Society for compulsory thistles

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Society for compulsory thistles
Distelzwang.png
Purpose: Civil corporation
Chair: Bernhard von Erlach (President)
Establishment date: around 1390
Number of members: 502
Seat : Zunfthaus zum Distelzwang
Gerechtigkeitsgasse 79
3011 Bern Switzerland
SwitzerlandSwitzerland 
Website: www.distelzwang.ch
Coat of arms of the Society for Thistle Compulsory at the Society House in Bern.
Gesellschaftshaus zum Distelzwang , built in 1701 by Samuel Jenner , Gerechtigkeitsgasse 79 in Bern

The Gesellschaft zum Distelzwang is one of the 13 societies and guilds in the city of Bern and a public corporation guaranteed by the constitution of the Canton of Bern . It is a civil corporation within the meaning of Bernese municipal legislation and is subject to the supervision of the cantonal authorities. As a personal corporation, it does not have its own territory and is taxable. It includes all citizens of Bern who have the company law to compulsory thistles. The Society for Thistle Compulsion currently has around 500 members.

coat of arms

The double coat of arms and the formerly common name Adeliche Gesellschaft zum Fren und zum Thistelzwang make it clear that the society emerged from the merger of the two aristocratic chambers of the Fool and the Thistle Force. The Jester is a medieval noble symbol and the goldfinch is the passion of Christ. In the empire, patrician societies mostly adopted satirical or fantasy symbols. The Bernese Society for Fools was first mentioned in a document in 1392. As an aristocratic parlor, Distelzwang always took first place among Bernese societies. Her relatives had the privilege of belonging to a second society. The room right at one of the four Venner societies was essential for the official career.

The first surviving parlor toboggan (1454) shows that the parlor journeymen were made up of the surrounding landed nobility, high nobility and clergy with civil rights as well as high city officials (mayor, sack master, city clerk). Up to 1798, 29 Bernese mayors had the right to stay in thistles. At the time when the ruling circles were closed, the number of housemates fell to around a dozen due to the extinction of families. In the 19th century, a more liberal admission practice began, so that the society now has around 400 members.

people

Non-exhaustive list of members of the Society for Thistle Compulsion, about which a German Wikipedia article exists.

literature

  • Eduard von Wattenwyl: The Society for Thistle Compulsion . In: Berner Taschenbuch , vol. 14 (1865), Bern 1864, p. 174 digitized
  • Rolf Dähler et al .: Of fools and goldfinches. The history of the Gesellschaft zum Distelzwang , Bern 2015.

Web links

Commons : Society for Thistle Compulsion  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ State Chancellery of the Canton of Bern: Constitution of the Canton of Bern. SR 131.212. In: Systematic Legal Collection SR . Voters of the Canton of Bern, June 6, 1993, accessed on June 14, 2018 (Article 107 in Section 7 municipalities; as of March 11, 2015).
  2. ^ State Chancellery of the Canton of Bern: Municipal Law of the Canton of Bern. BSG 170.11. In: Systematic legal collection of the Canton of Bern BSG. Grand Council of the Canton of Bern , March 16, 1998, accessed on June 14, 2018 (Article 117 in Section 2.2 Civic Communities and Civil Corporations; Status on January 1, 2014).

Coordinates: 46 ° 56 '52.3 "  N , 7 ° 27' 9.4"  E ; CH1903:  601064  /  199643