Hanseaten (class)

Reliefs of coats of arms of the three Hanseatic (sister) cities

Johann Hinrich Gossler of the Hanseatic Berenberg-Gossler-Seyler banking dynasty, who married Elisabeth Berenberg and became owner of Berenberg Bank

The Hanseaten (German: [hanzeˈaːtn̩], 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 Bremen and Lübeck. The members of these First Families were the persons in possession of hereditary grand burghership (Großbürgerschaft) of these cities, including the mayors (Bürgermeister), the senators (Senatoren), joint diplomats (Diplomaten) and the senior pastors (Hauptpastoren). Hanseaten 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.

The three cities since the Congress of Vienna 1815 are each officially named the "Free and Hanseatic City Hamburg" (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg),^[1]^[2] the "Free Hanseatic City Bremen" (Freie Hansestadt Bremen) and the "Free and Hanseatic City Lübeck" (Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck), since 1937 merely the "Hanseatic City Lübeck" (Hansestadt Lübeck).^[3]

Hamburg was one of the oldest stringent civic republics,^[4] 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.^[5] 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,^[6] 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 Nobel Prize-winning novel Buddenbrooks (1901), for which he received the 1929 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Relationship to the nobility[]

First Mayor Johann Heinrich Burchard

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."^[7] Many grand burghers considered the nobility inferior to Hanseatic families.^[8] A marriage between a daughter of a Hanseatic family and a noble was often undesired by the Hanseaten.^[9] 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 "Aber John, unser guter Name! [But John, our good name!]"^[8] 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" (versetzen) Schröder among the nobles, but he could not "elevate" (erheben) a Hanseatic merchant.^[8]

Hanseatic families[]

A few prominent families are listed here.

Abendroth[]

Amandus Augustus Abendroth (1767–1842), mayor of Hamburg
August Abendroth (1796–1876), lawyer
(1804–1885), merchant, member of the Hamburg parliament

Albers[]

(1741–1800), merchant representative of Bremen
(1775–1800), merchant of Bremen/London, art collector
(1765–1844), merchant of Bremen/Lausanne, painter

Amsinck[]

(1577–1636), senator of Hamburg
(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
(1857–1925), Hamburg lawyer
Wilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz (1878–1963), mayor of Hamburg

de Chapeaurouge[]

(1813–1867), senator of Hamburg
(1830–1897), senator of Hamburg
Paul de Chapeaurouge (1876–1952), senator of Hamburg
(1907–1993), German politician

Fehling[]

Hermann von Fehling (1812–1885), German chemist
(1835–1893), Lübeck senator
(1847–1927), mayor of Lübeck, "Dr. Moritz Hagenström" in Buddenbrooks

Godeffroy[]

Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy (1813–1885), Hamburg merchant

Hudtwalcker[]

(1747–1818), Hamburg merchant
(1787–1865) Hamburg senator
(1794–1863), Hamburg insurance broker

Jauch[]

(1765–1855), Hamburg merchant and Grand Burgher
(1822–1902), Hamburg benefactor to the poor
Carl Jauch (1828–1888), Grand Burgher, Lord of Wellingsbüttel and cavalry lieutenant in the Hamburg Citizen Militia
(1861–1930), delegate of the grand burghers (Notabelnabgeordneter) to the Hamburg parliament
(1883–1985), German colonel and Freikorps-leader
(1888–1976), founder of
Günther Jauch (born 1956), German television host and producer

Jencquel[]

Justus[]

(1540–1607), Hamburg notary public at St Petri district of Hamburg
(1579–1652), Merchant in the Gröninger Straße, St Katharinen district of Hamburg

(1683–1757), Merchant in Neukalen and Mayor of Neukalen in the state of Mecklenburg, Founder of the Tobacco business est in 1723
(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
(1732–1802), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in Hamburg and in Riga
(1761–1803), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße
(1797–1852), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße, Consul General of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Hamburg
(1800–1839), Merchant and Tobacco Manufacturer in the Gröninger Straße
(1828–1899), Owner of the first united steam shipping fleet on the Alster and the dockyard at Leinpfad Hamburg, Member of Hamburg Parliament
(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
(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[]

(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)[]

(1605–1667), mayor of Hamburg

Mutzenbecher[]

(1653–1735), senator of Hamburg
(1691–1759), privy councillor (Senatssyndicus) of Hamburg

Nölting[]

Christian Adolph Overbeck,
mayor of the Free Imperial and Hanseatic City of Lübeck, son of Eleonora Maria Jauch (drawing by Johann Friedrich Overbeck)

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[]

(1742–1821), mayor of Hamburg
Christian Mathias Schröder (1778–1860), Hamburg senator
Johann Heinrich Schröder (Freiherr John Henry Schröder) (1784–1883), Baron, Hamburg banker
(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[]

(1840–1918), Hamburg ship-owner
(1873–1944), Hamburg ship-owner and banker
(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[]

(1717–1732), mayor of Hamburg

Sloman[]

Robert Miles Sloman (1783–1867), Hamburg ship-owner
Henry Brarens Sloman (1848–1931), Hamburg ship-owner

Stern[]

Tesdorpf[]

(1648–1723), mayor of Lübeck
(1751–1832), mayor of Lübeck
(1749–1824), mayor of Lübeck
(1811–1887), Hamburg senator
Ebba Tesdorpf (1851–1920), Hamburg illustrator and watercolourist

References[]

^ The Hanseatic League ended about mid 17th century. J. Werdenhagen, De Rebus Publicis Hanseaticis Tractatus, Frankfurt 1641, was the first to use the term "Hanseatic", characterizing the Union between Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, created between 1630 and 1650 in lieu of the perished Hanse. Gerhard Ahrens, Hanseatisch, in: Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck-Lexikon, 2006, with reference to: Rainer Postel: Hanseaten, Zur politischen Kultur Hamburgs, Bremens und Lübecks, in: Der Bürger im Staat 34 (1984), 153–158; Herbert Schwarzwälder, Hanseaten, hanseatisch, in Das Große Bremen-Lexikon, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X
^ Subsequent to the Greater Hamburg Act it was named since 1938 Hanseatic City (Hansestadt) Hamburg, since the constitution of 6 June 1952 Archived 18 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine again Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt), being a city of the State of Germany
^ Greater Hamburg Act; Lübeck lost in the "Lübeck-decision" (Lübeck-Urteil) on 5 December 1956 before the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in its attempt to reconstitute its statehood
^ Nobles were banned since 1276 from living inside the city wall – Renate Hauschild-Thiessen, Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg, in: Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch, volume 14, Limburg an der Lahn 1997, p. XXII
^ The historical science assumes a timocratic or oligarchic character of Hamburg's constitution, being the reason why Hamburg at the Congress of Vienna was accepted by the princes of the German states as a member of the German Confederation – Peter Borowsky, Vertritt die "Bürgerschaft“ die Bürgerschaft? Verfassungs-, Bürger- und Wahlrecht in Hamburg von 1814 bis 1914, in: Schlaglichter historischer Forschung. Studien zur deutschen Geschichte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Hamburg, p. 93)
^ Rudolf Endres. "Adel in der frühen Neuzeit". Enzyklopaedie Deutscher Geschichte. 18. Oldenbourg. p. 72.
^ Richard J. Evans (1987). Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years 1830–1910. Oxford. p. 560.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Renate Hauschild-Thiessen (1997). "Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg". Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch. 14. p. 30.
^ Percy Ernst Schramm (1969). Gewinn und Verlust. Hamburg: Christians. p. 108.

[1] The Hanseatic League ended about mid 17th century. J. Werdenhagen, De Rebus Publicis Hanseaticis Tractatus, Frankfurt 1641, was the first to use the term "Hanseatic", characterizing the Union between Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, created between 1630 and 1650 in lieu of the perished Hanse. Gerhard Ahrens, Hanseatisch, in: Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck-Lexikon, 2006, with reference to: Rainer Postel: Hanseaten, Zur politischen Kultur Hamburgs, Bremens und Lübecks, in: Der Bürger im Staat 34 (1984), 153–158; Herbert Schwarzwälder, Hanseaten, hanseatisch, in Das Große Bremen-Lexikon, Bremen 2003, ISBN 3-86108-693-X

[2] Subsequent to the Greater Hamburg Act it was named since 1938 Hanseatic City (Hansestadt) Hamburg, since the constitution of 6 June 1952 Archived 18 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine again Free and Hanseatic City (Freie und Hansestadt), being a city of the State of Germany

[3] Greater Hamburg Act; Lübeck lost in the "Lübeck-decision" (Lübeck-Urteil) on 5 December 1956 before the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in its attempt to reconstitute its statehood

[4] Nobles were banned since 1276 from living inside the city wall – Renate Hauschild-Thiessen, Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg, in: Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch, volume 14, Limburg an der Lahn 1997, p. XXII

[5] The historical science assumes a timocratic or oligarchic character of Hamburg's constitution, being the reason why Hamburg at the Congress of Vienna was accepted by the princes of the German states as a member of the German Confederation – Peter Borowsky, Vertritt die "Bürgerschaft“ die Bürgerschaft? Verfassungs-, Bürger- und Wahlrecht in Hamburg von 1814 bis 1914, in: Schlaglichter historischer Forschung. Studien zur deutschen Geschichte im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Hamburg, p. 93)

[6] Rudolf Endres. "Adel in der frühen Neuzeit". Enzyklopaedie Deutscher Geschichte. 18. Oldenbourg. p. 72.

[7] Richard J. Evans (1987). Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years 1830–1910. Oxford. p. 560.

[Hauschild-Thiessen-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Renate Hauschild-Thiessen (1997). "Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg". Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch. 14. p. 30.

[9] Percy Ernst Schramm (1969). Gewinn und Verlust. Hamburg: Christians. p. 108.

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