Heinrich Krefting

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Portrait of Heinrich Krefting from 1609

Heinrich Krefting (born October 5, 1562 in Bremen , † August 1, 1611 in Bremen) was a German legal scholar and Bremen politician.

biography

education and profession

Krefting was the third child of the businessman Hermann Krefting (1528–1607) and his wife Catherina Velthusen (1533–1594). After attending Latin school, he studied law at the Protestant University of Wittenberg from 1580 . In 1585 he enrolled at the Lutheran University of Jena and from 1586 was enrolled at the University of Heidelberg , which was again determined by Calvinists at the time . In 1587 he acquired his license and a year later he was appointed to one of the licentiate positions at the Heidelberg court . On January 13, 1589, he was confirmed as Professor Institutionem on a vacancy at the university in August 1588. On May 14, 1589 he was confirmed on the spot of Professor Pandectarium Hippolytus a Collibus, who had become vacant at the beginning of the year . As early as 1590 he gave up his professorship because he had a position in Bremen in prospect. However, he was required to keep his service until 1591.

Work in Bremen

On December 4, 1591, Krefting was elected to the Bremen council as the successor to Johann (VII) Esich, who had become mayor . On August 30, 1605, Krefting himself became mayor. He was also head of the St. Remberti Stift .

Krefting was of particular importance in connection with the attempt to redesign Bremen's city law . As early as 1590 he wrote a Dispositio et Commentatio statutorum reipublicae Bremensis , which he probably included in a copy of his application for council membership. Not the original font of this work has survived, but 22 copies and one print have been preserved. In this work he advocated a reform of the city ​​law, which had been in need of revision at the latest since the so-called revolt of the 104 men from 1530 to 1532.

The first concrete impact on the city law was the improvement of the criminal law provisions in the city law and the associated adjustment to the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina of 1532. Krefting aimed at a complete revision and reorganization of the city law from 1433. This version of the city law was largely based on the original city law codification of 1303. In the council, however, there were strong reservations against a redesign of the city law. Representatives of the opposite view did not want a complete redesign, but only a reform of the parts of the revised city law that were worth revising. Nevertheless, Krefting was initially able to assert itself, and a first draft of a Verbeterden Stadtbook was drawn up . In the negotiations of the Wittheit (the council and the mayors) the citizens' committee was finally included, initially only for the sake of good form. However, this insisted on separate consultations according to parishes. While Krefting was able to prevail in large parts of the Wittheit itself, the council withdrew the first draft after resistance from the citizens. Krefting then wrote a gloss on the reform of Bremen law together with Johann Almers . In this gloss, which was completed in 1608, he no longer sought a redesign based on the more modern developments of common law , but limited himself to regulations that, in his view, were particularly worth revising. Further reform came to a standstill until further notice due to Krefting's death and Almer's departure.

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personal data
SURNAME Krefting, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German legal scholar and mayor of Bremen
DATE OF BIRTH October 5, 1562
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremen
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1611
Place of death Bremen