Niklas Teschler

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Niklas Teschler (* around 1400 , probably in the Lake Constance area; † summer or autumn 1485 , probably in Vienna ) was a merchant and "banker", as well as a councilor, mayor of the city of Vienna and mint master. He is considered one of the opponents of Wolfgang Holzer . As mayor and mint master he is one of the most important personalities of the city of Vienna in the 15th century.

origin

His family came from Waldsee (today: Baden-Württemberg). Niklas Teschler is recorded in the imperial city of Ravensburg until 1421 , in whose patriciate his father Konrad had risen. He settled in Vienna in the 1420s. There he married Anna († 1481) in 1434, the daughter of the Viennese citizen Hans Galnroder and widow of the Viennese citizen Hans Tänhauser the Elder, who brought a son and considerable wealth into the marriage. The marriage of the two remained childless, but lasted almost 50 years. His stepson Hans Tanhauser the Younger married Barbara in 1450, the daughter of the Viennese coin attorney and scribe Jakob Rechwein († 1471/4172). This marriage also remained childless.

Niklas Teschler's coat of arms shows on a red shield a crowned jumping wolf on a golden mountain of three, holding an animal in its throat. The impression is created that the wolf is growing out of the helmet.

Economic career

Teschler's fortune was based on the one hand on the trade (especially in the cloth trade) and on the other hand through the acquisition of house and property. Towards the end of 1433 he was able to acquire a stake in the consortium of Viennese "housemates", which was entrusted with the execution of coinage in the Duchy of Austria in the name of the sovereign and was responsible for the trade in precious metals. This enabled him to rise very quickly to the economic crème de la crème of the Viennese bourgeoisie. In the 1440s he ran a trading company together with relatives from the Muttenhauser family, who were related to him. His business contacts extended to the east (Hungary) and especially to the west, as far as Ravensburg and Ulm . Much of his business was lending and guaranteeing.

Among the large estates, including several houses in the Viennese suburbs and vineyards , the Regensburger Hof , located on the Lugeck , one of the most important economic centers of the city of Vienna, was of particular importance and also served as his residence. Teschler had acquired it in 1428 and had it expanded into an accommodation and restaurant business. Important public events (banquets, balls) took place there again and again until his death.

Political career

Teschler's financial circumstances made it possible for him to devote himself intensively to politics. This earned him recognition and a high reputation, but drew him into the vortex of political life of his time, which was shaped by numerous upheavals and profound turmoil. He did not always succeed in surviving such upheavals and turmoil unscathed.

From 1437 until his death Teschler belonged (with interruptions) to the city council (or the community ) of Vienna, where he held various offices. From 1437 to 1439, 1446, 1452, from 1454 to 1455, from 1460 to August 19, 1462 and again from 1468 to June 5, 1485 he was councilor, on June 5, 1485 he became a city attorney. From 1443 to 1445 he was city judge, 1447 city treasurer, 1452 Hansgraf and student judge, 1453 and from 1456 to 1457 mayor of Vienna, 1455 land registry administrator, from 1456 to 1457 and from 1460 to 1462 mint master and from 1483 to 1486 church master of Sankt Stephan. In his functions, Teschler had to undertake numerous trips, which occasionally took him to far-flung areas in the city, e.g. B. to Prague , Ofen , Pressburg and Graz . 1451/52 he took in the wake of Friedrich III. in his coronation procession to Rome.

In the conflict between Emperor Friedrich III. and Archduke Albrecht VI. he was loyal to the emperor, for which he had to accept severe physical and financial damage. In August 1462, during the tumultuous and violent dismissal of the council by Wolfgang Holzer's party, he was thrown into the most feared prison in the city of Vienna, the Carinthian tower, for about two weeks. After his brief release and the final takeover by Holzer, he was arrested again on September 25 and presumably tortured. It was not until eleven weeks later that he was released on the intervention of friends. In January 1463 he was forced to go into exile in Wiener Neustadt due to the political situation . After Holzer's execution and the death of Archduke Albrecht VI. he returned to Vienna in 1465 and continued his political activities for this city. Together with other citizens, at the instigation of the emperor, he was awarded financial compensation to be paid by the city of Vienna for the misery he had suffered. Unlike his stepson Hans Tänhauser, who had shared his political fate in the years 1462–1465 and even tried to enforce his claims for reparation by force of arms, Teschler contented himself with a substantial reduction in the compensation ultimately awarded to him.

In the last months of his life he even acted as city attorney for the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus , who had taken the city of Vienna in 1485 after a long and hard siege.

Appreciation

Teschler was held in high regard by most of his contemporaries throughout his life. This is e.g. B. can be recognized by the fact that he often acted as guardian for various wards and as executor. As a cloth merchant who had moved to Vienna from the Lake Constance area, he was able to position himself within a short time as a widely respected merchant and politician in the area of ​​the city of Vienna. His achievements in commercial and financial matters made him a sought-after advisor, on the one hand for the respective ruler and on the other hand for the city of Vienna. In the service of these, Teschler often demonstrated diplomatic skills. He is considered to be one of the most important sources of inspiration for the battered economic situation in the Duchy of Austria to "recover" in the second half of the 15th century.

literature

  • Helga Sigl: Niklas Teschler ; Diploma thesis, University of Vienna 2011 ( online )
  • Ferdinand Opll : Life in Medieval Vienna. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 1998, ISBN 3-205-98913-9 , pp. 168-172 (biography).
  • Ferdinand Opll, Peter Csendes : From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529). (= Vienna. History of a city. 3 volumes, volume 1). Böhlau, Vienna et al. 2001, ISBN 3-205-99266-0 .
  • Richard Perger: The Viennese councilors 1396 to 1526 . A manual (= research and contributions to the history of the city of Vienna 18). Deuticke, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7005-4600-9 , p. 185.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529). , 2001, p. 127
  2. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529), 2001, p. 171
  3. ↑ a b c Richard Perger: Die Wiener Ratsbürger 1396 to 1526 , 1988, p. 185.
  4. ↑ a b Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529). , 2001, p. 168
  5. ^ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first siege of the Turks in Vienna (1529) , 2001, p. 168f.
  6. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529) , 2001, p. 127 and 169
  7. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529) , 2001, p. 169
  8. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529), 2001, p. 170
  9. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529), 2001, p. 170
  10. ^ Helga Sigl: Niklas Teschler; Diploma thesis, University of Vienna 2011, p. 134
  11. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529), 2001, p. 170
  12. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529), 2001, p. 170
  13. ↑ Ferdinand Opll - Peter Csendes: From the beginnings to the first Turkish siege of Vienna (1529)., 2001, p. 169.
  14. ^ Helga Sigl: Niklas Teschler; Diploma thesis, University of Vienna 2011, p. 134
personal data
SURNAME Teschler, Niklas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Merchant, councilor and mayor of Vienna
DATE OF BIRTH around 1400
PLACE OF BIRTH Lake Constance area
DATE OF DEATH 1485
Place of death unsure: Vienna