Wasserschout
A Wasserschout was a supervisory officer for seaman's affairs and head of the office of the same name. The office of Wasserschout was the predecessor of the seaman's office .
details
The office of Wasserschout was first introduced in the Netherlands in 1643 (local name: Waterschout ; Water = German water, Schout = German Schultheiss ). After the merchants in Hamburg had repeatedly called for control of the seafarers in the previous decades, the Schifferalten proposed in 1690 to set up a water school in Hamburg based on the Dutch model. On September 3, 1691, the first Wasserschout in Germany, Berthold Heidmann , began his service in the Hanseatic city. The Hamburg Senate published the " Regulations of the ordered water school in Hamburg Ampt und Verrichtungen " three days earlier . The Hamburg Admiralty College presided over the Wasserschout . Most of the incumbents were former captains . The incumbent received his salary from the shipowner's fees .
In 1873 the office of Wasserschouts was dissolved by the Reichs-Seemannsordnung and replaced by the Seemannsamt. However, the Wasserschout remained under the traditional name and with all its powers as head of the newly created authority.
There was also a Wasserschout in other countries, for example in Belgium or Denmark, where this office existed from the first establishment in Copenhagen in 1695 until it was replaced by a drafting authority in 1871.
The Wasserschout's office combined administrative , police and judicial powers. The tasks were to keep a register of the seafaring citizens and those who were willing to serve on ships in the respective port city, which also included the control with regard to military operations. He took on the signing of the seafarers, granted the seafarers waiting on land for a new ship an advance on their wages (at that time called salary ) and supervised the proper payment of wages at the end of a ship's voyage. He also took over the distribution of payments to widows and orphans on board perished seafarers and had to see to the repatriation of needy seamen from abroad. He was also responsible for prosecuting seafarers, investigating and logging incidents at sea, and settling disputes between shipowners, captains and seafarers. He also received any complaints from seafarers, sat on the mobilization and ship acquisition commission and the seaman's fund . In Hamburg in 1854 the “certificate” or “authorization certificate” previously issued by the Wasserschout was replaced by the seafaring book . The Wasserschout only started taking samples this year. Within the entire German Empire, however, nautical books were not introduced until 1872.
literature
- Jürgen Rath: Rusks, salted meat and bunks . 1st edition. Köhler Verlag, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-7822-0892-7 .