Veit Holzlechner

Veit Holzlechner (* around 1574 in Neumarkt / Bavaria ; † February 6, 1642 in Wittenberg ) was Seidensticker and mayor of Wittenberg .

Life

Veit Holzlechner was born around 1574 in Neumarkt in what was once Lower Bavaria, the son of poor parents deeply rooted in the Catholic faith. During his school days in his hometown, he was characterized by particular diligence. However, his parents could not afford the money to study. Because of this, he went into service with the Bavarian nobleman Wolfgang Christoph von Elvering, who sent him to Passau to do the best silk stickers. There Holzlechner learned the handicraft of silk and pearl embroidery. After completing his apprenticeship, he traveled through foreign countries, came to Cracow, where he stayed for many years at the Polish court there. In 1605 he went to Wittenberg, where he converted to the Protestant faith and received citizenship. When he had achieved a certain level of prosperity through his silk embroidery business, the Wittenberg council took notice of him and elected him in the terms of office of 1619, 1622 and 1625 as builder, 1628, 1631, 1634 and 1637 as treasurer, 1640 as judge, and in 1641 became he mayor of the city of Wittenberg. He was also active as a church leader. However, due to his death on February 6, 1642, he was unable to continue his tenure as former mayor in 1642, where he was supposed to be the assessor of the mayor Michael Blume.

In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, he embroidered a valuable piece of work for the council: the goddess of peace. The silk threads for the picture have been designed in wonderful colors on a black atlas floor. When a new council was constituted, this valuable gift was on the council table, otherwise it was in a wooden box on the wall of the mayor's room in the Wittenberg town hall .

swell

• Paul Gottlieb Kettner: The Raths-Collegio of the Chur-City Wittenberg. Wolfenbüttel 1734.
• Heinrich Kühne , Heinz Motel: Famous personalities and their connection to Wittenberg. Published by Druckhaus Göttinger Tageblatt GmbH & Co 1990, ISBN 3-924781-17-6