Joachim Berchem

Joachim Berchem (from around 1617 von Berchem , * around 1572 in Liège ; † February 26, 1648 in Aachen ) was aldermen and mayor of the imperial city of Aachen .

Live and act

All that is known about Berchem's origins is that he was the grandson of the imperial notary Franko Berchem († 1564) and a nephew of the canon canon Johann Berchem († 1599), whereas the names of his parents are as little known as the reason why he was in Liège was born. What is certain, however, is that in the course of an interrogation protocol in 1606 he stated that he was 34 years old and that he had completed a law degree and was a Dr. jur. referred to as.

Around 1598/1599 Berchem was elected as a new member of the lay jury and joined the star guild, the association of jury, whose Greve he became from 1639. In the following four decades he was elected mayor of the city of Aachen a total of 18 times, making him one of the most frequently re-elected and at the same time most successful mayors of the city. His terms of office amount to the years 1601/02, 1603/04, 1605/06, 1607/08, 1609/10, 1611/12, (1613/14), 1614/15, 1615/16 (each together with Christian Meess , the elder, as mayor from the ranks of the guilds), 1617/18 (with Egidius Bleyenheuft ), 1619/20 (with Dietrich Speckhewer ), 1621/22, 1623/24, 1627/28, 1629/30, 1631 / 32 (each with Johann Schörer), 1633/34, 1637/38, 1640/41 (each again with Dietrich Speckhewer) and 1644/45 (with Balthasar Fiebus).

It was the time when the Aachen religious unrest reached its climax and its temporary end. Berchem campaigned significantly for the interests of the Catholic citizens and city officials and often got into great difficulties himself. For example, in June 1604, as a stale (former) mayor, he was harassed by the now evangelical majority in the city council and expelled from the council as an alleged “stranger”. In April 1605 he was also placed under house arrest, but released a few days later and re-elected mayor by the Catholics in May. In the following years he successfully mediated between the Catholics, who among other things wanted to celebrate the Aachen Shrine Tour undisturbed with numerous foreign guests in 1608 , and the Protestants, who were baptized, married and held their masses outside the city for a "nominal fee" .

After Protestant princes dominated the Duchy of Jülich from 1609 in the course of the Jülich-Klevian succession dispute, the Aachen Reformed felt strengthened in their actions and tried to live out their faith openly in the city again. As a result, several Protestant citizens were captured in 1611, which led to a subsequent riot in the city. Although Berchem had released the prisoners as the re-elected mayor, the crowd did not want to be calm and stormed the Jesuit monastery, the city gates and the town hall and received personal support from the reigning, evangelical rulers in the Duchy of Jülich. This led to the election of the Protestant mayors Johann Kalkberner and Adam Schanternel in May 1612 , whereupon Berchem, as a stale mayor, was forced to flee the city. He went to Vienna to ask for an audience with the new ruler, Emperor Matthias . However, he first wanted to wait for his coronation on June 16, 1612 in Frankfurt am Main , in whose festivities Berchem wanted to take part as representative of the old council of the city of Aachen, as did the incumbent Protestant mayor. However, the delegates from Aachen were not allowed to participate, as the legality of the officials had not yet been clarified. Only then was Berchem heard at the emperor's court and obtained a commission that was supposed to start negotiations with the Protestants in Aachen, which, however, dragged on for months. Nevertheless, Berchem and Meess were re-elected mayor by the Catholic side in May 1613, but were not allowed to take office and the mayors Lambert and Jodokus von Beeck, elected by the Protestants, exercised power for one year in office. Finally, the emperor issued the order that with the help of the Spanish troops under Ambrosio Spinola the "old" order should be restored, which then, after their invasion of Aachen on August 25, 1614, deposed the mayors Kalkberner and Schanternel, re-elected in May, and Berchem and Use Meess again. Subsequently, the Protestant councilors and ringleaders were driven out, some were arrested and executed, others were able to escape criminal prosecution by fleeing, such as Kalkberner, who erected a pillar of shame on the Katschhof to deter the population .

Although the Thirty Years' War had begun a few years later from 1618 , the situation in Aachen was largely resolved, among other things by the length of stay of the Spanish troops, which remained stationed in Aachen until 1632. In 1619, Berchem was this time an official member of the Aachen delegation that took part in the coronation celebrations of the new Emperor Ferdinand II in Frankfurt and brought him the imperial insignia . Although there was still a state of war in Germany, the next few years and terms of office were unspectacular for Berchem. It was not until his last term of office in 1640 that Berchem was forced to interfere indirectly in the war. By paying a large sum of money to the imperial general Melchior von Hatzfeld , he prevented Aachen from having to accommodate larger contingents of troops in the winter quarters, thus protecting the city from significantly higher troop supply costs, but also from vandalism by troop members and possible enemy attacks.

Berchem had acquired a recognized reputation throughout his career, which gave him the honor of taking part in the negotiations for the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 as a representative of the city of Aachen . Berchem did not live to see the conclusion of these negotiations in October 1648, as he died a few months earlier on February 26 after returning from Münster in Aachen in the meantime .

Berchem's coat of arms at the Karlsbrunnen

For his services to the restoration of the Catholic faith in Aachen, Berchem was raised to the nobility by Emperor Matthias between 1615 and 1617 and his coat of arms and his seal were supplemented with a crown in the helmet field . Berchem's coat of arms can be found on the outer wall of the bronze bowl of Aachen's Karlsbrunnen , which he had cast and attached in 1620 together with his guild mayor and the stale mayors.

Berchem was married to Apollonia von Manderscheid, with whom he had the daughter Regina Elisabeth (1621–1655) and the son Johann Wilhelm von Berchem († 1676), who succeeded him in the jury.

Literature and Sources

• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The lay judges of the Royal See of Aachen from the earliest times until the final repeal of the imperial city constitution in 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 50 , 1928, ISSN  0065-0137 , pp. 351-356 , No. 269 ( pp. 351-356 ).
• Luise Freiin von Coels von der Brügghen: The Aachen mayors from 1251 to 1798 . In: Journal of the Aachen History Association . tape 55, 1933/34 , pp. 65/69 ( aachener-geschichtsverein.de [PDF; 1.7 MB ]).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Acta Pacis Westphalicae
2. ^ Inscription catalog : Aachen (city). DI 32, City of Aachen, No. 118. German Inscriptions Online , accessed on May 10, 2019 .