Martin Römer
Martin Römer (* around 1432; † April 5, 1483 in Zwickau ) was a Zwickau merchant and governor , who from 1471 as a tithe and between 1475 and 1477 as a Saxon miner on the Schneeberg through his participation as a trades in the local silver mining to great fortune came. He had important buildings erected in Zwickau and was a generous sponsor of his hometown.
Life
He came from the Meißnischen family Römer , and was the son of the Chemnitz merchant Hans Romer (also: Römer; around 1400–1481), and his wife Catharina . It was a deserved Zwickau citizens and owned since 1462, the civil rights . His date of birth is unknown. Römer was married to Catharina Tretwein, the daughter of the Zwickau patrician and councilor Hans Tretwein. The Römer-Tretwein coat of arms is located at the so-called Römerhaus on the Zwickau main market in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral. As early as 1467 he was elected to the Zwickau council, of which he was a member until 1475. His brother was the Zwickau merchant Nicol Römer (around 1435–1493), who became the progenitor of the von Römer family .
Römer was a merchant and a trade. From 1471 he is tithables on the Schneeberg and was 1475, after the death of his predecessor Godfrey of Wolffersdorf than Amtshauptmann to Zwickau and mines, of Schneeberg appointed. He was miner captain until August 28, 1477, official governor until his death in 1483. According to the historian Emil Herzog, Römer is considered to be the actual founder of the Schneeberg silver mining industry. Römer was a landlord on Unter- Steinpleis (today part of Werdau ), Marienthal , Niederalbertsdorf and the Werdau estate; He bequeathed these goods to his brother Nicol in his will of 1470, since he himself had no descendants.
On February 5, 1470 the brothers Martin and Nicol Römer by Friedrich III. awarded an imperial nobility letter , d. H. Martin Römer was raised to the nobility that year. The electoral and ducal Saxon enfeoffment with Steinpleis and Niederalbertsdorf, today both in the district of Zwickau , followed on February 6, 1476 for the two brothers.
The Schneeberg silver deposits were also discovered in 1470, and Römer and his brother Nicol were particularly involved in their exploitation. Due to the high silver production of the Schneeberger pits, the Zwickau Mint was reopened in 1475.
The silver mining made Martin Römer the "richest private man of his time in the state of Meißen". He used a large part of his wealth for the benefit of his hometown in various foundations . Among the numerous donations for church and community purposes, the foundation of the rich alms for the support of poor citizens and the new building of the council school in the upper churchyard stood out. In 1477, at a joint expense with Hans Federangel of 4800 guilders, he created the swan pond as a fire water pond and for fish farming. In total, he made foundations worth 33,600 Rhenish guilders .
Duke Albrecht of Saxony traveled to Rome and Palestine on a pilgrimage in 1476 , and his entourage also included Martin Römer, who was knighted in Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on August 1, 1476.
Römer was a generous sponsor of his hometown of Zwickau. Among other things, he had the magazine houses built on Kornmarkt in 1480. Immediately next to the Osterstein Castle in Zwickau is the Niedere Kornhaus , which he built . With this he created one of the largest secular buildings of the late Gothic period in Germany around 1480. After a demolition notice, the mighty and historically valuable building was actually supposed to be demolished in 2008, but was then saved and extensively restored from 2010 to 2014 with financial support from the federal government, the state of Saxony and the city of Zwickau. Roman's upper magazine at the Frauentor, however, no longer exists today.
Martin Römer donated substantial funds for the construction of the Wolgemut Altarpiece of the St. Marien Church in Zwickau . In the Roman chapel there is his grave, that of his brother Nicol and a bronze family coat of arms.
Honors
The “Martin Römer Medal of Honor” is named after him, which is awarded in Zwickau to personalities who have achieved special merits through successful work and advocacy for the good or reputation of the city and its citizens. In the northern suburb of Zwickau, the “Römerplatz”, surrounded by buildings from the Wilhelminian era, has been named after Martin Römer since the 1870s.
literature
- Genealogical manual of the nobility . Noble houses B 1954. Starke, Limburg (Lahn) 1954, p. 361.
- E. Herzog: Martin Römer: A biographical contribution to the Saxon cultural history. In: Mittheilungen of the royal Saxon association for research and preservation of patriotic historical and art monuments. Issue 14, Dresden 1865, pp. 49–63.
- E. Herzog: Hans Federangel: A medieval life picture. In: Archives for Saxon History. Booklet NF 1, Leipzig 1875, pp. 260-267.
- Julia Kahleyß: The economic rise of Martin Römer. Social mobility in mining in the Western Ore Mountains in the 15th century. In: Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte , issue 2/2013, pp. 154–177
- Gustav Roethe: Romans from Zwickau . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 29, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 117.
- Robert Weißmann: Martin Römer († 1483) in the past and present. Reflections on the history of reception. In: Cygnea 11 (2013) , pp. 5-33.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The one from Römer at Schlossarchiv.de ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Roman, Martin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Merchant and governor in Zwickau |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1432 |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 5, 1483 |
| Place of death | Zwickau |