Hammer cleaning from Upper Palatinate

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The Upper Palatinate Hammereinigung was a company founded in 1387 by the councils of the cities of Amberg and Sulzbach to enforce the iron monopoly , to which 67% of all hammer works in the Upper Palatinate had joined at the time of foundation.

background

The Baierische Nordgau was an important center of iron ore mining in the High Middle Ages and the early modern period (see also Mining in the Upper Palatinate ). The prerequisites for this were the chalk ores with up to 52% iron content around the Hahnbach dome , the Dogger ores in the western Upper Palatinate with around 20% iron content and the Spateisenstein deposits near Tröstau , Wunsiedel , Thiersbach and Arzberg with an iron content of around 50% for roasted ores. In addition, there were a large number of rivers ( Naab , Vils , Regen , Pegnitz , Altmühl , Laber ) with a reliable amount of precipitation for the operation of the hammer mills as well as the abundance of forests in the Bohemian Forest , the Upper Palatinate Forest and the Bavarian Forest , due to which wood and charcoal have been supplied for a long time could.

At first, the bellows in the ironworks were still operated by hand or as a pedal hammer ("Fabricae pedales", footworks), then the more powerful drive by water wheels was used. Pedal hammers could be placed near ore pits, independently of a watercourse, which saved transport costs. In a hammer mill, however, the pig iron was forged over a water wheel using a hammer and brought into the commercial form of the rail, a rectangular, elongated bar. In order to enable a constant supply of water, large reservoirs, known as hammer ponds, were sometimes set up. This is the Pfrentschweiher near the market Eslarn the largest (1362-1840 operating).

At that time, the cities of Amberg and Sulzbach produced around 10,000 t of iron annually, from 30,000 t in what is now Germany and 60,000 t in all of Europe. In 1487 there were almost 12,000 people working in and for the mining industry in the Upper Palatinate, of which 730 were miners and around 1,600 were employed in the iron hammers. The other employees supplied wood and coal, took care of the transport, the crafts and the construction work. In 1609, about 25% of the area's total population made a living from mining and smelting.

Hammer cleaning in Upper Palatinate from 1387

On January 7, 1387, the Upper Palatinate Hammer Association was founded by the council of the mining towns of Amberg and Sulzbach and 68 hammer masters from the Upper Palatinate and Nuremberg. This was preceded by an agreement between Amberg and Sulzbach from 1341, with which "Aussen" (i.e. non-citizens) were to be kept away from iron production and wages set according to collective agreements were created for the workers in the hammer mills. In this agreement it was agreed that no one should be authorized to operate hammers and obtain ore from the mines of these cities who was not a citizen of these two cities or who would acquire citizenship. In 1387, citizens of Nuremberg who already operated hammer mills were also included.

The statutes of the agreement of 1387 can be summarized into five main points:

  • Measures to reduce the excessive capacity of the iron industry: e.g. B. Ban on the construction of new systems, ban on converting a tin hammer into a rail hammer , fixing the annual working time at 40 weeks.
  • Enforcement of the ore monopoly and the monopoly of the iron and steel industry: All Schienhämmer outside of the agreement receive no ore from the mines in Amberg and Sulzbach, no mining member of the agreement is allowed to give ore to "foreigners", whoever does not pay for the current ore deliveries will receive the ores locked, rail hammers of unification may only be sold to members.
  • Standardization, trademarks: 12 of the forged work rails must go on an Amberg hundredweight (= 61 kg), 15 or 16 of the "Radeisen" must go on an Amberg hundredweight, each rail hammer has to put its mark on forged products.
  • Obligation to work, wages, vacation and vacation pay: The duty of the blacksmith and hammer people must take place on January 7th of each year, runaway workers may not be employed by other hammer masters, the hammer people have their work at the annual celebrations (Christmas, Easter, Whitsun) They are given paid leave for this, the remuneration is based on an annual wage or a piece wage.
  • Control and punitive power: If a member of the agreement violates an article, the threatened fine must be imposed on him; if the cities do not punish a reported misconduct, they must be fined 15 fl. Cities have the right to control one another.

The certificate is provided with hanging seals from the cities of Amberg and Sulzbach and the seals of 64 hammer masters who together had 77 rail hammers. Count Palatine Friedrich confirmed the agreement in Landshut on January 24, 1387 . The agreement was later joined by six more Schienhammers, these were the Schienhammer Pleystein (March 9, 1387), the Schienhammer Muckenthal (April 20, 1387), the Schienhammer Troschelhammer (March 31, 1387), the Schienhammer Laaber (October 22, 1387) ), the Schienhammer Floss (July 28, 1388) and the Idelsbach Schienhammer (January 15, 1389). The agreement included 67% of all hammer mills in the Upper Palatinate.

Only blacksmith hammer mills were included in the agreement, iron-processing sheet metal hammer mills are only represented in the hammer cleaning of 1464. The agreement was initially on a voluntary basis, but in the middle of the 15th century this became mandatory due to sovereign regulations. The Count Palatine Friedrich, Ruprecht I and Ruprecht II secured this association self-administration with their own hammer and labor jurisdiction in the iron districts of Amberg, Sulzbach and Nuremberg. In 1460 Pope Pius II allowed the city of Sulzbach and its hammer lords to do urgent Sunday work in ore mining; The Amberg Vilsschifffahrern, the main transport men for iron, were allowed to work on Sundays. The Hammervereinigung was the oldest cartel in German economic history.

The Upper Palatinate hammer cleaning was in force until 1626, but in the course of the Thirty Years' War 60-70% of all works came to a standstill. After the land was handed over to Elector Maximilian I , many of the old and Lutheran ironworks families had to leave the country. They emigrated to Protestant areas such as the Margraviate of Bayreuth and the Electorate of Saxony , where the ironworking industry subsequently took off.

After the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Amberger-Sulzbach Agreement was revived and its provisions were adjusted at ten-year intervals (the agreement of 1387 comprised 43, that of 1464 already 128 articles), but without attaining the previous meaning.

The "common mining society of the city of Amberg"

In order to settle the constant disputes between the Amberg trades about the fair distribution of the costs for drainage - owners of pits with poor yield had to pay the same share as those with good profit - Amberg founded a "common mining company" in 1455 all trades had to participate.

A peculiarity of the mining in Sulzbach and Amberg was that the extraction was no longer continuous since the middle of the 15th century, but in campaigns, the so-called "Würken", which were ordered by the city council. Würken was only ordered when the ore on the dump was sold. These Würken were carried out every 3 to 4 years in winter, mostly from Martini (November 11th) to Easter, when enough cheap labor from agriculture was available. Up to 700 workers were needed for one Würken, a small part came from the surrounding area, many came from other mountain areas, especially from Bohemia.

The “gemain” company dissolved again in 1465 and was replaced by six individual companies, each with three to four pits and two to three still-to-be-tapped “corridors” assigned, each with a share capital of around 1400 guilders. The division of the trades shares to the new companies was determined by lot, the city held about 20% each. The city's common society was re-established by the city. After 1611 the society came to a complete standstill.

Society of Kastner and Plech

The Castner and Plech Society was one of the private companies founded after 1465 for the operation of iron mining. It had even received permission from the sovereign for private mining in the Amberg area. After 1500 there was bitter competition between this private company and the urban community. The city fought the unpopular competition with all means (hindrance of transport on the Vils, incarceration of mountain masters); yet this private company was more successful than the city. While the city even had to stop mining temporarily in 1515, which led to 300 unemployed miners and a loss of 30,000 guilders, the Castner & Plech made over 10,000 guilders in profits between 1537 and 1542 and paid over 10,000 guilders wages, with the city paying out this successful business had benefited over 60,000 guilders. The end of Castner & Plech came in the middle of the 16th century, the cause was the lack of capable entrepreneurs.

Amberger Eisenhandelsgesellschaft

The “gemain Gesellschaft des Eysenhandel der Stadt Amberg” was a subsidiary of the mining company in Amberg. Their “main sum” amounted to 20,832 Rhenish guilders in 1570/71 . The expenditures amounted to 26,605 guilders, the income 27,791 guilders and the profit amounted to 1,186 guilders. The mining company supplied the rail hammers with ore and transferred the debt to the iron trading company. The hammer masters had to repay their debts to them in the form of iron products. This debt had to be settled by the end of the year, and the iron that was still produced could be sold at will. At the end of the year, the iron trading company transferred its profits to the mining company.

In the late Middle Ages, the production of the hammers was mostly financed by iron dealers. With cash in short supply at the time, publishing had become a common business practice. This system could be much more differentiated than in the Upper Palatinate, as the example of the iron and steel industry in Styria shows: Here the iron dealer lent money to the hammer master and had it repaid through iron products, and part of the hammer property was pledged. The hammer master in turn lent the pig iron supplier ( wheel master ) money so that he could buy ore. But that did not end the chain of money lending, because the cycling master had to advance the mines with money so that they could mine ore at all. The loaned money was secured by pledging. If this chain got into disarray because a member could not meet his monetary obligations, the pledges would become effective. As a result, it was often the iron merchant, as the financially strongest part, who then became the hammer mill owner or the mining industry, without this always being intended.

In order to protect the Upper Palatinate hammers from becoming overindebted, the hammer cleaning regulations set a maximum amount up to which loans could be granted.

This Amberg iron trading company had a defeat in Amberg, Kelheim and Regensburg , where the iron that was up for sale was collected. The largest business was done with the free imperial city of Ulm .

literature

  • Karl Bosl (1978). The territory of the Electoral Palatinate "Upper Palatinate". In Karl Bosl: Oberpfalz and Oberpfälzer (pp. 209–231). Kallmünz: Let life.
  • Franz Michael Ress (1950). History and economic importance of the Upper Palatinate iron industry from the beginning up to the time of the 30-year war. Regensburg: Publishing house of the historical association of Upper Palatinate and Regensburg.
  • Franz Michael Ress (1951). The iron trade of the Upper Palatinate in ancient times. Munich: Oldenbourg.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz-Michael Ress (1954). Enterprises, entrepreneurs and workers in iron ore mining and in iron smelting in the Upper Palatinate from 1300 to around 1630. Schmeller's Yearbook for Legislation, Administration and Economics, 74, pp. 49-106.
  2. ↑ Ress, Franz Michael (1950). History and economic importance of the Upper Palatinate iron industry from the beginning up to the time of the 30-year war. Regensburg, Publishing House of the Historical Association of Upper Palatinate and Regensburg, p. 29 f.
  3. ^ Karl Bosl (1978). The territory of the Electoral Palatinate "Upper Palatinate". In Karl Bosl: Oberpfalz and Oberpfälzer (pp. 209–231). Kallmünz: Let life.
  4. ^ Franz Michael Ress, 1950, p. 110.
  5. ^ Franz Michael Ress, 1950, pp. 119f.