Martin Merz

Epitaph of Martin Merz on the St. Martin's Basilica, Amberg

Martin Merz (also Mercz or Mertz ; * around 1425 in Vilseck ; † April 28, 1501 in Amberg ) was a gunsmith and artillery ballistician in the service of the Palatinate .

Life

He was probably born as the son of the tower keeper and arithmetic master Mertz in Vilseck, who was the tower keeper on the Amberg Martinsturm from 1438 to 1458.

Martin attended the Latin school in Amberg and completed his apprenticeship with a bell and gun foundry there . Later he dealt with the practical handling of firearms and became a gun master .

Martin Merz entered the service of Elector Friedrich I of the Palatinate as a rifle and gun master in 1460 . In the Mainz collegiate feud in 1461/1462 he proved his ability; In 1469 he became the highest gunner in the Electoral Palatinate. In the campaign of 1470/1472 he shot Schriesheim with the Strahlenburg , Armsheim , Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse with the Wachtenburg , Hockenheim , Nieder-Olm , Lambsheim , Ruppertsecken and Dürkheim ready for storm.

After the death of Frederick I in 1476, Merz remained in the service of his successor, Elector Philipp . In 1486 he took part under him in the siege of Hohengeroldseck Castle and directed its six-week bombardment. The cannons he used were called u. a. Ballauf, Neidhart, Pfalz, Baslerin, Löw and Narr . In addition to his participation in campaigns and sieges, Merz trained gunsmiths and perfected handguns with powder pan lids and matchlocks . He also knew how to cast gun barrels. The storage of the gun barrel on a carriage is said to be his invention.

Merz wrote a lavishly illustrated book on the art of shooting from rifles (around 1473 / around 1480).

Martin Merz was married twice in Amberg, but apparently had no children. His epitaph made of valuable red marble brought from afar is remarkable on the wall of the parish church of St. Martin , not far from his house in Schiffgasse at the time. The stone shows him in low relief, with an eye patch, rosary and decorated clothing, standing on a cannon barrel. The basilisk and a gun carriage form the coat of arms at his feet. The grave inscription describes him as a gunsmith who is famous “in the art of mathematica Buchssenschissen”.

Works

Fireworks book (around 1473 / around 1480), BSB Cgm 599 ( fully digitized version of the BSB )

literature

Wolfgang Rappel: Merz, Martin. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 523 ( digitized version ).
Heidemarie Sander: Amberg Legends . Ensdorf 2008, text by Major General a. D. Josef Dollacker, ISBN 978-3-7698-1753-9 , pp. 54-56.
Rainer Leng: Ars belli. German tactical and war-technical illuminated manuscripts and treatises in the 15th and 16th centuries. 2 vols. Wiesbaden 2002.
Ricarda Huch : In the old empire. Pictures of Life in German Cities (Volume 3: The South), Bremen 1927, Chapter “Amberg”, pp. 219–220 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
The art monuments of Upper Palatinate & Regensburg. ed. by Georg Hager - Reprint of Die Kunstdenkmäler im Kingdom of Bavaria , 1909 edition, Oldenbourg, Munich and Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-486-50446-0 , p. 96.
The famous gunsmith Martin Mertz von Amberg. in Die Oberpfalz: Home magazine for the former Bavarian Nordgau: the Upper Palatinate, the free imperial city of Nuremberg, the prince-bishopric of Eichstätt, Egerland and the neighboring areas. , Monthly for History, 10th issue 1927, 21st year, published by Anton Dollacker and JB Laßleben , Verlag Michael Laßleben , Kallmünz / Regensburg 1927
Volker Schmidtchen : Merz (Mercz), Martin. In: Author's Lexicon . Volume VI, Col. 442 f.

Web links

In the footsteps of famous sons of the city of Amberg: Martin Merz. In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung for the Vilstal and the southern district of Amberg-Sulzbach. August 22, 2006; Accessed December 18, 2010
Grave slab Merz in the audio guide Amberg
Amberg churches

Individual evidence

^ Christoph Graf zu Waldenburg Wolfegg: The Munich ›Bellifortis‹ and its author . In: Kulturstiftung der Länder, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Ed.): Konrad Kyeser, Bellifortis: Clm 30150 / Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (= Pairimonia . No. 137 ). 2000, ISSN 0941-7036 , p. 67 .
^ Franz Michael Ress (1960): Buildings, monuments and foundations of German ironworkers (written on behalf of the Association of German Ironworkers ). Verlag Stahleisen, Düsseldorf, p. 21.
^ The dating according to the watermarks according to: Leng, Rainer: Ars belli. German tactical and war-technical illuminated manuscripts and treatises in the 15th and 16th centuries. 2 vols. Wiesbaden 2002, vol. 2.

personal data
SURNAME	Merz, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mertz, Martin; Mercz, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Gunsmith and mathematician in the service of the Electoral Palatinate
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1425
PLACE OF BIRTH	Vilseck
DATE OF DEATH	April 28, 1501
Place of death	On the mountain

[1] Christoph Graf zu Waldenburg Wolfegg: The Munich ›Bellifortis‹ and its author . In: Kulturstiftung der Länder, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Ed.): Konrad Kyeser, Bellifortis: Clm 30150 / Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (= Pairimonia . No. 137 ). 2000, ISSN 0941-7036 , p. 67 .

[2] Franz Michael Ress (1960): Buildings, monuments and foundations of German ironworkers (written on behalf of the Association of German Ironworkers ). Verlag Stahleisen, Düsseldorf, p. 21.

[3] The dating according to the watermarks according to: Leng, Rainer: Ars belli. German tactical and war-technical illuminated manuscripts and treatises in the 15th and 16th centuries. 2 vols. Wiesbaden 2002, vol. 2.