Johann Jacob Renner

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The former Rennerstraße in Freiburg, today Grete-Borgmann-Straße

Johann Jacob Renner (* before 1590 in Freiburg im Breisgau ; † after 1613 there ) was a city ​​councilor and a member of the city government in Freiburg im Breisgau.

Life

All that is known about Johann Jacob Renner is that he had a steep career in the city ​​administration in Freiburg, in Upper Austria . In 1590 he was appointed one of the "Twelve Permanent" in the city council, which met three times a week, that is, a lifelong civil member. In 1597 he was a member of the three-person city government for the first time. This consisted of the deputy of the mayor, the deputy of the mayor and the chief guild master. This was not only the master of the guilds , but he commanded as a Colonel , a military confrontation in the case of the guilds as alternate border vigilantes . In the following years, Renner held the office of chief guild master several times, alternating with that of mayor governor. In 1598 he became chairman of the Schützengesellschaft zum Stahl.

In 1599 he was responsible for the city witch trials in his capacity as governor of the mayor . That year, between January 30th and March 24th, the city had twelve women publicly executed as witches, mostly widows and single women. At first it hit the poor and the old, then also women from the upper class. The last three people executed in spring 1599 were widows of former council members: Margaretha Mößmerin, Catharina Stadellmenin and Anna Wolffartin. Today a plaque at Freiburg's Martinstor commemorates them . In 1603, Renner, as chief guild master, urged councilor Andreas Flader, who was acting as mayor's governor, to accuse 25 women suspected of witchcraft and to have them tortured. Of these women, thirteen were sentenced to death, beheaded and their bodies burned.

The inscription of a portrait painting by Renner in the possession of the Freiburg foundation administration reads: Johan Renner, the chief master of the ranks instead of Freyburg, and great benefactor of the poor, whom he abandoned for alms and forgave his soul's consolation on XVIII thousand gulden. Anno 1613 , d. In other words, the childless racer donated his entire fortune of 18,000 guilders to the poor.

rating

Because of Renner's generous donation for the poor, the Freiburg city council decided in 1882 to name a street in the Stühlinger district after him.

A naming commission commissioned by the city recommended in its report in 2016 that Rennerstraße be renamed, because Renner “did not adopt clear and reasoned statements against the witch craze at the time, but rather turned out to be a particularly keen witch hunter through his behavior”. The street has been named after the women's rights activist Grete Borgmann since 2018 .

literature

  • Thomas Goebel: Freiburg street names: Johann Jacob Renner - controversial Freiburg governor . In: Badische Zeitung of October 19, 2016, p. 22 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Freiburg City Archives .
  2. ↑ Rennerstraße at onlinestreet.de.
  3. ↑ http://www.freiburg.de/pb/site/Freiburg/node/1017982/Lde/zmdetail_14789801/Rennerstrasse.html?zm.sid=zmarvxn3dvw2 , accessed on November 8, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Renner, Johann Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Freiburg City Council
DATE OF BIRTH 16th Century
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 1613
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau