Saint Petersburg Guild

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Saint Petersburg guild regulated the taxes for foreign merchants and craftsmen. It was founded at the time when Catherine the Great invited craftsmen and merchants to Russia by means of an invitation manifesto. The guild existed in three tax classes (first, second and third guild) until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

structure

There were three guilds:

  • The first guild consisted of those who could prove a capital of 50,000 rubles , the second, which could prove such a capital of 20,000 and the third such a capital of 8,000 rubles.
  • The first guild paid the state four percent of the stated capital and about 1.5 percent of other taxes; the second guild only paid four percent, the third guild only 3.5 percent. This class was authorized to trade at sea and to build smelters and factories, was allowed to own ships, was not subject to corporal punishment, and could drive around town in a carriage drawn by two horses.
  • The peasants, who traded with the special permission of their masters, were not required to declare their working capital. Only members of the first two guilds were excluded from corporal punishment.
  • The second guild also had the right to establish factories. However, they were limited to domestic trade, were allowed to build ironworks and factories, own river boats, drive within the city in a half-car with two horses, and were exempt from corporal punishment
  • The third guild was intended for grocery and retail trade, was only allowed to set up workshops and factories, run inns or baths, and only ride a horse in town.
  • The first guild in 1838: 1,900 merchants, the second guild 3,400, the third guild 5,300, plus a large number of serfs who could trade with the permission of their masters. If you add 8,000 paid assistants to this, then that results in around 50,000 people for Petersburg who belonged to all three guilds.

Members of a guild who wanted to keep their property for more than ten years had to become Russian citizens. The acquisition of land with more than 300 deciatines (one deciatine approximately 11% acres ) was not permitted.

In 1790 the Russian guild members of the first guild paid 11,581 rubles in taxes, the foreign guild members referred to as guests paid 48,700 rubles in taxes, almost four times as much.

Members of the First Guild

In 1838 this guild had 562 members, including:

  • Karl Wilhelm Müller (* 1749 in St. Petersburg; † unknown): bookbinder, bookseller, merchant of the 1st guild, house owner, commissioner of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences since 1774
  • Johann Hermann Klostermann (born August 5, 1757 in Gertrudenberg, Holland; † January 4, 1838 in St. Petersburg): Merchant of the 1st Guild (since 1791), book and music dealer, owner of a bookstore from 1783 to 1811, supplier of Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Arts (since 1804), homeowner
  • Johann August Tischner (* 1774 in Ziesdorf (Saxony); † 1852 in Saint Petersburg) piano manufacturer
  • Anton Xaver Regalat Wänker von Dankenschweil (born June 14, 1741 in Freiburg im Breisgau, † April 12, 1821 in St. Petersburg): lawyer, businessman and army supplier

Members of the Second Guild

In 1838 the guild had 872 members, including:

  • Andreas Mellin (* 1826; † March 20, 1894 in St. Petersburg): Merchant of the 2nd Guild, since 1858 coal dealer
  • Arnold Schaufelberger (born October 17, 1874 in Saint Petersburg, † April 21, 1938 in Zurich) was a third-generation Swiss-Russian, a wholesale merchant, stockbroker.

Members of the Third Guild

In 1838 this guild had 8,075 members, including:

  • Johann Cornelius Paez (Petz), (life data unknown): merchant of the 3rd guild, owner of a music shop, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society (since 1826)
  • Johann Daniel Gerstenberg (born March 26, 1758 in Frankenhausen, Thuringia, † December 7, 1841 in Hildesheim): book and music publisher, owner of a music shop in St. Petersburg, merchant of the 3rd guild, composer.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heinrich Friedrich von Storch: Gemählde von St. Petersburg . Vol. 1. Riga, 1794. In: Deutsches Textarchiv , p. 132, accessed on December 3, 2015.
  2. ^ C. Homburg: A Winter in St. Petersburg: Along with an overview of the current situation in the Russian Empire . Leipzig Otto Wiegand Publishing House. 1860 pp. 279-281
  3. ↑ C. Homburg: A Winter in St. Petersburg, p. 174
  4. ^ A b c Paul Anton Fedor, Constantin Possart: Guide for Strangers in St. Petersburg , Joseph Engelmann Verlag, Heidelberg 1842. P. 23 books.google
  5. ↑ Felix Pourtov: The audience of German music stores in St. Petersburg from the end of the 18th to the first quarter of the 19th century , gko.uni-leipzig.de