Fugger from the deer

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The Swabian merchant family of the Fuggers , based in Augsburg since the 14th century , split into two families in the 15th century: the Fugger von der Lilie and the Fugger vom Reh , who went their separate ways after the family fortune was divided up in 1455.

→ For a shared history, see the review article Fugger .

The Fugger family company "vom Reh" went bankrupt at the end of the 15th century. The Fuggers "vom Reh" later often worked for the Fuggers "von der Lilie". Occasionally, members of the Fugger family made careers “from the deer” even after the deer company went bankrupt in Nuremberg, Prague, Wroclaw or Augsburg.

Coat of arms of the Fugger vom Reh line
in the Fugger's book of honor, 1545/49

coat of arms

Coat of arms from Graben

The coat of arms of the line of the Fugger vom Reh shows a golden jumping deer on a blue background. The deer growing on the helmet with the blue and gold covers .

The symbols of the two Fugger lines "Fugger from the lily" and "Fugger from the deer" were combined in the municipal coat of arms of Graben .

History of the Fugger

fucker advenit

Even the first Fuggers were probably no longer weavers , but were among the weaver publishers : merchants who bought and prefinanced the raw material - especially cotton from Italy - for the financially weak craftsmen at the loom. The first Fugger was drawn to Augsburg because there was a market there and a trade route for the cotton purchased in Venice via the Roman road Via Claudia Augusta. In 1367, Hans Fugger immigrated to Augsburg - according to the Fugger's book of honor he came from the village of Graben . The Augsburg tax book states : " fucker advenit " ( Latin for "Fugger has arrived"). Hans Fugger became the guild master of the Augsburg weavers as early as 1386. According to recent research, he probably bought cotton himself in Venice at that time or only a few years later.

Separation of family branches

Hans Fugger had two sons:

  • Jacob the Elder, the progenitor of the Fugger von der Lily
  • Andreas, the progenitor of the Fugger vom Reh

The “Fugger's Book of Honor”, ​​designed between 1545 and 1549, gave rise to the legend that Andreas Fugger's company had a rapid and splendid rise, while Jakob the Elder slowly and carefully expanded his company. Recent research has refuted this representation. The Fugger company "von der Lilie" was already more successful than that of the relatives "vom Reh". However, the Fugger company "vom Reh" was already trading between the German Hanseatic cities, Antwerp and London, Milan and Venice, Leipzig and Frankfurt ad Oder by the middle of the 15th century. In 1462, Lukas Fugger and his brothers were awarded their coat of arms with the coat of arms of a jumping deer. In the end, one wrong decision made the Fugger company “vom Reh” insolvent, an insufficiently secured loan to Archduke Maximilian I. The Habsburg had the city of Leuwen guarantee his debts, but the Fugger “vom Reh” did not meet their claims were to be collected. In the last years of the 15th century, the Fuggers "vom Reh" got into financial difficulties and their company went bankrupt.

Important family members of the "Fugger vom Reh"

The main representatives of the family were:

  • Hans Fugger (common progenitor of both lines, in Augsburg 1367–1408)
    • Andreas Fugger (1394–1457), progenitor of the "Fugger vom Reh"
      • Jakob Fugger (* 1430)
      • Lukas Fugger (* 1439)
      • Matthäus Fugger (* 1442)
        • Sebastian Fugger (* 1470/72)
          • Andreas Wilhelm Hieronimus Fugger (1507–1573)
            • Georg Wilhelm Sebastian Raymund Fugger (1547 – around 1600)
        • Ulrich Fugger (1524–1586)
      • Hans Fugger (* 1443)

Andreas Fugger

Andreas Fugger is considered to be the progenitor of this Fugger line. Together with his wife Barbara Stammler vom Ast, he raised five daughters and four sons - Jakob (* 1430), Lukas (* 1439), Matthäus (* 1442) and Hans (* 1443) - who were supposed to ensure the continuation of the line. The name "vom Reh" comes from the symbol on the family's first coat of arms, which they received from Emperor Friedrich in 1462. If Andreas was still a very successful businessman with a high reputation in Augsburg and far beyond, the decline of the Fugger vom Reh line began in the next generation.

Lukas Fugger

Lukas I, a son of Andreas and head of the family business, who initially operated very successfully and had turned the Fugger vom Reh into a real trading power, took over business with the Habsburgs and ultimately failed because Maximilian refused to repay a loan. The given security in the form of the city of Leuven turned out to be worthless, as he could not force them to accept liability. Maximilian exaggerated this by making Luke and his successors “ Titular Kings of Atlantis ”.

Ulrich Fugger

Only a few members of the Fugger vom Reh family were still valid after the family went bankrupt. Ulrich Fugger (1524–1586), a grandson of Matthäus Fugger, became mayor of Augsburg in the middle of the 16th century.

Hans Fugger

The youngest of Andreas's four sons, Hans Fugger vom Reh, fared better than Lukas Fugger. As early as 1496 he was taken over by the Fugger von der Lilie, the ultimately more successful line of the Fugger family, and gained a reputation, among other things, he became a street captain in Nuremberg in 1494 . He died in 1503 in the Fuggerau , a lead smelter in Arnoldstein .

Gastel Fugger

Hans's eldest son, Gastel (1475–1539), was also in the service of the Fugger von der Lilie as a merchant, he did well and was a proud man. In 1529 Gastel Fugger and his family were raised to hereditary nobility, the coat of arms of the Fugger von Reh was given a golden crown and a helmet, the heraldic symbols of the nobility. In 1537 it is proven as a factor in the Fuggerau. Gastel Fugger vom Reh died in 1539.

Wolfgang Fugger

Wolfgang Fugger particularly stood out from his children. He lived from 1519/20 to 1568, was married to Margaretha Tetzel and had eleven children.

Wolfgang Fugger was an excellent typist , among other things he self-published one of the earliest printed copywriting models in Nuremberg, which made him known and earned him a reputation. In 1547 he received confirmation of nobility.

Johann Christoph Fugger

However, 65 years later this line died out with the death of Johann Christoph Fugger. This son of Wolfgang Fugger achieved a high reputation among other things as a clerk and “registrant” at the imperial court in Prague . In 1594 he also received a confirmation of nobility (knightly nobility), combined with further privileges.

After 1612, the Fugger von Reh were only represented by the descendants of Matthew, all other lines of the family had meanwhile expired. Sebastian Fugger was in the service of Fugger von der Lilie as a merchant and treasurer in Breslau and Neisse, his son Andreas and his grandson Georg Raymund came to a certain degree of prosperity as mine owners in Silesia before Georg Raymund went bankrupt at the end of the 16th century Family sank into (historical) insignificance.

Sebastian Fugger

Sebastian Fugger was the first born son of Matthäus Fugger. He was born in Augsburg in 1470/72 and settled in Breslau as a merchant around 1500. He was in the service of the Fugger von der Lilie and later (1509) also worked as a chamberlain in Neisse. He married a woman from Wroclaw and had several children with her. Sebastian died in Breslau.

Andreas Wilhelm Hieronimus Fugger

This son of Sebastian made an amazing career. He was a mining merchant and mine owner in Breslau, Oppeln and Reichenstein. In 1542 he married Helene Berisch from Reichenstein, with whom he had five children. Probably because of his business success and commercial prowess, Andreas Fugger was raised to the imperial nobility in 1547 and his coat of arms was improved. Andreas lived from 1507 to 1573.

Georg Wilhelm Sebastian Raymund Fugger

Georg Raymund (his nickname) Fugger was a son of Andreas Wilhelm Hieronimus. He was born in 1547. In 1581 he married Ursula Maria Benedictina von Stercz from Silesian nobility. At first he was a mine owner like his father, but later failed with his mining activities and went bankrupt, probably in 1599. With this second bankruptcy (after Lukas Fugger in 1499) within a century, the Fugger vom Reh finally fell into social insignificance. Even before his economic decline, he and two cousins ​​received confirmation of his knightly nobility in 1594, as well as the so-called " freedom from red wax ", a special imperial privilege that allowed the use of red wax for sealing . He received another confirmation of nobility in 1623, but this may also refer to his son of the same name. Georg Raymund had five children; his descendants lived in Silesia until the end of the Second World War .

See also

literature

  • Marianne Fugger, Markus Fugger: Genealogy of the house of Fugger from the deer . 1st edition. Wißner-Verlag, Augsburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89639-631-0 .

Web links

Commons : House of Fugger  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kluger, Martin: Fugger - Italy. Business, Weddings, Knowledge and Art. History of a fruitful relationship, Augsburg, 2010
  2. ↑ Fugger.de: Geschichte ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fugger.de
  3. ^ Kluger, Martin: Fugger - Italy. Business, Weddings, Knowledge and Art. History of a fruitful relationship, Augsburg, 2010
  4. ↑ Peter Geffcken: Fugger - story of a family: "The merchants with the trident". In: DAMALS 7/2004
  5. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine : "In the footsteps of the deer" (September 10, 2010)