Steinmetzordnung – Wikipedia

Bronze coat of arms with crown and ironing helmet, the indication for noble. The design of the coat of arms probably goes back to the 15th century

The Stonemason reflect a special historical organizational form of the craft in the Middle Ages, which had meaning for Gothic construction from the 13th to the 16th century and are unique. The stonemason regulations played a major role in the cathedral building of the Gothic. With the development of the construction in the 12th century and the development of numerous cities, the requirements for the construction construction and the building organization developed. The regulations existed for centuries due to oral tradition and only at the end of the 14th century they were written.

Such regulations, such as the stonemason regulations, were not available in any other medieval craft. In these orders, not only professional processes were laid down, but the stonemasons of the construction huts had their own jurisdiction, their own rules about their customs, gatherings and mergers. It was orders that determined not only the professional processes, but also the relationship between those involved, the masters, journeyman and apprentices.

The most important stonemason regulations was the so -called Strasbourg stonemason regulations of April 24, 1459, which was continued on September 29, 1533 in the “brother book”. There were also stonemason regulations of regional building huts, which were based on the orders mentioned above.

The stonemason regulations were initially unwritten, were only passed on within the hut system and were written down in detailed orders towards the end of the construction hut system. [first] In contrast to German development, there was already a copy in England in 1390, in the so -called Regius Manuscript. [2]

The construction huts in Central Europe came up in the course of the 13th century. The construction huts developed a specific and division -part organizational structure that should fulfill or comply with the high technical and manual requirements of the Gothic cathedral building. The construction huts initially only united stonemasons that organized themselves in so -called stonemason fraternities.

In 1275, Erwin von Steinbach (1244–1318) admitted a meeting of the most important German, French, Italian and English construction huts. This is considered to be the decisive step for the development of the construction hut system. Steinbach, cathedral builder of Strasbourg, intended to standardize the existing rules in order to facilitate the work and to make it more fair. At the same time, the Münsterbauhütte from Strasbourg was recognized to the top main hut, the top and last instance. There were also the main huts in Cologne, Bern (later Zurich) and Vienna. In this context, it is assumed that Roman-German King Rudolf I, a Habsburg, who has leaned construction huts with free jurisdiction. [3]

Below is the essential content of the stonemason regulations of Strasbourg and the brother book:

The wage height that was paid into the construction hut on the day of a journeyman was paid. The apprentices’ training period was laid down. There were regulations for disputes at the employees employed in the construction hut. The final highest judgment in the event of appeals against judgments felled the top construction hut, the main construction hut of Strasbourg. This was later changed and the last judgment was attributed to the emperor, which was never practiced.

There were exemplary punishments. The beating was also possible, the so -called Test With long wooden slats on the buttocks of the convict.

The orders had numerous references to vow formulas that had to be taken off, such as oath, obedience, vows and loyalty. For example, a vow was to be placed when admitted to the brotherhood.

Should the master die, a suitable journeyman could continue the work. Two masters could only work on a small building that was completed in the year. The master had to adhere to the given construction plan. Should a master entertain an illegitimate relationship, no journeyman or journeyman were allowed to work with him. The masters had to read the order once a year and he had to obey all the polishing, journeyman and journeyman. The hut masters had to keep the cash register, called the rifle, into which every journeyman had to pay a penny a day to financially support the sick or dealt with in legal proceedings.

Apprentices had to pay a tuition and they were not allowed to be under 14 years old when they entered the training. In the later orders, a training contract had to be concluded in writing (a piece of paper). The trial period for an apprentice was not allowed to take more than 14 days. A trained bricklayer who wanted to become a stonemason had to do three years of training as a stonemason.

The exercise of the profession was prohibited and dismissals could also be issued. Later, a journeyman could not be financed financially for a termination. Masonry could be used too rough.

Stonemasons from the time of the Gothic

The stonemason sign becomes a badge in the later orders. [4]

It is generally recognized that the building hut regulations of April 25, 1449 are considered the written setting of oral tradition of the construction hut rules. The four representatives of the main huts (Strasbourg, Cologne, Vienna, Bern) were invited to advice in 1445 in Strasbourg by the cathedral architect Jost Dotzinger. There was no final agreement there. This was only achieved after other conferences in Speyer, Strasbourg and finally in Speyer in April 1449, where the unity of all construction huts of the then German Empire and Switzerland came up, which is recognized as a Strasbourg stonemason code.

Why a written order of the construction hut system was only so late is explained with different. Above all, the relative independence of the Gothic construction huts, a developed Memory culture The medieval craftsmen, the hiking of the journeyman, many of which could not read, the confidentiality of the rituals and the construction and planning basics of stonemasonry work. [5]

The stonemason regulations were probably already in 1459 by Emperor Friedrich III. confirmed . What is certain is that it was signed by Rex Romanorum Maximilian I on October 3, 1498 and by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1621. [6]

Around 1500, the Gothic end of the Gothic to dissolve numerous cathedral building huts and on the other hand, together with mergers of stonemasons outside the construction huts in guilds. Sometimes the construction huts merged with the urban guilds. The Reformation triggered by Martin Luther also had followed for the construction huts. T. down to insignificance. In 1509 the Cologne Bauhütte was dissolved, which was only revived in 1840.

In the course of this historical process, there was a reaction and adaptation of the Strasbourg stonemason regulations in the so -called brother book in 1563. In the brother book, the Strasbourg order was further laid down and supplemented by regulations that can be explained with the religious upheavals of the 16th century. [7] The following construction huts had the same hut regulations of the brother book that should be subject to Strasbourg: Speyer, Zurich [Haupthütte], Augsburg, Frankfurt, Ulm, Heilbronn, Blaffenburg (Pleffenberg?), Dresden, Nuremberg, Salzburg [Haupthütte], Mainz, Stuttgart, Heidelberg , Freiburg, Basel [Haupthütte], Hagenau, Schlettstadt, Regensburg, Meisenheim, Munich, Ansbach and Constance. ”Whereby Vienna, Magdeburg and Meißen are not mentioned. [8] Numerous controversial points were adapted in the brother book, which ultimately could not stop the end of the validity of the stonemason regulations and the fall of the construction hut system.

When Strasbourg became French in 1697, the Regensburg Reichstag on May 16, 1707 and again on May 13, 1727 prohibited all connections from the German construction huts to Strasbourg. Emperor Charles VI. On August 16, 1731, banned the construction huts their own jurisdiction, customs, gatherings and mergers without imperial approval and finally Emperor Josef II on April 30, 1772 obtained the strict execution of the aforementioned regulations in the so -called commission edict. The legal existence of the construction huts ended. [9]

  • Alfred Schottner: The “orders” of the medieval cathedral construction huts. Writing and updating the oral rules of the stonemasons. Lit Verlag, Münster 1994, ISBN 3-8258-2353-9.
  1. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 1 (see literature)
  2. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 70
  3. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 3
  4. The stonemason code of 1459 and the stonemason regulations from 1563. In Schottner: Order. Appendix I and III.
  5. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 15/17.
  6. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 24
  7. Alfred Schottner: Orders. P. 77
  8. Franz Riha: Studies on the stonemasons. Reprint of the original edition of 1883. Central antiquarianty of the GDR, Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-7463-0163-7, p. 15.
  9. Alfred Schottner: Orders. Pp. 2–4