Püchel from meim geslecht and from abentewr

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The Püchel von meim geslecht and von abentewr of the Nuremberg councilor and entrepreneur Ulman Stromer (1329–1407) is the earliest Nuremberg family book and gives important information about the imperial city patriciate in the second half of the 14th century. It contains news on the councilor and merchant family Stromer ("mein gesleht") as well as on economic issues and political events ("abentewr").

Emergence

The Püchel von meim geslecht and von abentewr , written by the Nuremberg councilor and entrepreneur Ulman Stromer (1329–1407), marks the beginning of the historiographical literature of the imperial city of Nuremberg and is considered an early work with "autobiographical" features in German. Karl Hegel therefore placed it at the beginning of his edition series “The Chronicles of German Cities” in 1862. The basis for this was the ms. 6146 of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum , which fol. 1r - 99v contains the text written down by Stromer himself, on fol. 100r – 131r addenda by the Nuremberg council clerk and historiographer Johannes Müllner (1565–1634).

Ulman claims to have started his records in 1360, the majority of the entries come from the years 1385–95, the last major addendum was made in 1400.

content

In terms of content, the work essentially comprises three subject areas: 1. Family information, 2. Political events, 3. Economic information. All three areas appear to be closely linked in terms of both content and form and can hardly be separated from one another, because "Stromer was at the same time a politician, a businessman and he was a member of the influential, highly respected Nuremberg Stromer - one thing determined the other." (Schneider)

Ulman's reporting remains dispassionate and aloof, even in the case of events that deeply affect him and his closest relatives. At the same time, some events that we consider significant and in which Ulman was directly involved are not mentioned. The reliability of the reporting decreases noticeably with the increasing distance of the author in terms of time and space from the events.

The entries appear in any order, countless cross-references in the text reinforce this impression. Only Hegel created a structured structure in his edition.

Family communications

The family area primarily includes notices about the ministerial origins of the Stromers as well as long lists of names of family members and deceased relatives of the other council families, mostly related to the Stromers and related by marriage. Ulman himself gives the reason for these lists: "We will forget that they will not be written."

In addition, there are legal and economic news from Ulman's family environment, such as information on the purchase of a large property north of the Frauenkirche, on legal disputes with his country residents or on the famous coat of arms dispute with the councilor family Bastel, which had the same coat of arms as the Stromer.

Political events

Ulman reports on political events in the city and the empire from 1349–1401. The description always remains distant and sober, although historical science has been able to show from various other sources that Ulman or his closest relatives were more or less directly involved in most of the events.

Discussed imperial affairs include the deposition of Wenceslas and the election of Ruprecht from the Palatinate to the German king and the city war in which Nuremberg joined the Swabian League . Events in the city are the infamous Jewish pogrom of 1348 or the building of a wall around the Nuremberg Castle with the support of Charles IV to shield the burgrave from the city.

Economic information

The economic information is mainly given in bullet-point lists: it concerns information on customs duties , weights and coinage as far as Spain and Poland and even Azov on the Sea of ​​Azov . This information is also of great help in reconstructing Ulman's early life, as he cannot be found in Nuremberg sources in his early years.

The history of the founding of Ulmans paper mill, which is reproduced in the Püchel, can also be counted in the economic area, to which several employment contracts with Ulmans employees are attached.

Classification as source and genre

From the beginning, Ulmans Püchel was widely received in Nuremberg and can therefore be regarded as the basis of medieval historiography in the city. In 1862 the scientific edition in the 1st volume of the "Chronicles of the German Cities" was carried out by Karl Hegel. Since then, the Püchel has been consulted many times as a source of Nuremberg history, with repeated attempts to classify it as a genre: It is certainly problematic to classify it as an “autobiography”, but also to classify it as a “commercial handbook” (Stromer) as a pure one Family or history works fall short. That is why more recent research suggests the general term “memorial book” with a “balanced combination of commercial, family and historical-political records” (Schneider).

As a source, Ulman's work testifies above all to the pronounced self-confidence of the Nuremberg patriciate in the 14th century, which experienced an unparalleled political and social rise during this time.

Editions

  • Ulman Stromer: Püchel by meim geslechet and by abentewr , in: Karl von Hegel (ed.): The Chronicles of the German Cities Vol. 1., Leipzig 1862.
  • Ulman Stromer: Püchel from my sex and from abentewr . Partial facsimile of the manuscript Hs 6164 of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg. To mark the 600th anniversary of the founding of Germany's first paper mill, published by the Association of German Paper Mills, Bonn in 1990.

literature

  • Lotte Kurras (ed.): Ulman Stromer: Püchel from mein geslecht and from abentewr. Partial facsimile of the manuscript Hs 6164 of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg. Commentary tape. With contributions by Lore Sporhan-Krempel , Wolfgang Stromer von Reichenbach and Ludwig Veit. To mark the 600th anniversary of the founding of Germany's first paper mill, published by the Association of German Paper Mills, Bonn in 1990.
  • Walter Vock: Ulman Stromeir (1329–1407) and his book. Supplements to the Hegelian edition, in: Mitteilungen des Verein für Geschichte der Stadt Nürnberg 29 (1928), pp. 85–168. ( Digitized version )
  • Wolfgang Stromer : The writing of the Nuremberg economy from the 14th to the 16th century, in: Contributions to the economic history of Nuremberg 2 (1967), pp. 751–799.
  • Joachim Schneider: Typology of Nürnberger Stadtchronistik around 1500. Present and history in a late medieval city, in: Peter Johanek (ed.): Urban historiography in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern times, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2000, pp. 181–203.
  • Barbara Schmid: Writing for status and rule. German autobiography in the late Middle Ages and early modern times, Zurich 2006.
  • Urs Zahnd: Some remarks on late medieval family books from Nuremberg and Bern, in: Rudolf Endres (ed.): Nuremberg and Bern. Two imperial cities and their rural areas (= Erlanger research. Series A. Geisteswissenschaften, Vol. 46), pp. 7–38.
  • Peter Fleischmann: Councilor and patriciate in Nuremberg. The rule of the councilors from the 13th to the 18th century, Nuremberg 2008 (= Nürnberger Forschungen 31), Vol. 2: Councilors and councilors.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Entry on the manuscript in the manuscript census

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