Urban decline in early modern Germany
Subtitle: Schwäbisch Hall and its region, 1650-1750
By: Terence McIntosh.
Series: The James Sprunt studies in history and political science ;; v. 62
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Chapel Hill
Language: eng
Number of pages: 317
Subjects: Cities and towns -- Germany -- Schwäbisch Hall Region -- History -- 18th century.; Mercantile system -- Germany -- Schwäbisch Hall Region -- History -- 18th century.; Schwäbisch Hall Region (Germany) -- History.; Schwäbisch Hall Region (Germany) -- Economic conditions.; Germany -- Social conditions -- 18th century.; Schwäbisch Hall Region (Germany) -- Economic policy.
Description: During the Middle Ages, southwest Germany was one of the most prosperous areas of central Europe, but the Thirty Years' War brought devastating social and economic dislocation to the region. Focusing on the town of Schwabisch Hall, Terence McIntosh explores the causes and consequences of the sluggish recovery of the region's urban communities in the century after the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

He argues that changing relations between town and countryside contributed significantly to the weakening of urban craft production and, therefore, to the region's urban stagnation.

In his economic and structural analysis of Schwabisch Hall, McIntosh explores the significance and changes over time of wealth inequalities, marriage and migration patterns, and class formation. He demonstrates that the rapid proliferation of the rural craft industry within the region eroded and ability of small-scale urban artisans to keep pace. This process in turn profoundly affected the structure of urban society and economy.

McIntosh's analysis constitutes significant reinterpretation of the process of urban class formation and economic transformation in early modern Germany.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-305) and index.