House seafaring

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Portal of the Seafaring House from 1665

The house seafaring in the Bremen district Grohn is a foundation for the care of old seafaring members and their wives and widows. It has been hosting the Schaffermahlzeit for more than 470 years , the proceeds of which are used for the work of the institution.

The foundation is considered to be the "oldest still existing social fund in Europe", the establishment of which was approved and confirmed in a document by the Bremen City Council in 1545. Today it is a foundation with legal capacity , which, with renewed recognition by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in 2009, pursues charitable and benevolent purposes.

The Schaffermahlzeit as a great traditional festival of the Bremen merchants and captains organized in Haus Seefahrt has not taken place in the foundation's own building since 1952, but every February in the Upper Town Hall of the Bremen Town Hall.

Acceptance as a commercial member of the foundation is considered to be one of the highest honors that can be attained for men working in business in the state of Bremen .

The portal of Haus Seefahrt, the monastery building and two sculptures on the site are under monument protection .

Purpose of the foundation

The Haus Seefahrt Foundation is now a legal foundation within the meaning of Section 80 of the German Civil Code (BGB) . The purpose of the foundation is based on the original constitutions of 1545 and 1562. In the new version of the foundation statutes approved by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen in 2009, the purpose is specified under § 1, 1 as follows:

“'Haus Seefahrt' is an independent, legal foundation under civil law to support needy seafarers, their widows and orphans. The foundation, based in Bremen, pursues exclusively and directly non-profit, charitable purposes within the meaning of the section on tax-privileged purposes of the tax code. The purpose of the foundation is the promotion of charity, the promotion of science and research, the promotion of care for the elderly, the promotion of upbringing, public and vocational training including student aid. The purposes of the statutes are realized in particular through the support of people in need, the maintenance of an old people's home and the activities mentioned in § 20 of the foundation statutes. The foundation works selflessly; it does not primarily pursue economic purposes. Foundation funds may only be used for purposes in accordance with the articles of association. The members do not receive any donations from the foundation's funds. "
[…] *) In terms of the section " Tax-privileged purposes " of the tax code in its currently applicable version.

Members of Haus Seefahrt

Commercial members

Members of the foundation are “merchants from the merchants who are elected”. Every year, all members elect “three personalities” from the Bremen merchants who have reached the age of 30 and “live in the state of Bremen or have the focus of their business here” and who are ready to fulfill the foundation obligations as members of Haus Seefahrt.

Sailor Members

Members of the skippers are "captains who are accepted" and are ready to meet the obligations of the foundation. They must have “the certificate of competency as a master without restrictions in the nautical powers to be a master” and have “worked for at least two years as a master or nautical officer on a seagoing ship that was or was preferably registered on the Weser - at least during these two years - or or whose shipping company has a seat or a focus of its business activity in the state of Bremen ”. Non-sailing masters can only be accepted if they have a certificate of competency as a captain or first nautical officer, have worked as a captain or nautical officer on a seagoing ship for at least two years and preferably carry out a seafaring activity on the Weser.

history

Historical context of the foundation of the "Poor Seafaring"

Deed of foundation of the poor seafaring from the year 1545

In the Middle Ages before the Reformation , seafarers in the city of Bremen had the prospect that the church would support them with gifts in times of poverty and need. Money that was given as God's money when buying or selling ships and when signing a wage contract flowed into this poor relief. The poor also benefited from penalties that the skippers imposed on their crew in the event of a crime or money that was paid when they returned home happily.

When the events of the Reformation limited the daily help for the poor outside the church doors, seafarers and their families in distress due to accidents or loss of ship went empty-handed. As in Stralsund the Schiffercompagnie and in Lübeck the Gildehaus , in Bremen the Schiffergesellschaft, a long-standing association of boatmen to maintain conviviality and mutual help, developed plans for an organization to help needy boatmen. In a letter to the city council it said:

“... So also someone, he was a skipper, merchant or the ship's people on board the ship while defending the ship and the goods spoiled by the enemy or otherwise shot, wounded and cursed in ship service and thus come at a disadvantage and ailments and therefore entertained must be charged, an appropriate allowance should be levied on the ship and its goods and placed in the God's chest for safekeeping ... "

So an auxiliary fund should be set up. This was administered by 8 chiefs and 22 councilors. In the case of annual accounts, two heads should resign and two new ones elected. In 1545 this foundation for the poor seafaring was established. The deed of foundation states:

“And if the annual account, as determined above, is kept, what beer or otherwise is consumed and drunk, this should not be taken from the aforementioned box to the disadvantage and harm of the poor, but everyone should take his share out of his Remunerate and pay for your own bag. "

From this instruction emerged the tradition that has survived to this day that the feast, later called the Schaffermahlzeit , is never financed from the foundation funds when the cash register is settled.

Construction of the man-made seaport in Vegesack

The construction of the Vegesack harbor , an urgent project due to the silting up of the Weser near Bremen, was financed from 1619–1623 by the head of the Seafaring House , who also administered it until 1671 and then leased it. Today the port is considered to be the first man-made seaport in Germany.

Development of administration, foundation building and the foundation's own apartments

Haus Seefahrt 1663 (glass picture from the cotton exchange )
Seefahrt house around 1880 in Lützower Strasse

In 1561 the company moved into its first own house on Hutfilterstrasse . Eight merchants, one of whom was newly elected every two years, now stepped alongside the chiefs elected by the skippers. The incumbent head was called the bookkeeper , the eight skippers who were ordained were called senior olds and had an advisory role, the committee of 22 assessors was retained. The poor in shipping received Proven , right to live in a beneficiary's home.

In the 18th century, the Schaffers were responsible for collecting the money ; they also hosted the annual feast, which was now called the Schaffermahlzeit . Later, the collection of the money was transferred to the senior elders of the house, the creators were left with the organization of the feast.

In 1663 a new Seefahrt house was built on Hutfilterstrasse , which was not particularly representative on the outside, except for the baroque gate, but was lavishly furnished on the inside. In addition to meeting rooms and a hall for the annual fraternal meal, it also had an apartment for the caretaker and rooms for Proveners. In 1834 a second hall was added. When the road breakthrough for today's Mayor-Smidt- Strasse occurred, the building was demolished in 1874.

A new Seefahrt house with 51 apartments was built between 1874 and 1876, incorporating the baroque gate from Hutfilterstrasse in Lützower Strasse in the west of Bremen, where the company had had several Pröven houses since 1851. This was destroyed by bombs on the night of August 18-19, 1944.

The third new building by Haus Seefahrt was built in Grohn on the Oeversberg in 1950/51. The preserved baroque grand gate from 1665 was moved to Grohn in the 1950s after a few intermediate stops and rebuilt as the entrance gate to the newly built settlement on the Oeversberg.

The Schaffermahlzeit, on the other hand, has been held every year since 1952 in the Upper Town Hall of Bremen Town Hall, traditionally on the second Friday in February.

present

Silver Memorial Medal House Seafaring

The aim of the foundation to care for its old seafaring members and their wives and widows is supported in a variety of ways through donations and contributions from Bremen merchants and captains. The seafarers also bear their financial share through the annual payment of their travel or farmer's allowances and thereby acquire a right to the foundation's services.

Every year the foundation elects three new commercial members, who then host the annual Schaffermahlzeit two years after their election . This event with a great external impact ensures a considerable amount of donations that contribute significantly to the fulfillment of the foundation's tasks.

At the seafaring yard in Grohn, the foundation accommodates married couples, captain's widows and captains of various age groups in eight houses. Around 80 widows are cared for outside the home.

Haus Seefahrt is a member of the Diakonisches Werk Bremen .

Economic and socio-political significance

The Haus Seefahrt Foundation with its Schaffermahlzeit has traditionally been of great importance for the economic elite of its commercial members brought together in it with regard to the representation of economic and socio-political interests. At the turn of the new decade , the then managing director of the Hans Henry Lamotte Foundation gave a kind of keynote speech at its 1980 general assembly , which, in addition to basic passages on the integration of Bremen and Germany in Europe, raised the question of whether the members of Haus Seefahrt are doing what guarantees Bremen's independence as a federal state .

As an argument for the need for Bremen to be independent, he particularly addressed the importance of the ports, the development of which must be given high priority in the area of port investments, among other things, and called for a sustainable financial policy in the country as well as changes in terms of content Orientation of his school and higher education . The members of Haus Seefahrt are "given the fate of Bremen responsibly in their hands [...] - assigned to us by the highest authority". He explained the individual aspects of his speech in detail; he made no direct reference to the charitable tasks of the foundation in the speech.

The commitment of the members of Haus Seefahrt takes place in the voluntary work of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce . In the plenum of the Chamber of Commerce, members of Haus Seefahrt are now represented by almost a third, in the Presidium by a good 85 percent. The President of the Bremen Chamber of Commerce is mostly a member of Haus Seefahrt.

Women in home seafaring

Membership in Haus Seefahrt was traditionally reserved for men . In 1996, the captain Barbara Massing was the only woman to become a member of the foundation in its 400-year history. She applied and was accepted as a seaman member in Haus Seefahrt after checking her admission requirements. In 2017 she took part in the Schaffermahlzeit as the creator of the ship's association. The number of women who meet the professional requirements to apply for a seaman membership is very low due to their extremely low number in top positions in the seaman's profession .

In 2009, the possibility of women becoming commercial members of the foundation was publicly discussed. According to the managing director at the time, this is possible in accordance with the foundation's constitution. However, the election of a woman as a commercial member of Haus Seefahrt has not yet taken place, which has met with public criticism on various occasions with the argument of equal rights and contemporary treatment.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Gutmann: Time travel through Bremen. Excursions into the past . Wartberg, Gudensberg-Gleichen 1997, ISBN 3-86134-329-0 , p. 36.
  2. ^ Monument database of the LfD
  3. ↑ a b Constitution and laws of the House of Seafaring based on the constitutions of 1545 and 1562 revised on October 6, 2009 by resolution of the chiefs and senior elders in agreement with the 22 elders and approved by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen on December 29 2009
  4. ↑ Wendelin Seebacher , Jutta Never et al .: Our oldest port - a chronicle of the Vegesack port . STAVE Stadtentwicklung Vegesack GmbH (Ed.), Bremen 2002, ISBN 3-00-009791-0 .
  5. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. P. 7 ff. Holdings of the State and University Library Bremen
  6. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. S. 2. Holdings State and University Library Bremen
  7. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. S. 3. Holdings State and University Library Bremen
  8. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. P. 4f. State and University Library Bremen
  9. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. P. 5ff. State and University Library Bremen
  10. ↑ Hans Henry Lamotte : Speech at the 435th General Assembly of 'Haus Seefahrt' on February 5, 1980. S. 7. Holdings of the State and University Library Bremen
  11. ↑ 14 of the 44 plenary members are members of “Haus Seefahrt” (year of their Schaffermahlzeit in brackets, without the 6 HK Presidium members): Harald Emigholz (2008), Marco Fuchs (2007), Peter Hoedemaker (2010), Stefan Messerknecht (2006) , Hasso G. Nauck (1999), Michael F. Schütte (2007), Michael Vinnen (2006); Chamber of Commerce plenary ; Schaffermahlzeit ( memento from March 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive );
    Stephan-Andreas Kaulvers (2012); NWZ online . Pages accessed January 18, 2011.
  12. ↑ 6 of the 7 presidium members are members of "Haus Seefahrt" (the year of their meal in brackets): Otto Lamotte (planned for 2011), Matthias Claussen (1994), Eduard Dubbers-Albrecht (2005), Lutz H. Peper (2007), President Christoph Weiss (2008), Patrick Wendisch (2006); Presidium of the Chamber of Commerce ; Schaffermahlzeit ( memento from March 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ); Pages accessed January 18, 2011.
  13. ^ Hermann Gutmann: Haus Seefahrt in Bremen and his Schaffermahlzeit . Bremen 1999, p. 153.
  14. ↑ Her bridegroom is the sea. Women take command. There are still only 30 female captains . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , July 21, 2007; Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  15. ↑ A meeting with a surprise effect. Encounters in Bremen: The state women's representative Ulrike Hauffe meets the head of Haus Seefahrt, Michael Schroiff. Weser-Kurier , Bremen, July 10, 2009, p. 11.

Coordinates: 53 ° 9 ′ 47 "  N , 8 ° 38 ′ 44"  E