To the donkey (Ravensburg)
The Donkey Society was an association of influential, predominantly Catholic patrician families in Ravensburg from 1397 to 1818. It was founded by Johannes II von Waldburg .
history
The Donkey Society was founded with a deed of foundation in 1397. This patrician society initially saw itself as a “ guild of the sexes”; their guild master was also mayor of the city. In order to make the social difference to the other guilds clear, this upper class later called itself "noble society" or city nobility. That city nobility of the city of Ravensburg formed the patriciate. The society was the publisher of the donkey letter .
The patriciate of the city of Ravensburg was made up of entrepreneurial merchants and small ministerials from the previous epoch. The most important families represented in the society Zum Esel were: Humpis , who had been co-founders of the Ravensburger trading company around 1380 ; also Ankenreute, Erler, Gäldrich, Geßler, Täschler, Hüpschli, von Moosheim, Sürg von Sürgenstein and Schmid-Schindele.
These patricians were also merchants, but - in contrast to those who sold by yardstick, pound and lot and formed the (mostly Protestant) society Zum Ballen because the upscale society Zum Esel did not accept them - they exclusively dedicated themselves to that Wholesale and long-distance trade .
The physical proximity in the Lake Constance area alone suggests that there were cross-connections to other local patrician societies, namely to Zur Katz in Konstanz , to Zum Sünzen in Lindau and to Zum golden Löwen in Memmingen . It is not without reason that it can still be stated today that the articles of association of the companies in Ravensburg, Memmingen, Lindau and Konstanz are word for word in parts. And the list of shareholders in Ravensburger Handelsgesellschaft includes practically all members of the companies Zum Esel and Zur Katz .
The historical meeting place of the society, the "Zunftstube", was the house Marktstrasse No. 1, which for unknown reasons was given the name "Zum Esel", which the society then took over for itself.
The donkey society dissolved in 1818.
literature
- Alfons Dreher : The patriciate of the imperial city of Ravensburg. From the beginnings to the beginning of the 19th century , first published in sequels in: Zeitschrift für Württembergische Landesgeschichte , 1960–1965, later also published independently: Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1966
- Christoph Heiermann: The top of the social structure: Organization of urban elites in the Lake Constance area . In: Matthias Meinhardt and Andreas Ranft (eds.): The social structure and social topography of pre-industrial cities . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2005.
- Wolfgang Reinhard: Oligarchic entanglement and denomination in Upper German cities . In Antoni Mączak (Ed.): Client systems in Europe in the early modern period . Oldenbourg, Munich 1988
- Fritz and Luise Rörig: The European City and the Culture of the Middle Ages . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1955.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johann Daniel Georg von Memminger: "Description of the Oberamt Ravensburg", page 128
- ^ Johann P. Glökler: "Land and people of Württemberg", Volume 3, page 395
Coordinates: 47 ° 46 ′ 55.2 " N , 9 ° 36 ′ 51.1" E