Siegfried to paradise

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Portrait representation on his epitaph

Siegfried zum Paradies (* probably in Marburg ; † April 8, 1386 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a politician and patrician in Frankfurt am Main.

origin

Siegfried zum Paradies came from a family whose origins lie in Biedenkopf and who lived in Marburg in the early 14th century , where they at times exercised great political and economic influence. Siegfried's father, Siegfried the Rich , was a lay judge and mayor in Marburg.

Siegfried zum Paradies was educated at the Stephansstift in Mainz and then entered the service of Emperor Charles IV. In 1347 he acquired Frankfurt citizenship and in 1349 married a daughter of the then richest Frankfurt patrician, Jakob Knoblauch , who had acquired the Saalhof a few years earlier . Jakob von Knoblauch had been a favorite of Ludwig of Bavaria and was now also in the service of Charles IV. Siegfried had three children with Katharina Knoblauch. After her death in 1364, he again married the daughter of a wealthy Frankfurt native, Katharina zum Wedel, with whom he again had three children.

In 1351 Siegfried took the house Zum Paradies on the corner of Liebfrauenberg and Neuer Kräme in hereditary lease for 28 marks annually, the name of which he used from then on as a family name. In 1366 he bought the neighboring house Zum Grimmvogel , but shortly afterwards left it to Emmerich von Escherheim. He had the "paradise" torn down and a new stone building erected.

He maintained close friendly relations with the imperial notary Rudolf Rule , who came from Friedberg (Hesse) .

Political career

When Siegfried returned to Frankfurt from the service of the emperor, the political life of the city was marked by the guild riots. Since around 1350, a conflict between the up-and-coming guilds and some patrician families, including the Holzhausen , Frosch , Knoblauch and Wanebach families , over political leadership has simmered in the city . The guilds joined forces and demanded greater participation in the city council, which should also be laid down in the city constitution. Charles IV approved this in 1359 despite resistance from the patricians. In 1360 an imperial mandate assigned Siegfried to the next free jury chair in Frankfurt. Another decree instructed him to collect half the Jewish tax from Frankfurt Jews, of which he was to keep 30 guilders annual pension for himself. The Frankfurt council protested in vain to the emperor against Siegfried's appointment as lay judge, as this violated his old rights.

Due to his excellent relationships with the imperial court, Siegfried was also able to acquire the Reichsschultheissenamt and considerable parts of the Reichsforst Dreieich as pledge in 1363 . Schultheißenamt and Reichsforst were previously to Ulrich III. had been pledged by Hanau , who had also had the county of Bornheimer Berg as a pledge since 1351 . Ulrich III. was the imperial governor of the Wetterau and Frankfurt was part of his district. This acquisition policy, which encircled Frankfurt and also gained a foothold in its internal structure, indicates that Ulrich III. endeavored to integrate the city of Frankfurt into his dominion. With the assumption of two of these three positions of power Siegfried was able to fulfill these ambitions of Ulrich III. fend off.

From King Wenzel , Karl's successor, he obtained confirmation of the trade fair privileges that were decisive for Frankfurt's economic role. Since then, the two Frankfurt trade fairs have been allowed to be extended by two weeks each in spring and autumn.

Siegfried had been a member of the Frankfurt Council since 1359 and a lay judge since 1363. In 1373, 1379, 1381 and 1385 he was elected senior mayor , the highest political office that the city had to assign. He represented the interests of the city on several diets .

A guild uprising broke out, which ended in 1366 with the victory of the patrician side through an intervention by Charles IV, to which Siegfried had induced him. In 1377, however, the inner-city constitutional law was revised: the guilds eligible for advice now include woolen weavers, butchers, furriers, bakers, shoemakers, tanners, fishermen, tailors, boatmen, stone deckers, carpenters, stone cutters, benders, gardeners and blacksmiths.

Epitaph, Old Nikolaikirche , Frankfurt
Epitaph of the 2nd wife, Katharina zum Wedel († 1378), Alte Nikolaikirche, Frankfurt

Nevertheless, the wealth and abundance of power of the upstart and imperial favorite, who had moved in from outside, aroused mistrust among the long-established patricians. Ultimately, his opponents convinced the emperor, who was always busy looking for money, with a large sum: A delegation of patricians, consisting of Mayor Lotz von Holzhausen and the lay judges Jakob Knoblauch, Johann von Holzhausen and Wicker Frosch, was looking for Charles IV in May 1372 in Mainz and paid the emperor 8,800 guilders for the mayor's office, which was pledged for this sum to lay judges, mayors, citizens and the city council of Frankfurt am Main . The emperor paid 4400 guilders to Siegfried to redeem his liens, 4400 guilders were the gain of the emperor from the transaction. On June 2, 1372, Charles IV issued a corresponding document. The pledge was never redeemed and formally expired in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia . Half of the Jewish tax was also pledged to the city by the emperor.

In the same process, for a further 8,800 guilders, the city also received the Reichsforst Dreieich, which had previously been pledged to Siegfried, as a pledge. Not only did it secure the supply of wood for her, it was also a pasture and hunting ground.

Even if Siegfried lost some of his personal position of power, his advance work made him - even if unintentionally - the founder of the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt and the founder of the Frankfurt City Forest , which with an area of ​​4900 hectares is still the largest urban forest in Germany today. Nevertheless, he retained his political influence in the city: In the following years, 1373, 1379, 1381 and 1385, he was elected Senior Mayor .

rating

Siegfried is considered a tactically skilled and power-conscious negotiator and the most important Frankfurt politician of the 14th century. The Paradiesgasse in Sachsenhausen is named after Siegfried zum Paradies .

Death and offspring

After his death, Siegfried and his second wife Katharina zum Wedel were given a grave of honor in the church of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit . The epitaph , possibly a work by Madern Gerthener , was transferred to the Alte Nikolaikirche when the church was demolished in 1840 , where it is still located today.

The family died out in Frankfurt in 1502. His houses on Liebfrauenberg were merged in 1775 and given a baroque facade. The complex still exists in this form - after severe damage in the Second World War .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Waldemar Küther , Rudolf Rule von Friedberg, Propst zu Wetzlar, Bishop of Verden and notary of Emperor Charles IV , in: Archive for Hessian History and Antiquity NF 37, 1979, pp. 101, 114, 124.