Coffee smear
Kaffeeriecher or coffee snoopers referred to a group of around 400 invalids ( war- disabled soldiers) who were employed from 1780 at the instigation of Frederick the Great to "sniff" in the Prussian municipalities where coffee beans were roasted forbidden . The import of coffee was banned according to the mercantilist model in order to keep money in the country and to protect the local malt coffee suppliers and manufacturers.
After the Seven Years' War the treasury was empty; therefore Friedrich II imposed a high luxury tax on the popular drink coffee from 1781 to 1787 . Since only state roasters were allowed to distil the coffee, licensed dealers sold it at inflated prices. In order to counter the flourishing smuggling , Prussia hired coffee smugglers who were supposed to recognize the smugglers and collect fines from them. The coffee scouts carried out body searches and house searches in military uniforms , were therefore hated by the population, but earned well, and if they were successful there were bonuses.
After the death of Frederick II, the state coffee monopoly was abolished; now the coffeemakers were unemployed.
literature
- Felix Eberty : History of the Prussian State. Volume 5: 1763-1806. Trewendt, Breslau 1870, p. 35 f.
- Rainer A. Müller : Age of Absolutism 1648–1789 (= German history in sources and presentation . Volume 5). Reclam, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-15-017005-2 , p. 412.
- Michaela Vieser : Different times, different professions: The coffee lover. In: Der Tagesspiegel , August 30, 2008.
- The coffee grinder . In: The Gazebo . Issue 8, 1892, pp. 259–260 ( full text [ Wikisource ]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: Forgotten Professions: These jobs no longer exist. Retrieved April 29, 2020 .