Hinrik Mente

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Hinrik Mente d. J. (* around 1475 in Braunschweig ; † before September 9, 1531 there ) was a German bell and gun founder .

Life

The son of the bronze caster of the same name Hinrik Mente d. Ä. († 1516) came from a well-known Brunswick foundry family. During Mente's time in Braunschweig, the bell and gun founders were counted among the free artists and not among the craftsmen. The father can be traced back to Kannengießerstraße since 1460 . His brother Henning Mente, who was also a foundryman, lived in the same street. Mente's great-grandfather was the piece caster Henning Bussenschutte , who cast the giant Faule Mette gun in 1411 . In 1512 Mente bought a large piece of land on Echternstrasse in the old town . This street was right next to the city wall, which reduced the risk of fire from the workshop.

In 1519 he received citizenship in Braunschweig. Mente made bronze bells and baptismal fonts for the parishes of the city and the surrounding area. For the council of the city of Braunschweig he made about 50 guns together with his father and later independently. Among them were two cartoons , two emergency snakes and six half snakes. In 1523 40 rifles were produced on chariots. In 1671, a large part of the city's artillery, which had 134 pieces, consisted of pieces from Mentes. His reputation was so great that the picture of one of his guns in the arsenal book Emperor Charles V was added.

Mente died in Braunschweig in 1531. His name found its way into contemporary folk songs that address the armed conflicts between the city of Braunschweig and the Guelph sovereign. A song about the Battle of Steterburg in 1553 says:

Heinrich Mente shot with all his diligence,
it really makes enemies hot,
with half and whole snakes;
He always shot with joy,
ask for it.

family

Mente was married to Jutta Zylstorff (around 1478–1543), daughter of the bronze caster Martin Zylstorff (around 1450 – around 1537) from Lüneburg . Of the two sons, the older Cord Mente (1500–1574) was also a bell and gun founder. He is considered the most important member of the foundry family. The younger son Autor (around 1510–1579) also worked as a bronze caster. He received the property on Echternstrasse. The family property in Kannengießerstraße fell to Hinrik Mentes half-brother, the bronze caster Ulrich Mente (around 1495–1543) from his father's second marriage.

Works

Because father and son have the same name, their works, both guns and bells, cannot always be clearly assigned. As the most beautiful by Hinrik Mente d. J. cast bell is the richly decorated Bernwards bell (Bernwardi bell) from 1512, which hung as an hour bell in the Brunswick Katharinenkirche until its destruction in 1944 . Other selected works by Mentes are listed in chronological order below:

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mechthild Wiswe: Bell founder . In: Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon , Braunschweig 1992, pp. 89f.
  2. ↑ Werner Spieß : History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post Middle Ages , Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 322.
  3. ^ Rochus von Liliencron : The historical folk songs of the Germans from the 13th to the 16th century , Volume 4, Leipzig 1869, pp. 595f.
  4. ↑ Werner Spieß: History of the City of Braunschweig in the Post Middle Ages , Volume 1, Braunschweig 1966, p. 322.
  5. ^ Ingrid Henze, DI 61, No. 43, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  6. ↑ Christine Wulf, DIO 2, No. 26, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
  7. ↑ Christine Magin, DI 45, No. 67 †, in: Deutsche Insschriften Online
personal data
SURNAME Mente, Hinrik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mente, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bell and gun founder
DATE OF BIRTH around 1475
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH before September 9, 1531
Place of death Braunschweig