Hanseaten (class)

Hanseaten (class)
The (Hanseatics) is a collective term for the hierarchy group (so called First Families) consisting of elite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted the ruling class of the free imperial city of Hamburg, conjointly with the equal First Families of the free imperial cities of Bremen and Lübeck. The members of these First Families were the persons in possession of hereditary grand burghership of these cities, including the mayors, the senators, joint diplomats and the senior pastors. refers specifically to the ruling families of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, but more broadly, this group is also referred to as patricians along with similar social groups elsewhere in continental Europe.
Since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the three cities have been officially named the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg", the "Free Hanseatic City of Bremen" and the "Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck", the latter being simply known since 1937 as the "Hanseatic City of Lübeck"..
Hamburg was one of the oldest stringent civic republics, in which the Hanseatics preserved their constitutional privileges, which were granted in 1189 by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, until the German Revolution of 1918–19 and the Weimar Constitution. Hamburg was strictly republican, but it was not a democracy, but rather an oligarchy.
The Hanseaten were regarded as being of equal rank to the (landed) nobility elsewhere in Europe, although the Hanseaten often regarded the (rural) nobility outside the city republics as inferior to the (urban and often more affluent, and in their own view, cultivated) Hanseaten. Thomas Mann, a member of a Lübeck Hanseatic family, portrayed this class in his novel Buddenbrooks (1901), principally for which he received the 1929 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Relationship to the nobility
The relationship between the Hanseatic and noble families varied depending on the city. The most republican city was Hamburg, where the nobility was banned, from the 13th century to the 19th century, from owning property, participating in the political life of the city republic, and even from living within its walls. Hamburg, however, was not a true democracy, but rather an oligarchy, with the Hanseaten as its elite occupying the position held by noble and princely families elsewhere. According to Richard J. Evans, "the wealthy of nineteenth-century Hamburg were for the most part stern republicans, abhorring titles, refusing to accord any deference to the Prussian nobility, and determinedly loyal to their urban background and mercantile heritage." Many grand burghers considered the nobility inferior to Hanseatic families. A marriage between a daughter of a Hanseatic family and a noble was often undesired by the Hanseaten. From the late 19th century, being integrated into a German nation state, a number of Hanseatic families were nevertheless ennobled (by other German states, e.g. Prussia), but this was often met with criticism among their fellow Hanseaten. As the Hanseatic banker Johann von Berenberg-Gossler was ennobled in Prussia in 1889, his sister Susanne, married Amsinck, exclaimed " [But John, our good name!]" Upon hearing of the ennoblement of Rudolph Schröder (1852–1938) of the ancient Hanseatic Schröder family, Hamburg First Mayor Johann Heinrich Burchard remarked that the Prussian King could indeed "place" Schröder among the nobles, but he could not "elevate" a Hanseatic merchant.
Hanseatic rejection
The long standing tradition that Hanseaten do not accept medals and honors "of foreign powers" is called the "hanseatic rejection". It is reflecting the spirit of unconditional independence, modesty and equality of the citizens of hanseatic cities. In an early version of the Hamburg constitution from 1270 it is written that "the fact that the externally visible insignia of the order should distinguish the decorated one from his colleagues and fellow citizens as a superior one" as a circumstance that was in decisive contradiction to the spirit of the city constitution. Politician Hans Koschnik (Bremen), former chancelor Helmut Schmidt (Hamburg) and several others people from Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen refused the Order of the Federal Cross of Merit referring to the "hanseatic rejection".
Bremen and Hamburg are also the only federal states that have not created their own orders of merit.
Hanseatic families
A few prominent families are listed here.
Abendroth
Amandus Augustus Abendroth (1767–1842), mayor of Hamburg
August Abendroth (1796–1876), lawyer
Carl Eduard Abenroth (1804–1885), merchant, member of the Hamburg parliament
Albers
Johann Christoph Albers (1741–1800), merchant representative of Bremen
Johann Heinrich Albers (1775–1800), merchant of Bremen/London, art collector
Anton Albers der Ältere (1765–1844), merchant of Bremen/Lausanne, painter
Amsinck
Rudolf Amsinck (1577–1636), senator of Hamburg
Wilhelm Amsinck (1752–1831), mayor of Hamburg
Berenberg, Goßler and Berenberg-Goßler
Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–1790), banker
Johann Heinrich Gossler (1775–1842), senator and banker
Anna Henriette Gossler (1771–1836), married to Ludwig Edwin Seyler
Hermann Goßler (1802–1877), senator and First Mayor of Hamburg
John von Berenberg-Gossler (1866–1943), Hamburg senator and banker
Oskar Goßler (1875–1953), German sculler
Gustav Goßler (1879–1940), German sculler
Burchard
Johann Heinrich Burchard (1852–1912), mayor of Hamburg
Johannes Leopold Burchard (1857–1925), Hamburg lawyer
Wilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz (1878–1963), mayor of Hamburg
de Chapeaurouge
Frédéric de Chapeaurouge (1813–1867), senator of Hamburg
Charles Ami de Chapeaurouge (1830–1897), senator of Hamburg
Paul de Chapeaurouge (1876–1952), senator of Hamburg
Alfred de Chapeaurouge (1907–1993), German politician
Fehling
Hermann von Fehling (1812–1885), German chemist
Johann Fehling (1835–1893), Lübeck senator
Emil Ferdinand Fehling (1847–1927), mayor of Lübeck, "Dr. Moritz Hagenström" in Buddenbrooks
Godeffroy
Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy (1813–1885), Hamburg merchant
Hudtwalcker
Johann Michael Hudtwalcker (1747–1818), Hamburg merchant
Martin Hieronymus Hudtwalcker (1787–1865) Hamburg senator
Nicolaus Hudtwalcker (1794–1863), Hamburg insurance broker
Jauch
Johann Christian Jauch senior (1765–1855), Hamburg merchant and Grand Burgher
Auguste Jauch (1822–1902), Hamburg benefactor to the poor
Carl Jauch (1828–1888), Grand Burgher, Lord of Wellingsbüttel and cavalry lieutenant in the Hamburg Citizen Militia
August Jauch (1861–1930), delegate of the grand burghers to the Hamburg parliament
Hans Jauch (1883–1985), German colonel and Freikorps-leader
Walter Jauch (1888–1976), founder of Aon Jauch & Hübener
Günther Jauch (born 1956), German television host and producer
Jencquel
Justus
Bartholomäus Justus (1540–1607), Hamburg notary public at St Petri district of Hamburg
Christoph Justus (1579–1652), Merchant in the Gröninger Straße, St Katharinen district of Hamburg
Friederich Justus (1683–1757), Merchant in Neukalen and Mayor of Neukalen in the state of Mecklenburg, Founder of the Tobacco business est in 1723
Friederich Justus (1722–1784), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße, Grand Burgher, Oberalter St Katharinen, top 5 ranking member of the Hamburg Parliament, President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
Joachim Christian Justus (1732–1802), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in Hamburg and in Riga
Georg Heinrich Justus (1761–1803), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße
Friederich Justus (1797–1852), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße, Consul General of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Hamburg
Heinrich Wilhelm Justus (1800–1839), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße
Heinrich Eduard Justus (1828–1899), Owner of the first united steam shipping fleet on the Alster and the dockyard at Leinpfad Hamburg, Member of Hamburg Parliament
Johannes Wilheln Justus (1857–1943), Partner of the Latin America Trading Company "Riensch & Held" est 1845 in Hamburg and Mexico, Co-Founding Member of the Hamburg Golf Club in 1905
Heinz Heinrich Ernst Justus (1894–1982), Partner of the Latin America Trading Company "Riensch & Held", member of the plenum of Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, First Lieutenant WWI, EK I and EK II
Kellinghusen
Heinrich Kellinghusen (1796–1879), Hamburg merchant and first mayor
Lorenz-Meyer
Mann
Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann (1840–1891), senator of Lübeck; fictionalized "Thomas Buddenbrook" in Buddenbrooks
Heinrich Mann (1871–1950), German novelist
Thomas Mann (1875–1955), German novelist
Erika Mann (1905–1969), German actress and writer
Klaus Mann (1906–1949), German novelist
Golo Mann (1909–1994), German historian
Merck (Hamburg branch of the Merck family)
Heinrich Johann Merck (1770–1853), Hamburg senator
Carl Merck (1809–1880), Hamburg Syndicus (privy councillor)
Baron Ernst Merck (1811–1863), Hamburg merchant and cavalry chief of the Hamburg Citizen Militia
Moller (vom Baum)
Barthold (Bartholomeus) Moller (1605–1667), mayor of Hamburg
Mutzenbecher
Matthias Mutzenbecher (1653–1735), senator of Hamburg
Johann Baptista Mutzenbecher (1691–1759), privy councillor of Hamburg
Nölting
Overbeck
Johann Daniel Overbeck (1715–1802), theologian and dean of the Katharineum
Christian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821), mayor of Lübeck, novelist
Christian Gerhard Overbeck (1784–1846), judge at the High Court of Appeal of the four free cities
Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869), German painter, head of the Nazarene movement
Christian Theodor Overbeck (1818–1880), senator of Lübeck
Johannes Overbeck (1826–1895), German archaeologist
Petersen
Carl Friedrich Petersen (1809–1892), mayor of Hamburg
Carl Wilhelm Petersen (1868–1933), mayor of Hamburg
Rudolf Petersen (1878–1962), mayor of Hamburg
Schlüter
Schröder
Christian Matthias Schröder (1742–1821), mayor of Hamburg
Christian Mathias Schröder (1778–1860), Hamburg senator
Johann Heinrich Schröder (Freiherr John Henry Schröder) (1784–1883), Baron, Hamburg banker
Carl August Schröder (1821–1902), Hamburg judge and member of parliament
Carl August Schröder (1855–1945), mayor of Hamburg
Schuback
Nicolaus Schuback (1700–1783), mayor of Hamburg
Siemers
Edmund Siemers (1840–1918), Hamburg ship-owner
Kurt Siemers (1873–1944), Hamburg ship-owner and banker
Kurt Hartwig Siemers (1907–1988), Hamburg banker
Sieveking
Georg Heinrich Sieveking (1751–1791), Hamburg merchant
Sir Edward Henry Sieveking (1816–1904), physician
Kurt Sieveking (1897–1986), mayor of Hamburg
Sillem
Garlieb Sillem (1717–1732), mayor of Hamburg
Sloman
Robert Miles Sloman (1783–1867), Hamburg ship-owner
Henry Brarens Sloman (1848–1931), Hamburg ship-owner
Stern
Tesdorpf
Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1648–1723), mayor of Lübeck
Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1751–1832), mayor of Lübeck
Johann Matthaeus Tesdorpf (1749–1824), mayor of Lübeck
Adolph Tesdorpf (1811–1887), Hamburg senator
Ebba Tesdorpf (1851–1920), Hamburg illustrator and watercolourist
See also
List of mayors of Hamburg – Hanseatics being those since approximately 1650, Hanseatic families are normally those of the mayors until 1918.
– Residential avenue in Hamburg, emblematic of a Hanseatic lifestyle.
Patrician (post-Roman Europe)
Aristocracy (class)
Gentry
Burgess (title)
Bourgeois of Brussels
Literature
Lu Seegers (2016): Hanseaten: Mythos und Realität des ehrbaren Kaufmanns seit dem 19. Jahrhundert. (Hanseatic class: myth and reality of the honorable merchant since the 19th century). in: Katalog des Europäischen Hansemuseums, Lübeck 2016, p. 106-110.
Lu Seegers (2014): Hanseaten und das Hanseatische in Diktatur und Demokratie: Politisch-ideologische Zuschreibungen und Praxen (Hanseatic League and the Hanseatic in Dictatorship and Democracy: Political-Ideological Attributions and Practices). in: Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg 2014, hrsg. von der Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg (FZH), Hamburg 2015, p. 71-83.
References
Hanseatic Cities
History of Bremen (city)
Lübeck
History of Hamburg
Social history of the Holy Roman Empire
Social class in Germany
Social class subcultures
Republicanism in Europe