Hammacher

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The family name Hammacher is derived from the term saddler . Spellings are Hammacher, Hamacher, Hamaker, Hameker etc.

Regional classification

The oldest trace of the verifiable occurrence of the name "Hammacher" leads to Lennep in the Bergisches Land, today the city of Remscheid. In addition, there are archives in the Cologne city archive from the 14th century, pertaining to the names "Hammacher" or "Hamacher".

From a regional point of view, the name is distributed from the Cologne area and the Bergisches Land across the landscapes on both sides of the Lower Rhine, but also to the Netherlands and Belgium . In the late Middle Ages we find the name Hammacher mainly in these areas. In addition, etymological interpretations help us. The etymological origin of the name can be found in the Middle Ages in the settlement area of ​​the Franks and Frisians .

Origin of name

The name "Hammacher" is assigned to the group of family names from job titles , primarily the craft of leather manufacture and processing, but also the manufacture of equipment for fishing etc. In Rhenish usage the name "Hammacher" stands for "saddler".

Etymologically, the name "Hammacher" or "Hamacher" is derived from the Rhenish Franconian craft designations, namely the "Hamenmachern". The root word “Hamen” belongs to “have”, which means “to catch” or “hold”. In Swedish, “haemta” is synonymous with “catch, take”. The Latin name for the fishing rod is “Hamus”, in Italian “Hammo”, while the French word for it is “grove”. The Latin “Hamus” also means “a ring that holds something”, like “Kuhhamen” in agriculture, a holding wooden ring that is placed around the neck of the cows, for example to close them at the manger attach. In "Osnabrückischen" is Hamm both a Hamen for fishing and the called Harness horse collar .

The linguistic investigation of the name "Hammacher" indicates that it was created around the 9th century. The name was in use long before family names were generally introduced in the 12th and 13th centuries in what was then the Holy German Empire .

Job title

Craftsmen (saddlers), who made these neck rings primarily for draft animals, were "hat makers" or, as can be proven, since the 15th century in the Rhineland, e.g. B. in Cologne, also called "Hammacher" (eg "Hammacher zu Bergisch Gladbach " as a job title for a resident); “Hammacher” were therefore craftsmen who made yokes or collars. Another meaning points to a "bag-shaped net", the opening of which is attached to a hoop with a handle. The hunters used it to catch chickens well into the 19th century, which is why it was also called "drifting gear"; the fishermen used it for fishing . Figuratively, in some places in the Rhineland, a bell bag is called a “little hämchen” or “hämlein” in the diminutive .

The meaning and the definition of the trade name “Hammacher” on a certain activity allows several interpretations, the or the Hamen as a technical term for “ fishing hook ” or for a net bag . The name "Hamen" goes back to the 9th century. Hamen are also mesh bags of various sizes and designs that are used to filter fish from flowing or standing water from the bank or fishing vessel. Their catch openings are usually stiffened by frames or brackets.

The Bohemian town of Chomutov is probably named after the craft of the "collar makers" (hat makers). Both the craft for the equipment for fishing in the broader sense as well as the production of the neck yoke for draft animals was also known in the Lower Rhine and in northern Germany . Specifically, the trade title “Hammacher” can be found in the “Ordinance of the Weißgerbergilde” of the city of Münster in Westphalia (Münster city archives - Ratsarchiv - inventory A XI No. 296-4b - 1642 to 1645). It says u. a. in the list of membership in the guild : "... Riemenschneider , Gürtelmacher , Hammacher". Here the name “Hammacher” is used as a job title for the craft leather processing. This practice of the professional designation "Hammacher" as a common craft activity is confirmed by a further inventory in the historical archive of the city of Cologne (inventory U 1/207 - inventory 216 - Gertrud -). It says u. a. : “Johann von Mundersdorf, Hamacher in Cologne, leases 9 acres of land in Cologne from the Gertrudenkonvente for 12 years for a rent of 26 marks. 'Op den neisten dach na sent Remeisz dage' of St. Bishop Johann von Mundersdorf, Hammacher in Cologne ... “. At least for the Lower Rhine region and as far as Westphalia, this allows the conclusion that the name "Hammacher" was common both as a family name and as a trade name in earlier times.

Hamen is borrowed from the Latin hamus and originally also meant "hook". In the period from the 10th to the 12th century, the definition was expanded to include "net, skin, shell, dress". Middle High German is ham (e), Old High German hamo and Middle Low German hame. A connection of the Middle High German hame can be found in the word Leichnam, which was called hame at the time. Another meaning is "collar". A collar is west dutch as hame and northern Dutch designated (ie West Frisian) as Ha'am. The relevant Greek meaning Chemosh or kamanos is synonymous with muzzle, braided cover of the ballot box , fish trap , mouth binding , etc., for "bridle with teeth". It would be possible to start with “ wickerwork ”, but also to consider a connection with hemmen. For Hamen there is a further explanation in the Low German term Kummet or Kumt, i.e. the 'neck yoke of draft animals'; the Kummet or Kumt is East Central German (Upper Sorbian chomot) and East North German and also common in Polish (chomato). The origin of the word is dated to the time before the beginning of the 15th century.

Spellings

In early records of the document system , especially in old church book entries, the following spellings can be found:

- Hammacher - Hamacher - Hamachers - Hamaker - Hammecker - Hemecker - Hamecher - and other variants

Name spread

The spread of the name “Hammacher” can be found not only in Germany , mainly in the Rhineland (in the broadest sense), but also in the USA, Canada, the Netherlands (e.g. Hilversum and the surrounding area), France (mainly in Alsace) ), Great Britain, Italy (mainly South Tyrol ), Africa, Brazil and Australia, to name just the most important spreads of names for "Hammacher" outside Germany. For the USA, two main focuses of the name can be recognized, New York and Los Angeles. In Africa, the name "Hammacher" occurs mainly in Namibia .

Name bearer

See also