Hieronymus Snitger

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Hieronymus Snitger

Hieronymus Snitger (born September 11, 1648 in Hamburg ; † October 4, 1686 there ) was a German businessman and politician .

Live and act

Snitger was the son of a respected Hamburg merchant who concentrated on trading with Spanish business partners. Snitger first attended the academic high school , trained on trips and then successfully took over his father's business. Snitger was known as eloquent, persuasive, affable, generous and willing to take risks. In political disputes between the Hamburg Senate and the Hamburg citizenship , he was often on the side of the citizens. He worked with Cord Jastram for 14 years . Together they had a decisive influence on Hamburg politics from 1683 and were able to win over dissatisfied craftsmen and small business owners, rise to their spokesmen and undermine the authority of the Hamburg council in the context of the "Jastram-Schnitgerchen Wirren".

While internal political opponents viewed Jastram as the more dangerous of the two, Snitger was seen as a driving force by foreign powers. In 1685 the imperial resident tried to kidnap Snitger, but failed. Both presumably intended to be able to work in leading positions on a permanent basis, which they did not succeed in because of the mixing of domestic and foreign policy. Heinrich Meurer , acting mayor and Snitger's greatest domestic political opponent, fled to the court of the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in Celle on charges of treason and imminent imprisonment . Here he was able to get the support of the duke and the emperor for his plans to return to the head of the Hanseatic city . After a negotiated agreement had failed, Meurer considered using military means. Snitger and Jastram then turned to King Christian V of Denmark . He took the opportunity to besiege Hamburg again after 1679 1686 , whereupon the Hamburg citizens turned away from Snitger and Jastram to defend Hamburg against the enemy army.

After a week of shelling and pressure from neighboring powers, the Danes ended the siege after a total of three weeks. Jastram and Schnitger were thereupon sentenced to death for treason and executed in front of a large crowd. Although the trial is said not to have been beyond doubt, there were no protests against the court ruling. Snitger was gutted, quartered, and beheaded.

Snitger's head was impaled on a stake at the stone gate and remained there for everyone to see for the next nine years. Then his skull rested on an iron bracket until it fell to the ground in 1731 and was finally disposed of. The iron bar with a plate on which the head had rested was not removed until 1791. August Wygand campaigned for the rehabilitation of the two of them from emigration in 1697.

Honors

In Hamburg-Horn , the Snitger series has been a reminder of Hieronymus Snitger since 1929 and the Snitgerstieg since 1931 .

Individual evidence

  1. a b Steffen Martus: Enlightenment - The German 18th Century - a picture of the epoch , page x . Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek / Berlin 2015
  2. Kai Lohsträter: Behind the Scenes of a Horror Theater - The Case of Jastram and Snitger in Theatrum Literature of the 17th Century
  3. Dero Royal Majest. zu Dännemarck / Norway [et] c. [Etc. Ordered Rahts August Wygand's thorough investigation / whether the Hamburg citizenry / as you did in the meeting held on Sept. 23, 1697 / to carry out the former Schnittger Jastramsche matter again ...

literature