Society at Fraumünster
The Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster is an organization in the Swiss city of Zurich that sees itself as the representative of women, in addition to the guilds of Zurich , where only men can be members. She advocates the adequate preservation of the role of women in the history of the city of Zurich , organizes cultural events and awards honors. Similar to the Constaffel Society , it does not call itself a guild .
coat of arms
The coat of arms of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster shows a white stag on a blue background with three yellow lights in the antlers, referring to the founding legend and tradition of the Fraumünster.
history
The Fraumünster monastery was founded on July 21, 853 by Ludwig the German , a grandson of Charlemagne , by transferring a small monastery to his eldest daughter Hildegard. Above all women from the high nobility were admitted to the monastery against payment of a dowry, where they lived according to the Benedictine order, but retained the right to voluntarily resign and marry. The abbesses of the Fraumünster Abbey were imperial princesses and were considered the de facto city mistresses of Zurich. They exercised all important sovereign rights and shaped Zurich culturally, socially and economically. The Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster was founded in 1989 with the aim of bringing the traditions of the abbey, which was abolished in 1524, closer to the public and to look after the memory of the abbesses and other historical women figures of Zurich.
Women in the guilds of Zurich
In the council resolution of December 6, 1490, known as the “Constaffelbrief”, it was determined that - originally from wealthy and noble families, and at times also women - “people” who were not organized in a guild in Zurich should be called “Constaffel and should be”, d. H. the company Constaffel were incorporated. In 1752, the widows of two stonemasons in Zurich surprised the male-dominated craft guilds when they submitted a more favorable offer than their male colleagues for the construction of the Zunfthaus zur Meisen and received the contract to build the building, which was completed in 1757. Until the abolition of the guilds in 1798, the entire citizenry - women and men - was divided into the Constaffel and twelve guilds, and most of Zurich's social life took place in the guild houses. Women were not excluded from this in principle, but in the course of time they frequented the guild houses less and less, and with the re-establishment of the guilds in the early 20th century as mostly traditional associations, women were excluded from guild activities.
Todays situation
In addition to events and media presence, the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster, in cooperation with the city archeology, among others, brought the city of Zurich history to life with the Middle Ages Spectaculum on the Münsterhof in May 2011 . The Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster organizes this spectacle every three years.
Since 2007 the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster has been publishing a New Year's paper dedicated to the woman who was honored on the occasion of the Sechseläuten the previous year.
Sechseläuten
In 2011, the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster was granted the right to host the “Zug der Guilds” for the first time by the City of Zurich's men's guilds on the occasion of the Sechseläuten . Although the Fraumünster Society can look back on a history that is centuries older than the guilds founded in Zurich in 1336 , according to the decision of the central committee of guilds in September 2011, it will continue to be excluded from the traditional spring festival in the city of Zurich. The City of Zurich intervened against this decision: Mayor Corine Mauch feels this decision is a bit out of date, and the retired association law professor Hans Michael Riemer does not consider the exclusion of women to be legally justifiable, as the Swiss constitution guarantees equal treatment for women and men . Because the City of Zurich has granted the guilds an unlimited general license for the Sechseläuten, the Presidential Department of the City of Zurich is examining “whether there is a legal basis to enable the Fraumünster Society to participate in the Sechseläuten as equally as possible within the scope of this license”.
Federal President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf accompanied the move of the company to Fraumünster am Sechseläuten 2012 as a guest of honor, which, like the move in the following year, had to take place one hour before the start of the Sechseläuten move of the city of Zurich's guilds. The music corps of the women's guild accompanied the parade, flanked by the honor guard of the great, almighty and insurmountable council of Zug . For the first time in 2013, the flag of the Fraumünster Society waved together with the flags of the guilds at Sechseläutenplatz .
There were conditions for the move in 2013: For example, a demonstration permit had to be obtained.
In 2014 the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster marched for the first time in corpore as guests of the Gesellschaft zur Constaffel . According to an agreement made by “the Constaffelherr, the guild masters of the guilds of the city of Zurich and the Hohe Fraumünster woman”, the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster will take part in the Sechseläuten procession until 2022 as a permanent guest of the Gesellschaft zur Constaffel. In return, the Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster does not submit an application for membership in the Central Committee of Zurich's guilds until 2022 and does not participate in the nightly evacuation of the guilds at Sechseläuten.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The women's guild and men's world exhibition from August 29 to November 25, 2007, 250 years of the Meisen guild house .
- ↑ Isobel Leybold-Johnson, swissinfo online (April 12, 2011): Sechseläuten move for the first time with women’s guild, accessed on September 12, 2011.
- ↑ NZZ online (September 12, 2011): Men stay among themselves on Sechseläuten, accessed on September 12, 2011.
- ↑ Tages-Anzeiger online (October 3, 2011): City provides women with protection, accessed on October 4, 2011.
- ↑ 20 minutes online (October 2, 2011): Stadtet Frauenzunft Schützenhilfe, accessed on October 4, 2011.
- ^ Daniele Muscionico: The street fighters . In: Die Zeit (April 11, 2013).
- ↑ Tages-Anzeiger online (November 6, 2014): Women are allowed to march on Sechseläuten, accessed on November 6, 2014.