Niall's Genealogy Resources

Litteraturförteckning

19th Century Guild Records in Germany

My ancestor Heinrich Christian ZIEGLER , a stonemason (steinmetz) and native of the Prussian Province of Saxony (Provinz Sachsen), was born in 1838/39.
Heinrich arrived in Australia on the 8th of January, 1860 aboard the Earl of Elgin ship which sailed from London .
He lived in New South Wales, where he owned a quarry and also worked as a monumental stonemason and builder.
My hobby is genealogy, and I am attempting to find out the name of the town in the Prussian Province of Saxony that Heinrich's family lived.
One of the clues I have about Heinrich Ziegler is that he was a very skilled stonemason, or steinmetz (in German).
It is my intention to obtain Guild Records for stonemasons in the Prussian Province of Saxony, and I thought I would share my knowledge of what records are available on this topic.
Thus the purpose of this page is to provide information about where you can access archives of 19th Century Workers' Guilds (Gilden) or trade associations.
Hopefully, these archives might reveal more information about Heinrich Christian Ziegler.
Perhaps the following information may help you, too.
The following few paragraphs are an extract from an article published by and copyright of the Latter Day Saints Church Family History site at Latter Day Saints Family History site.
It has been blatantly reproduced here without permisssion.
QUOTE OCCUPATIONS Many trades, such as butchers, tanners, shoemakers, and tailors, were organized into professional associations called guilds [Gilden or Zünfte or Innungen].
The purpose of a guild was to provide training of apprentices and otherwise regulate the practice of the trade in the area.
Beginning in the eleventh century, guilds were established in major cities.
The records of these guilds contain lists of members and information on journeymen practicing in the town, marriages of journeymen, and advancements from the rank of apprentice to journeyman and from journeyman to master craftsman.
Some guilds kept records of children similar to church baptism records.
Contracts between masters and parents of apprentices may also be included.
Boys from ages 7 to 18 could be apprenticed for four to seven years in trades such as shoemaking, barrel making, blacksmithing, and tanning.
Young girls often became servants or lived with relatives.
Guild records are usually found in the town archives or in the possession of the modern guilds.
The records are extensive, but few have been published or indexed.
To use guild records, you need to know your ancestor's place of residence and craft.
Since sons often had the same occupation as their fathers, you may find information about several generations of a family.
Only part of the male population is included in guild records, although their wives and daughters are sometimes mentioned.
Guild records are most useful where they exist before the beginning of church records.
Because of their antiquity, such records are often hard to read, even for persons fluent in German.
They may require an expert's help.
ENQUOTE .
Here's some further information I wish to include eventually on this site.
Lists of old German occupation names An outline of the history of German workers associations or guilds Information about guild membership prerequisites/requirements Lists of all occupations which had their own workers associations Information about the type of records held in guild archives Locations of the archives TO BE UPDATED SHORTLY If you would like to contact me to contribute sources of information to this site information for this site please send email to Niall in Sydney, Australia Niall's Genealogy Resources Litteraturförteckning
Anz, C. 1998. Gilden im mittelalterlischen Skandinavien. Göttingen.
Bartell, E.1993. Medeltida skattesystem på Åland.Mariehamn.
Bisgaard, L. 1998. Senmiddelaldrige gildealtre i Danmark.Odense
Bisgaard, L. <1998./td>De glemte altre.
Gildernes religiöse rolle i Senmiddelalderens Danmark. 		Odense.
Bornholms Stednavne.
utg.		1951 (= Danmarks Stednavne, nr 10). Köpenhamn.
Bornholms Kirker.
utg. 		1954 (= Danmarks Kirker,band 7). Köpenhamn.
Finlands medeltidssigill.1900. ed.Hausen.R. Helsingfors.
Finlands medeltidsurkunder.1910 - 1935. 8 band.ed. R. Hausen. Helsingfors.
Gallén, J. 1971. En festskrift om St.Knud Lavard. Historisk tidskrift för Finland, nr 56.Helsingfors.
Grandjean, P.B. 1948.Danske Gilders Segl fra Middelalderen.Köpenhamn.
Hanserecesse. I : 8 , s.
622. 		1897. (Urkundssamling).Leipzig.
Hausen, R.1916. Ur Ålands forntid ,del 1. <Helsingfors.
Jacobsen, G. 1980. Guilds in medieval Denmark.University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.