Heinrich Kellner (lawyer)

Heinrich Kellner (born September 12, 1536 in Frankfurt am Main ; † January 18, 1589 ibid) was a lawyer and municipal counsel in the imperial city of Frankfurt am Main. He was the author of a chronicle on Venetian history, which should serve to present the Venetian constitution as exemplary. It made Venice's history known beyond the circle of Latin readers as one of the first chronicles in the German-speaking world.

Life

Kellner came from a family from Erfurt who had been accepted into the Alten Limpurg patrician society in 1518 . He studied law in Leuven, Leipzig, Orleans, Bourges and in 1561 at the University of Padua , through which he came into contact with Italian culture. After a trip to Italy he settled as a lawyer in his hometown.

In 1566 he became the resident lawyer of Count Ludwig zu Stolberg , in 1569 lawyer for the general alms box and legal advisor for the cities of Büdingen and Gelnhausen and the counties of Solms-Laubach , Solms-Munzenberg , Hanau-Lichtenberg and Isenburg .

He was particularly interested in Venice, the constitution of which he regarded as exemplary and which he tried to make known by publishing a chronicle. For him, Venice's mixed constitution was the cause of his stability. Among the numerous chronicles he makes particular reference to Pietro Marcello and Silvestro Girelli . As a monarchical element of the constitution, he saw the doge as particularly important for political stability. The other institutions embodied the aristocratic element. Respect for the constitution, which waiter attributes to the Venetians, is in turn a precondition. According to Kellner's account, Sigmund Feyerabend asked him to write his chronicle.

In 1574 he became city counsel alongside Johann Fichard and Arnold Engelbrecht . Kellner took on important diplomatic functions in the imperial city of Frankfurt; He mediated in legal disputes with neighboring states and represented the city at the Diets of Regensburg in 1576 and Augsburg in 1582 and at the District Council of Worms in 1582 . There he was chairman of the commission for visits to the Reich Chamber of Commerce and took part in its appeal day in Speyer in 1585 .

He prepared an expert opinion for Frankfurt, on the basis of which the registry - from then on this remained the name for the city archive until the end of the imperial city period - was subordinated to a special official without being separated from the city clerk.

Kellner died in 1589 as a Frankfurter Syndicus .

A reference to a son named Georg are three books that came to a Georg Kellner between 1583 and 1585, as the ownership entries show. In addition, the Lersner Chronicle reports that a son of Heinrich Kellner named Georg died in 1590 on a study trip to Italy at the age of 22.

Heinrich Kellner has handwritten ownership entries in 18 books, whereby both his name and his initials "DHK", but also his motto "ENITAR" (I can do it) can be assigned to him. After his death, they came into the possession of the City of Frankfurt through his grandson Johann Maximilian zum Junge , who appears as a councilor and alderman (1596–1649), together with his large collection.

Works

Chronica is a true and short description of all people living in Venice , Frankfurt near Sigmund Feyerabend 1574. ( digitized version )

literature

Ulrich Trumpold: Heinrich Kellner 1536-1589. Studies on law, administration and politics in Frankfurt am Main in the 16th century (= Studies on Frankfurt History, 11), Diss., Frankfurt, W. Krammer, 1975.
Wolfgang Klötzer (Hrsg.): Frankfurter Biographie . Personal history lexicon . First volume. A – L (= publications of the Frankfurt Historical Commission . Volume XIX , no. 1 ). Waldemar Kramer, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-7829-0444-3 , p. 390 f .

Remarks

↑ Francesca Russo: Donato Giannotti's theory of the mixed government and its success in the German-speaking area , in: Norbert Campagna, Stefano Saracino (ed.): State understanding in Italy. From Dante to the 21st Century , Nomos, 2018, p. 103.
^ Rudolf Jung : The historical archive of the city of Frankfurt , Frankfurt 1896, p. 187.
^ Gebhard Florian : Chronica der Statt Frankfurt am Main , Frankfurt 1664, p. 341.
↑ "Dises Püechl adore I ..." Who read, who owned Frankfurt in 16th century? , in: Robert Seidel, Regina Toepfer (Eds.): Frankfurt at the intersection of discourses , Klostermann, Frankfurt 2010.
↑ "Dises Püechl adore I ..." Who read, who owned Frankfurt in 16th century? , in: Robert Seidel, Regina Toepfer (Eds.): Frankfurt at the intersection of discourses , Klostermann, Frankfurt 2010.

personal data
SURNAME	Waiter, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Frankfurt lawyer and historian
DATE OF BIRTH	September 12, 1536
PLACE OF BIRTH	Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH	January 18, 1589
Place of death	Frankfurt am Main

[1] Francesca Russo: Donato Giannotti's theory of the mixed government and its success in the German-speaking area , in: Norbert Campagna, Stefano Saracino (ed.): State understanding in Italy. From Dante to the 21st Century , Nomos, 2018, p. 103.

[2] Rudolf Jung : The historical archive of the city of Frankfurt , Frankfurt 1896, p. 187.

[3] Gebhard Florian : Chronica der Statt Frankfurt am Main , Frankfurt 1664, p. 341.

[4] "Dises Püechl adore I ..." Who read, who owned Frankfurt in 16th century? , in: Robert Seidel, Regina Toepfer (Eds.): Frankfurt at the intersection of discourses , Klostermann, Frankfurt 2010.

[5] "Dises Püechl adore I ..." Who read, who owned Frankfurt in 16th century? , in: Robert Seidel, Regina Toepfer (Eds.): Frankfurt at the intersection of discourses , Klostermann, Frankfurt 2010.