TheHanseaten (German:[hanzeˈaːtn̩],Hanseatics) is a collective term for the hierarchy group (so calledFirst Families) consisting ofelite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted theruling class of thefree imperial city ofHamburg, conjointly with the equalFirst Families of the free imperial cities ofBremen andLübeck. The members of theseFirst Families were the persons in possession of hereditarygrand burghership (Großbürgerschaft) of these cities, including themayors (Bürgermeister), thesenators (Senatoren), jointdiplomats (Diplomaten) and the seniorpastors (Hauptpastoren).Hanseaten refers specifically to the ruling families of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, but more broadly, this group is also referred to aspatricians along with similar social groups elsewhere incontinental Europe.
Since theCongress of Vienna in 1815, the three cities have been officially named the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg" (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg),[1][2] the "Free Hanseatic City of Bremen" (Freie Hansestadt Bremen) and the "Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck" (Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck), the latter being simply known since 1937 as the "Hanseatic City of Lübeck" (Hansestadt Lübeck).[3]
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 novelBuddenbrooks (1901), principally for which he received the 1929Nobel Prize for Literature.
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 anoligarchy, with the Hanseaten as its elite occupying the position held by noble and princely families elsewhere. According toRichard 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 bankerJohann von Berenberg-Gossler was ennobled in Prussia in 1889, his sister Susanne, marriedAmsinck, 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 MayorJohann 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]
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.[10] PoliticianHans Koschnik (Bremen), former chancellorHelmut Schmidt (Hamburg) and several others people from Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen refused theOrder of the Federal Cross of Merit referring to the "hanseatic rejection".[11][12]
Bremen and Hamburg are also the onlyfederal states that have not created their own orders of merit.
Ascan-Bernd Jencquel (17 August 1913 – 4 November 2003), member of the Jencquel family, who married in 1952Sigrid von Amsberg (26 June 1925 – 1 April 2018), elder sister ofPrince Claus of the Netherlands.
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
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
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.
^TheHanseatic 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, inDas Große Bremen-Lexikon, Bremen 2003,ISBN3-86108-693-X
^Following theGreater Hamburg Act, it was named the Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Hansestadt Hamburg) from 1938 until 1952 (constitution of 6 June 1952Archived 18 June 2007 at theWayback Machine), at which point it again became known as the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg)
^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 atimocratic oroligarchic character of Hamburg's constitution, being the reason why Hamburg at theCongress of Vienna was accepted by the princes of the German states as a member of theGerman 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. Vol. 18. Oldenbourg. p. 72.
^Richard J. Evans (1987).Death in Hamburg: Society and Politics in the Cholera Years 1830–1910. Oxford. p. 560.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abcRenate Hauschild-Thiessen (1997). "Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg".Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch. Vol. 14. p. 30.
^Percy Ernst Schramm (1969).Gewinn und Verlust. Hamburg: Christians. p. 108.
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