreign countries, who stayed there because of their trade or work or other civil business. 5th class: Are the well-known citizens, to whom all wholesalers , capitalists , bankers , ship owners , the like, all privileged scholars who were elected by the citizens for a city service belonged. 6th class: The residents who live on some honest trade in the city and yet did not belong to any of the other classes.

From now on, the Dockmann was exclusively the chairman of a guild whose members belonged to the 2nd class.

literature

  • Provincial law of the Baltic Governments. Compiled on the orders of the Lord and Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich
    • Volume 1: Authorities Constitution . Saint Petersburg 1845.
    • Volume 2: Estates Law of the Baltic Sea Governments . Saint Petersburg 1845.
    • Volume 3: Liv, Est and Curland private law .

Book printing of the Second Division of His Imperial Majesty's own chancellery, Saint Petersburg 1864.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "In every guild, the citizens who do not belong to the bank of elders, according to their common affairs, have a special spokesman and representative named Dockmann". Second main piece. On the Constitution of the Municipalities in the Baltic Sea Governments , First Section “On the Constitution of the Citizenship in Riga” . Number 1083 ff [1] , page 146, accessed on February 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ Docke, actually means a small column or doll. In: Johann Gottfried Jacobsson, Technological Dictionary, or alphabetical explanation of all useful mechanical arts, manufactories, factories and craftsmen ... , Verlag F. Nicolai, 1781, original from the University of Lausanne , digitized October 6, 2008, page 431 [2] , accessed on February 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Regesta Imperii - Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz [3]
  4. ↑ Monumenta Livoniae Antiquae, Second Appendix. Directory of the elderly men, elders and dockers of the big guild in Riga [4] , accessed on February 7, 2018.
  5. ↑ : Baltic legal dictionary "Dockmann" [5] , accessed February 7, 2018
  6. ↑ BPR = Provincial Law of the Baltic Sea Governments (Baltic Provincial Law)
  7. ↑ Quartier College . In: Baltic Legal Dictionary [6]
  8. ↑ "The bank of elders of the large guild consists of an elderly man, who presides over it, and 39 elders [...] The bank of elders of the small guild consists of an elderly man, who presides over it, and 29 elders." From the constitution of the municipalities in the Baltic Sea Governments, number 1089-1094 [7] , page 147, accessed January 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ Heinrich Julius Böthführ : The rigische Rath line from 1226 to 1876: In addition to an appendix: List of Aeltermänner, elders and Dockmänner the large guild in Riga from 1844 to 1876 , published by J. Deubner, Riga, Moscow and Odessa 1877, p 198 ff.