Rugsamt
The Rugsamt in Nuremberg , also Rugamt ( Rügeamt , Rügegericht ), was about today's labor inspectorate comparable authority.
Immediately after the abolition of the guilds that had existed since 1349, it was the highest judicial and commercial police authority in the city and was responsible to the city council for all crafts and manufactories .
The rugs office consisted of the chairman, the "pledger", who from 1470 had two, from 1498 four councilors from the ruling "small council", and five "rugs" from the patriciate . Through the controlled distribution or refusal of the trade concessions, the city council was able to regulate the number of trading companies as required to secure production and trade and determine the number of journeymen and apprentices depending on the economic situation. The Rugsamt blocked foreign suppliers or craftsmen from entering the market, thus preventing any competition. It proceeded according to the principle: “Fiat justitia et pereat mundus!” - “The world may end if only the law applies!” So it determined the guidelines of the city's commercial policy, carried out commercial controls and was responsible for economic jurisdiction. The city was concerned with cementing the existing balance of power and its possessions.
Certain trades were "blocked" and should therefore be reserved exclusively for the city of Nuremberg. The journeyman Hiking was therefore prohibited. Newly accepted apprentices had to solemnly swear at the Rugsamt that they would not practice the craft they had learned anywhere else and had to acquire citizenship immediately . After the apprenticeship, the Rugsamt acquitted the apprentice.
The Rugsamt forbade the artisans to form any political association or self-government - even religious brotherhoods and other common guild jurisdictions. Meetings were only permitted in the presence of a ruler or clerk.
As early as 1804 the dissolution of the Rugsamt was considered; however, the office did not cease to operate until 1809.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz-Gerhard Haupt : The end of the guilds. A European comparison , page 57, Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, ISBN 3525351674 and ISBN 9783525351673 . ( Digitized version ) - In many mostly older sources, the year 1470 is only mentioned as the year of origin of the Rugsamt.
- ↑ A distinction was made between “given”, “not given” and “blocked” crafts.
- ↑ Urs Martin Zahnd, Rudolf Endres: Nuremberg and Bern. Two imperial cities and their rural areas , page 52f., Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 1990, ISBN 3922135668 and ISBN 9783922135661 ( excerpts )
- ^ Reinhold Reith , Andreas Griessinger, Petra Eggers: Strike movements of German journeymen in the 18th century. Materials on the social and economic history of urban handicrafts 1700-1806 , page 27f., Verlag O. Schwartz, 1992 ( excerpt )