Goslar Riots 1527

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Goslar, Georgenberg, foundation walls of the Georgstift destroyed in 1527

The Goslar riots of 1527 were a political, social and religious conflict in the imperial city of Goslar , which led to the devastation of several churches and monasteries.

prehistory

As in many cities of the empire , there was also an ingrained resentment of the craftsmen's guilds in Goslar against the city ​​council, which was dominated by the patriciate , and against the monasteries and monasteries and monasteries that were free of court and tax . The discontent, exacerbated by the impoverishment and hardship of considerable sections of the population, was linked to the concerns of the Reformation after 1517 . When the dean of the cathedral monastery, Diedrich Rorbeck, appealed to the Pope in 1524 about the controversial replacement of the parish of St. Thomas , an angry crowd gathered on February 25, stormed and plundered the dean's court, kidnapped the dean in the Harz Mountains and murdered him there. St. Jakobi , the Church of the Craftsmen, became the center of Reformation ideas in the early 1520s. In 1525 a compilation of Gravamina to the council was drawn up in their vicinity . It called for the free choice of evangelical preachers, but also a certain amount of self-administration by the craftsmen and a large number of specific economic protection regulations.

The tension in the city became explosive due to the pressure exerted by Duke Heinrich II of Brunswick to regain the Rammelsberg ore mining. This had been in the town's lien for centuries and was its main source of income. Heinrich strove for recovery and arranged for the mining facilities to be taken, which led to bloody disputes there.

course

For the angry crowd, the rich St. George's monastery on the Georgenberg in front of the Rose Gate was the main source of annoyance. It was under ducal sovereignty, held - like the duke - to Catholic worship and could be used as a base in an attack against the city. A contemporary source reproducing Carl Wolff describes the events as follows:

In 1527, the day before the feast of Corpus Christi [19. June], many of the people from Goslar broke into the monastery [St. Georgs Stift], broke into the convent garden, threw the windows in two and committed a lot of other mischief, whereupon the procurator sent twice to the town hall with complaints and requests for help. On both occasions people from the council who were sent out of the council gave a promise that they wanted to calm down the people, but the mischief persisted until evening. When that got out of hand, the procurator went to the town hall again to seek help. Then the mayor Hans Weidemann came with Jochen Wegener and Carsten Balder and they arrested several by force, but released them with impunity the day after next, which only strengthened the perpetrators in their evil plan.
On Mary Magdalene Day [22. July] at 9 o'clock, Hans Weidemann, Jochen Wegener, Carsten Balder and Hans Grimm came to the church with their servants and banged on the door with their spear until the procurator opened. Hans Weidemann asked if there were any strangers in the monastery; he was told that the Duke [Heinrich II. of Braunschweig] had sent strangers [military garrisons]. The procurator replied: “No.” After he had to open the door and no one was in, Weidemann said: “If you want to take something away, then do it, I can no longer defend the people.” To which the procurator: “Mayor, Let us have another eight days, it is now very urgent for us. ”Weidemann replied nothing more than:“ Whatever you can bring out, do it without delay ”, and then he and his cohort went back down into town. When the gatekeeper wanted to close the gate behind him, Weidemann yelled at him: “Leave the gate open!” And the servants and servants from the city stayed inside and made camp.
During the meal, the servants and many of the townspeople began such shouting, commotion and hitting that they had to stop singing and reading in the refectory, and when the provost and the brothers came into the church, one of them waved to the provost and said : "Don't you want to see that the monastery is going to be burned down over our heads." The provost said: "I don't expect that." Then he heard Weidemann called him and found Hans Weidemann with Jochen Wegener, Carsten Balder and Hans Grimm and a multitude of people on foot and on horseback with guns and cannons. And Weidemann took the floor and said: "Herr Propst, if you want to bring something out, then do it, it won't be any different, I can't turn it off." There stood Profoss and several servants with burning fuses and fire Profoss shouted: “Is it time now? Should you set yourself on fire? ”Then Weidemann said:“ Herr Propst, make sure that no people are attacked or damaged in the monastery. ”Then the provost:“ Truly, if that's the case, I want to warn the people quickly. ” That was the last word the provost spoke to the mayor.
Meanwhile the profoss asked again: “Is it time now? How long should it be before you should be infected? ”Then the honest Weidemann said:“ Well, in God's name, infected! ”So they ran over and first lit the sheepfold and so on. When the buildings were burning all around, Profoss came and said: “Mayor, the church is still standing, should you set it on fire too?” Carsten Balder replied: “Yes, what else would it be, it must also be infected. “The closed doors were opened and the church was set on fire, so that at 4 o'clock everything was in ruins.

As a result, the St. Peters Stift on the Petersberg, the Johanniterkommende Zum Heiligen Grab in front of the Vititor and the parish church of St. Johannes on the slope of the Rammelsberg were looted and burned down. In the cathedral , in the St. Thomas Church and monastery Neuwerk church treasures were stolen and crosses and images destroyed.

consequences

Duke Heinrich II took the events as an opportunity to sue the city of Goslar for breach of the peace at the Reich Chamber of Commerce. After a 13-year process, the imperial ban was imposed on Goslar in 1540 and the duke was commissioned with enforcement; however, the judgment was overturned in 1541. Goslar had already joined the Schmalkaldic League in 1531 .

Web links

Commons : Goslarer Unruhen 1527  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Uvo Hölscher : The history of the Reformation in Goslar . Hanover / Leipzig 1902, p. 14
  2. ↑ Art monuments p. 80
  3. ↑ Transcription of the early New High German text with sprinkles in Low German
  4. ↑ About Weidemann and Wegener, Uvo Hölscher writes: “About the personality of Weidemann, it can be seen from the files that he was persecuted by the Braunschweig courts as a 'common cheat' as early as 1516. After that he was arrested in 1533 for theft and embezzlement. As an 'old sick man', 'to whom Goslar is very grateful for many services', at the use of his friends, including those of the aristocracy, and finally on the intercession of Landgrave Philip, he became his by a council resolution Released from prison, but stripped of all honor. We will meet him again as the instigator of the outrageous destruction of the monasteries in 1527, together with his worthy colleague in the office of Joachim Wegener, who in 1535 was prosecuted for unfaithfulness and frivolous debt, fleeing his honor in Goslar. It was such men to whom Goslar's fate was exposed in those decisive years ”( The History of the Reformation in Goslar , 1902, p. 18 ).