Parents in Bremen

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The coat of arms of the Bremen merchants on the Schütting

The parents in Bremen ( olderlude ) were in Bremen in the Middle Ages the speakers or heads of the merchants in the committee of the " parents of the merchant " (" Olderlüde des Koopmanns "). They had to be free merchants and born in wedlock.

history

After Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa recognized the city of Bremen as a political body through the Gelnhauser Privilege in 1186, self-government of the citizens developed. A special organization of the merchants cannot be proven for this time, but is considered quite possible. However, the merchants were not socially uniform; in the rights and facilities granted to the Bremen citizenship in the spring by King Heinrich VII and Archbishop Gerhard II , the Bremen merchants were released from military succession , but with the exception of those who were also ministerials or men the church are. On the other hand, the military obligation that existed until then is an indication that these merchants had already acquired property that was equivalent to that of the nobles .

14 councilors and 16 representatives of the four city districts advised and codified Bremen's city law from 1303 . Parents have the same tasks as councilors in Section I.2 on the general handling of violent disputes.

In the 13th century, craftsmen were still part of the council, but since the beginning of the 14th century , exclusive requirements for the councilors ensured that only wealthy landowners and increasingly merchants were elected councilors.

In medieval urban society, however, the corporations of the professional groups, i.e. the guild of wholesale merchants and the "offices" ( guilds ), were involved in shaping politics because many regulations of urban life were agreements between the council and these corporations. The influence of the wholesale merchants as the most powerful professional group went even further. In 1358, the merchants brought Bremen back into the Hanseatic League through their parents .

In the 15th century the merchants even had a state task; In a contract of 1426, “ de ghemeyne copman der stad Bremen ” ('the community of merchants') agreed with the Bremen council to use the ' vorstendere der tunnen ' ('head of the tons') with the marking of the Weser river by tons and Assigning beacons to ensure the safety of their ships at sea. They charged shipping fees for this. The administration of the buoy system took off from around 1483 (other sources 1450) until 1849, when the Koopmann's Olderlüde was. The Bremen Chamber of Commerce was responsible for this as the successor organization until 1921 .

In 1428 there were four parents who formed the board of the merchants. Two parents were elected every two years. Retired and officiating parents formed the parents of the merchant class . In 1451, the parents of the Bremen merchants issued a statute. With this “ordinance” for the kopmann tho Bremen , the organized self-administration of the Bremen economy began. The organization, the tasks, the representation of interests in relation to the council, the conditions for admission, the election of the head (the parents) and the assembly system were regulated. However, with the ordinance, the status of the parents changed in a similar way to that of the council for a long time; instead of the previous primary election, the committee itself determined its successors. Now and then the parents referred to their own clientele as citizens and differentiated them from the members of the parishes and the "offices".

The increasing influence of parents on politics in Bremen led in 1530 to the so-called " uprising of the 104 men ", that is, to the uprising of the underprivileged small craftsmen and the broader classes. The uprising was put down in 1532, the leaders were executed and the well-heeled merchants were given back their shedding and control of Bremen's economic life. Now many parents were elected councilors of the city.

In 1689 the parents had equipped a convoy ship financed by merchants from Bremen, the frigate Goldener Löwe , and used it to protect against French war and pirate ships on the England route. Since this ship was too small, a stronger convoy ship was acquired at the beginning of 1691 at the expense of the convoy cash with the three-masted frigate Wappen von Bremen .

In the 17th century, the name changed accordingly. The Latin name Collegium Seniorum was derived from the Low German Olderlüde . The spelling variant Aeltermann , which emerged in the 19th century, is not considered correct.

The coats of arms of parents from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are next to those of the mayors and councilors in the windows of the market facade of the Bremen town hall .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Document from King Henry VII of March 9, 1233
  2. ↑ Certificate Ebf. Gerhards II from before March 22, 1233
  3. ^ E. Dünzelmann: Contributions to the Bremen constitutional history . In: Bremisches Jahrbuch . 17th volume, 1895, pp. 42 ( online at the State and University Library Bremen ).
  4. ↑ BJ 17, 1896, E. Dünzelmann, Contributions to the history of the Bremen constitution , p. 30
  5. ↑ BJ 17, 1896, E. Dünzelmann, Contributions to the history of the Bremen constitution , p. 17