To the Katz (Constance)

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The Zur Katz Society was an association of influential families in Constance that was founded soon after 1342; the exact date of foundation is not known, but in 1351 the members were listed on the city's tax lists. It primarily served sociability, but primarily had political and economic functions and was similar to the political guilds of the late Middle Ages. At first it existed as a pure “gender society”, as an association of families who had achieved wealth and prestige in the wholesale and long-distance trade in canvas and had already risen to the city nobility. The bourgeois linen dealers, however, belonged to the shopkeeper's guild and were members of the Zum Rosgarten society .

Society for many social classes

In the course of time the self-image of society changed. Although it was restricted to urban areas, unlike comparable patrician societies of that time, it was not restricted to the “sexes”; it soon accepted members from almost all social classes, and - a remarkable feature - women were also able to become “journeymen” of the cat . On the other hand, it remained inadmissible to belong to a guild at the same time. On the other hand, there are also parallels to knight and tournament societies of the nobility: For example, a journeyman gesture from the Costentz is handed down for Shrovetide 1441 , in which 17 journeymen from cats took part.

The carnival seems to have played a major role in the life of the city of Konstanz and in particular the Katz . Longer journeys were made for the purpose of friendship meetings, for example in 1368, when 22 noble Constance residents moved to Zurich and were attacked on the way by the Lords of Brandis , or in 1484 and again in 1527, as members of the Zur Katz citizens' guild Visited St. Gallen and dressed as cats . But on the occasion of Carnival, the aforementioned knight games took place with the participation of the nobility, such as on March 2, 1416 and February 8, 1418. It was later to prevent excesses ( because of all sorts of damage, nuisances and sins , as in a resolution from 1529 means), a kind of "masking ban" was issued by the council, which was repeatedly violated. In February 1458 the city council imposed a fine on a group of 57 people ... because of the fact that they spent the Vastnacht ... Among the rather diverse society there are not only servants and a cook, but also illustrious people such as the Konstanz chronicler Gebhard Dacher and the wealthy businessman Stoffel Grünenberg. The list is headed by 13 members of the “sexes” from well-known families who participated in the foolish goings-on. Dance bans were also repeatedly disregarded by the people of Constance, or they evaded the neighboring Thurgau , which was also punished.

Friendship relationships

As the physical proximity in the Lake Constance area suggests, there were not only friendships in Switzerland , but also cross-connections to other local patrician societies , namely to Zum Esel in Ravensburg , Zum Sünzen in Lindau and Zum golden Löwen in Memmingen . Even today it can be said that the statutes of the companies in Ravensburg, Memmingen, Lindau and Konstanz are word for word in some places. And the list of shareholders in the Ravensburger Handelsgesellschaft founded in 1380 also includes practically all members of the Zum Esel and Zur Katz companies .

Meeting places

"Old Cat" Münzgasse 21, Constance
Katzgasse in Konstanz, with "Haus zur Katz" (sandstone facade)

The historical meeting place of the society was the house Zur alten Katz on the former Samnungsgasse (later Judengasse , today Münzgasse 21), mentioned in a sales deed in 1352 as domum dictam zer Katzun ("house called 'zur Katz'"). This house was bought by Abraham von St. Gallen in 1427, who owned it until the Jews were expelled from Constance in 1448. During the capture of the Constance Jews from 1443 to 1448, the house served as a prison for the female community members. The Zur Katz company had acquired two neighboring parcels on Katzgasse (today: Katzgasse No. 3 and Stephansplatz No. 41) in 1424 and had the house of the gender guild built on the former ( Zur hinter Katz ) , while on the other ( To the front Katz ) the existing residential tower was preserved. The new building made of Rorschach sandstone , which is based on Italian models, is considered the oldest Renaissance building north of the Alps and is still one of the most magnificent buildings in the old town of Constance (see Sights in Constance ).

effect

The minstrel Oswald von Wolkenstein visited Konstanz several times and was also a guest of the Zur Katz Society .

The most important historical document preserved as a source is the Konstanz coat of arms of the gender society zur Katz from 1547, which is now kept in the so-called "Guild Hall" in the Rosgarten Museum and lists 160 family names or names of individuals with their colored coats of arms. The coat of arms must be considered incomplete, as some families that were verifiably members of the Katz are not mentioned.

The Lions Club Konstanz "Zur Katz" , which has existed since 1998, refers to the historical continuity to the former patrician society, but has nothing in common with it except the name.

The Turm zur Katz (medieval residential tower) is a four-story exhibition building of the cultural office and stands behind the Haus zur Katz.

literature

  • Christoph Heiermann: The construction cost accounting of the house "Zur Katz" in Constance 1424-1429. In writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings No. 110, Konstanz 1992, pp. 157–167.
  • Christoph Heiermann: The “Zur Katz” company in Constance. A contribution to the history of gender societies in the late Middle Ages and early modern times. Konstanz historical and legal sources, vol. 37. Published by the city archive of Konstanz. Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-7995-6837-9 .
  • Christoph Heiermann: The top of the social structure: Organization of urban elites in the Lake Constance area. In: Matthias Meinhardt , Andreas Ranft (Ed.): 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
  • Karin J. Sczech: Archaeological findings on disposal in the Middle Ages. Shown using the example of the cities of Constance and Freiburg i. Br. Dissertation at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg i. Br., Philosophical Faculties, 1993. ( full text ; PDF file; 458 kB)
  • Tatiana Sfedu: Founding a museum and civic self- image . The Leiner family and the Rosgarten Museum in Konstanz. Dissertation University of Konstanz, Humanities Section, History and Sociology Department, 2006. ( online )

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