Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

THE LIFE.

I. OLD NUREMBERG.

Nuremberg by the middle of the fifteenth century had
grown from a small village nestling at the foot of the
sandstone rock crowned by the castle built by the
Emperor Conrad II. into one of the most famous and
wealthiest cities of the Empire.1 Her merchants were
the rivals of those of Augsburg and Frankfurt, and much
of the profitable spice-trade, of which Venice still enjoyed
an almost undisputed monopoly, passed through their
hands. They had branch establishments in Italy, France
and the Low Countries. The artisans of the city were
renowned for their skill and ingenuity. Noble churches
and striking civic buildings, which are still the delight of
visitors to the old Imperial city, existed even then, and
bore witness to the piety, taste and prosperity of its
citizens. And the ensuing century brought to the front
quite a number of men—natives of Nuremberg or
residents—whose reputations, after the lapse of more than
four centuries, are still green among the living. Prominent
among these were Adam Krafft (1430-1507), whose
statues, renovated, still adorn the road to the cemetery of
St. John ; Michael Wolgemut (1434-1519), and his more
famous pupil Albrecht Diirer (1471-1528), one of whose
designs, thanks to the kindness of Baron Behaim,
ornaments this volume ; Peter Vischer (1455-1529), the
sturdy sculptor and founder; Veit Hirschvogel (1461-
1525), the painter on glass; Johannes Miiller of
Monteregio (Konigsberg), the most famous astronomer of
his age, who, though not a native of Nuremberg, resided
in that city from 1471-75, and would have returned to it
had not death carried him off prematurely at Rome, in
1476; Bernhard Walther (1430-1504), the wealthy merchant
, who built an observatory for his friend and teacher
Johannes Miiller; Willibrand Pirkheimer (1470-1530),
the learned statesman, warrior and patron of artists and
men of science; Johann Werner (1468-1528), the
astronomer; Hans Sachs (1494-1576), the Meistersinger ;
Anthoni Koberger, who, between 1470 and 1513, printed
and published 276 books, and many others of less note.

And Nuremberg was not only the centre of a far-
reaching commerce, the seat of flourishing industries and
of the arts; the city was likewise politically one of the

1 In 1449 Nuremberg had 45,307 inhabitants, of whom 25,085 were
" residents."

most important in all Germany. The Imperial Parliament
or Reichstag had met there repeatedly ever since
1073 ; the Emperors frequently took up their quarters in
its Burg; and in 1424 the city authorities were entrusted
with the custody of the crown jewels, which remained
there up to 1796, when they were removed to Vienna.

The government of the city was frankly oligarchical,
for, with the exception of eight representative craftsmen,
admitted after an insurrection in 1349, only members of
about fifty families were eligible for seats on the City
Council or Rat. These patrician families or Oeschlechter
owed their privilege to the wealth acquired by trade or
commerce; and a personal dignity at first conferred upon
individuals of merit by their fellow-citizens in course of
time became hereditary.2 It must, however, be admitted
that they exercised the powers usurped by them with
honesty, fairness, and business capacity, which is more
than can be said of the popularly elected Councils of
certain of our modern cities, notorious for their extravagance
, mismanagement and even corruption.

II. THE BEHAIMS OF SCHWARZBACH.

The Behaims of Schwarzbach, in the fifteenth century,
already occupied a prominent position among the Oeschlechter
or Patricians of Nuremberg. The founder of
the family is supposed to have left his native place of
Schwarzbach in the Bohemian district of Krumlau, in
consequence of the persecution suffered by the Christian
inhabitants after the death of Duke Wratislaw in 916.
This tradition is confirmed, to some extent, by the family
name, for Behaim, or Beheim, merely means " Bohemian,"
the modern " Boehm," whilst the wavy bend sable, which
crosses the family shield diagonally, is clearly intended to

2 The Bat or City Council included 48 members, viz., 26 Burgomasters
(13 Balmannen, Consules or Councilmen, and 13 Schoffen, Assessors),
7 alte Herren (" old gentlemen " ; aldermen or septem viri), 7 alte genannte
(seniori), and 8 representatives of craftsmen. The Kleine Bat (Senatus)
included 3 oberste Hauptleut (Captains or triumviri), 2 Losunger, who had
charge of the finances and were the real heads of the city, and the 7 alte
Herren. In addition to these privileged families there were those entitled
to the title of Erbar (honourable or worshipful), related by marriage to the
Geschlechter; merchants and manufacturers, land or houseowners, and
members of the learned professions ; shopkeepers, and handicraftsmen.