Fonds Stadtarchiv Ulm, E Besserer Akten - Patrician archive Besserer, files

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Stadtarchiv Ulm, E Besserer Akten

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Patrician archive Besserer, files

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  • <br />1329/1980 (Creation)

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Preface: In the context of the cataloguing and preservation of the archives of the Ulm patrician families Besserer and Schad, funded by the Stiftung Kulturgut des Landes Baden-Württemberg, the files and official books of the family archive of the Besserer von Thalfingen were recorded between October 2004 and August 2005 parallel to the cataloguing of the documents.<br />1. the history of the betterers of Thalfingen and their possessions <br />The betterers of Thalfingen were among the most important patrician families of the city of Ulm and were incorporated into the knight cantons of Donau and Hegau. Georg Besserer von Bußmanshausen, who was regarded in the family as the progenitor, cannot be grasped in the sources. Its oldest representative is Ulrich Besserer (Ulricus Bezerarius), who appeared in Ulm in 1264 as witness to a pledge agreement between the bishop Hartmann of Augsburg and the knight Heinrich von Scheppach. In the further course of the 13th and early 14th centuries further better ones can be found in Ulm. Otto Besserer was the first member of the family to occupy the position of mayor in Ulm in 1358. Since then, its members have belonged for centuries to the narrower ruling class of Ulm and were active in all areas of public life, e.g. as councillors, mayors, secret councillors, councilors, diplomats and military officers. Beyond their importance in Ulm, they belonged to the most important patrician families of the German southwest and held leading positions in city associations and the Swabian League. Heinrich ( 1372) and Konrad Besserer ( 1388) fell as town captains in the battles at Altheim and Döffingen, while Wilhelm Besserer ( 1458) was active as captain of the Swabian League for 19 years. In Ulm Heinrich Besserer (around 1414) donated the Bessererkapelle in the Münster.<br />In the further course of the 14th and 15th century the family branched out into different lines - besides Ulm among others in Wattenweiler, Rohr, Memmingen and Ravensburg and Schnürpflingen, which however with the exception of the Ulmer line in the 17th century were not included in the family. In the 16th century the family with the Ulm mayor Bernhard Besserer<br />( 1542) represented the most influential personality in connection with the introduction of the Reformation in Ulm. He also represented the city at Imperial Diets and was characterized by the reformer Ökolampadius as the "Oracle of the Council". His son Georg ( 1582) signed the Augsburger Religionsfrieden in 1555 as mayor of Ulm. A nephew of Bernhard, Sebastian Besserer ( 1554), is the presumed author of the petition of the 17 Ulm patrician families to Emperor Charles V. to confirm their nobility. Eitel Besserer<br />( 1533) was immortalized by the portrait of the painter Martin Schaffner hanging in the Ulm Museum today. His son Eitel Eberhard Besserer ( 1575) acquired in 1540 the Bad Obertalfingen with health well, castle stable, house, yard ride and chapel, after which the line of his descendants called themselves Besserer of Thalfingen. The castle was rebuilt from scratch after 1540. The stair tower was added at the end of the 16th century. But also the installations for the bath were renewed, the spring enclosed and led into a boiler house.<br />Among the descendants of Eitel Eberhard Besserer ( 1626) two lines of the Better of Thalfingen were formed, the older and the younger main line. The second included the former mayor Marx Christoph Besserer (1678-1738), who died on 11 February 1738 as a result of an assassination attempt by his counterpart Albrecht Harsdörfer. After the end of the reichsstädtische liberties, members of the younger main line made above all career in the Bavarian administration and in the military. Albrecht Besserer (1786-1839) was an officer of the Bavarian military, court marshal of Crown Prince Max of Bavaria and Bavarian Minister of War. He and his descendants were raised by Max Josef of Bavaria to the rank of hereditary baron. <br />The older line remained in Ulm and in the 19th century was mainly represented in the Württemberg civil service. With the Württemberg lieutenant colonel Konrad Besserer (1858-1940) this line died out in the male tribe. The ancestral seat Obertalfingen remained in the possession of the family until the death of his single daughter Martha Besserer (1891-1980). The younger main line was extinguished in 2004 by the death of Albrecht Besserer (1924-2004) in the male tribe.<br />The rich free float of the Besserer family around Ulm can only be grasped rudimentarily before the middle of the 16th century (cf. E Besserer no. 1332). The property of the Besserer family, as it is reflected in the existing files of the family archive, can be roughly divided into three goods complexes: Family Foundation, Lehensadministration and Fideikommiss.<br />The Besserer'sche Familienstiftung has its origin in the medieval measuring foundations at the Ulm cathedral. As a result of the Reformation, its purpose became obsolete. In 1543 the Agnates of the family reached an agreement on the administration of the foundation's funds and the use of the proceeds: Two meals in the hospital, half of the income for the parish church building care office, a quarter for the preservation of the foundation or for the support of needy women of the family. The last quarter should be used to support needy agnates, in particular for studies. The payments to the parish church building care office were replaced at a later time (before 1662), which could no longer be determined exactly.<br />In the course of time, additional foundations and independent foundations of family members - such as those of the forester Albrecht Servatius Besserer (1685-1759) to support Protestant theology students over 2000 fl. supplemented this complex.<br />The settlement letter of 1543 remained the basis of the statutes of the Family Foundation, which were amended several times over the centuries (1576, 1738, 1789, 1893).<br />In the 19th century, the Besserer family had disputes with the Bavarian and later Württemberg authorities about the character of the Besserer Foundation as a "Mild Foundation" and its state supervision. After the reorganization of the foundation system in the Kingdom of Württemberg (1818-1822), the dispute about the supervision of the foundation continued with the foundation council.<br />Since 1827 the entry that the assets of the Besserer Foundation would go to the church foundation after the extinction of the family was made in the church foundation accounts. It was not until 1852 that the Besserer family became aware of this entry from Mayor Christoph Leonhard von Wolbach. At a family day in October 1853, Wolbach was commissioned to draft a deposit for the board of trustees against the right of reversion. In 1857 an objection was raised and in 1861 a lawsuit against the alleged right of reversion was filed. As a result of family disagreement, however, the trial was suspended in 1863. Comparative attempts in the years 1889 and 1895 were unsuccessful.<br />An action for a declaratory judgment that the foundation was not a charitable one even failed after the redemption of the poor foundations between 1897 and 1900. In 1907 the Besserer family reached an agreement with the Protestant parish and the local poor authority on a settlement of the claims against a capital of 50000 Marks each. In the following year a new statute could be worked out, which came into force in 1909 by royal permission. The purpose of the foundation was the economic promotion of the members of the whole family. The inflation of the post-war period and the twenties made a now clearly reduced payment of drawings to family members only possible again in 1929. The currency reform of 1948 decimated the foundation's assets to 4800 DM (previously 65000 RM), as a result of which the foundation was no longer able to make payments in accordance with the foundation's statutes. In 1954 the state supervision was abolished. The foundation was continued until the 60's and then abolished.<br />Until it was replaced in the 19th century, the family foundation was wealthy in various places. The most important are: Markbronn (3 small courts, lower jurisdiction), Jedelhausen (3 courts, 1 Selde, lower jurisdiction), Jungingen (1 court, lower jurisdiction without inventory and division), Göttingen (1 court, service, tax and enforceability), Schneckenhofen (1 court, 1 Selde); (1 mill, lower jurisdiction only in older times), Wettingen (1 farm; jurisdiction)<br />In addition to the foundation, the entire family also received income from their joint fiefdoms. Particularly worth mentioning here are goods in Pfuhl, Jungingen, Asselfingen and the house yard, shares in the Bürglensmühle in Ulm, ten rights in Jungingen and Straß as well as the patronage right to Asselfingen. In 1885, various pension funds were formed from the remains of these estates. These funds were merged into a single foundation in 1912. At that time only the line of Marx Philipp Besserer (1768-1807) was entitled to purchase. The separation of the two foundations was abandoned after the currency reform of 1948.<br />The third goods complex is the Fideikommissgut Obertalfingen and its pertinence goods. After the death of Eitel Eberhard Besserer ( 1575), the estate passed to his male heirs in normal inheritance over five generations, of whom the last, Marx Philipp Besserer (1647-1709), who died in 1709, had no sons. His widow Catharina Villinger ( 1727) married in second marriage Eitel Albrecht Besserer (1639-1720). Since also this marriage remained without male descendants, she determined the estate to a male Besserer'schen Fideikommiss and her son-in-law Alphons Maximilian Besserer (1672-1731) as first owner. In 1770 his son donated six pertinence estates in Pfuhl (1 Hofgut), Bernstadt (1 Hofgut) and Breitingen (1/2 Hofgut, 1/2 Wirtshaus, Holz Schonrain, Holz Bessererische Halde) to the previous estate, which were integrated into the Fideikommiss and the proceeds of which were to serve the maintenance of the castle estate Obertalfingen. The last owner was Konrad Besserer (1858-1940), who dissolved the Fideikommiss and bequeathed the estate to his daughter Martha.<br />2. The first beginnings for a common family archive can be found in 1528. In a comparison between Hans Besserer the Elder at Günzburg, Bernhard Besserer, Georg Besserer and Sebastian Besserer on the administration of the Besserer Foundations and Foundations, the eternal safekeeping of the deed drawer in Ulm is also regulated. Part of the family archive seems to have been destroyed by Swedish troops during the 30-year war in the castle of Schnürpflingen (cf. E Besserer No. 1289). The Foundation Actuaries were responsible for managing the archives and registry of the Family Foundation and the Lehnsadministration. Since the middle of the 17th century, lists of documents relating to individual goods complexes have been handed down. However, it was not until the middle of the 18th century that professionalization began, with the creation of extensive repertories of the foundation and fiefdom files and a radical reorganization of the archive and registry by the actuary Johann Georg Huzelsieder. However, this situation did not last long: Supplements were made only until the beginning of the 19th century. With the end of the reichsstädtischen time also the orderly file keeping of the Besserer'schen family donation ended. The mismanagement and embezzlement of the long-time foundation calculator Schreiber did their best not to improve this situation. On the occasion of the state of the registry and the archive, Georg Besserer (1830-1891) complained that the archive had "never been under proper control and supervision".<br />In the 19th century, the archive was housed in the shoe store owned by the family. With the acquisition of the house by the city in 1896, the city undertook to house the Besserer'sche Hausarchiv in a municipal building for an annual fee of 25 RM. However, the archive was moved to the castle in Obertalfingen. In October 1939, Konrad Besserer approached the city to have the archive housed in municipal premises. In the following negotiations he agreed to donate the archive to the city of Ulm. The archive was taken over by the city in 1940 with eight cupboards, which had previously served for its safekeeping. Parallel to the takeover of the archive by the city, Konrad Besserer also transferred his movable art possessions in Obertalfingen and the Besserer Chapel of the Cathedral to the city of Ulm, which, however, undertook to pay an annual pension of 3000 RM to his daughter Martha.<br />In World War II the archive was moved to Reutti, where in 1945 a small part of the documents was lost due to looting by American soldiers. After the war, the stock was provisionally stored in Wiblingen until it was transferred back to the Schwörhaus in January 1952. The former city treasurer Julius Girmond then began with the order of the foundation accounts and their vouchers, without registering them. A part of the documents of the family archives was published by E.O. in 1958. Braasch and brought into the present order (D Stiftung Besserer and E Privatarchiv Besserer). The collection was further expanded by the transfer of a federal foundation file by the last computer of the Besserer Foundation, Hans Hauff, in 1982. Through contacts with the owners of the former Besserer country estate Obertalfingen, the town archive was made aware in 2005 of the remaining documents of Martha Besserer, who died in 1980, and received them as a donation.<br />3. For the purpose of organizing and indexing the archive <br />The files were partly still in situ in the old archive shop. During a first sighting, the remains of an order by place and subject could be determined. The reconstruction of these records was based on registry repertories from the years 1755 and 1792 and only minor losses of archival material were found in comparison with them.<br />The determination of provenance between family foundation, Fideikommiss, Lehensadministration and estates of individual family members was difficult. The documents of the Fideikommissut Obertalfingen and the Family Foundation cannot be separated due to congruence of content and personal ties - at times the owners of the Fideikommiss and the administrator of the Foundation were identical. Similar problems arise with the divorce of files in family fiefdoms and foundation fiefdoms, since both provenances were simultaneously wealthy in some places. The administration of the Family Foundation, the Lehensadministration and partly also the Fideikommisses was also jointly in the hands of the Foundation Administration and the Foundation computers appointed for this purpose. For this reason, the provenance was not stated.<br />The upheavals of the 19th century - state supervision of the foundation, abolition of the manors, allodization of the fiefdoms and replacement of the basic pensions - are clearly reflected in the order of the archive. The order that was recognizable until the 18th century is disintegrating. Disinterest on the part of the foundation administrators and embezzlement on the part of Karl Schreiber, the foundation administrator of many years, led to a desolate record keeping. The records of the late 18th to 20th centuries were mostly unsorted - hardly a fascicle was still completely preserved in context - which required an order, partly a new formation of the files. Empty file envelopes could be partially filled with the corresponding files and the contents of existing hand files with inscriptions such as Varia or Miscellanea could be assigned to the original subjects. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of new files to be created during the recording process. In addition, more than one metre of written material was available in a completely disordered state and had to be assigned to other files or, where this was not possible, to single sheet distortion.<br />An orientation on the classification of the repertories of 1755 and 1792 did not seem to make sense because of the pertinence and locaturation principles used. However, by distorting the old signatures and with the help of the finding aids of the 18th century, this order remains comprehensible at all times. Due to the continuity of the file management, a possible division into older and newer files, approximately oriented to the year 1810, was dispensed with. The order of the file and official book holdings therefore followed the thematic classification developed for aristocratic archives in the inventories of non-state archives in Baden-Württemberg. It distinguishes family matters from the rule and administration of estates and the exercise of sovereign rights. An index of persons and places provides additional information on the holdings.<br />The indexing of books, maps, photographs and invoices was simpler. The collection of military books and maps of Konrad Besserer should be emphasized. The invoices could be divided into different series. In addition to the foundation invoices, there were also invoices for various fief income, invoices from the Fideikommiss Obertalfingen, the Patriziatsstiftung and municipal invoices as well as a significant number of individual invoices for individual family members.<br />After the indexing was completed, the Besserer family archive was packed in acid-free file envelopes and archive cartons and magazined. The entire stock of files and official books now comprises 2479 file units with a volume of about 39 shelf metres. <br />Literature on the history of the Besserer von Thalfingen family <br />Friedrich Bauser, Die Besserer in Württemberg, in: Württembergische Vierteljahreshefte für Landesgeschichte, N.F. 18 (1909), pp. 216-225.<br />Hans Eberhard von Besser, Von den Besserers zu den Bessers. A prehistoric overview of the origin of those from Besser. For the family on the basis of documents and files compiled, 1 vol, Görlitz 1923.<br />Max Freiherr Besserer von Thalfingen, contribution to the history of the betterers of Thalfingen, Rimsting am Chiemsee 1957.<br />Friedrich Cast, Historisches und Genealogisches Adelsbuch des Königreichs Württemberg, Stuttgart 1839, pp. 138-147.<br />Oliver Fieg, Das Ulmer Patriziat zwischen Zunftbürgertum und Landadel, in: Adel im Wandel. Oberschwaben von der frühen Neuzeit bis zur Gegenwart, Ostfildern 2006, pp. 631-642.<br />Max Ernst, Drei Votivtafeln des Wilhelm Besserer, Captain of the Schwäbischen Bund in der Bessererkapelle des Ulmer Münsters, in: Mitteilungen des Verein für Kunst und Altertum in Ulm und Oberschwaben 25 (1927), pp. 61-70.<br />Genealogical manual of the nobility enrolled in Bavaria, vol. 2, Neustadt an der Aisch 1951, p. 116f.<br />Max Huber, Die Ulmer Patrizierfamilie Besserer, in: NDB 2 (1955), p. 183.<br />Ernst Heinrich Kneschke u.a. (Ed.), Art. "Besserer von Thalfingen", in: Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon, Vol. 1, Leipzig 1859, S. 383-385.<br />Gustav Merk, Zur Geschichte der Besserer in Schnürpflingen, in: Familiengeschichtliche Blätter 15 (1917), Sp. 9ff.<br />Gustav Merk, Die Gegenreformation und das Ende der Besserer in Schnürpflingen, in: Württembergische Vierteljahreshefte N.F. 27 (1918), S. 124-132.<br />Eberhard Neubronner, Martha von Besserer. Ulmer Gesichter, in: Ulmer Forum 43 (1977/78), pp. 44-45.<br />Albrecht Rieber, The Patriciate of Ulm, Augsburg, Ravensburg, Memmingen, Biberach, in: Helmut Rößler (ed.), German Patriciate 1430-1740, Limburg/Lahn 1968, pp. 299-351.<br />Jacob Rieber, Zur Geschichte der Familie von Besserer, in Ulm und Oberschwaben 17 (1911), pp. 19-36.<br />Jacob Rieber, Die Freiherren und Herrn Besserer v. Thalfingen, in: Das Königshaus und der Adel in Württemberg, edited by Friedrich Freiherr von Gaisberg-Schöckingen et al, Stuttgart 1908-1914, p. 330-337.<br />David August Schultes, Die Familie der Besserer in Ulm, in: Württembergische Vierteljahreshefte für Landesgeschichte 10 (1887), p. 26-34 und 113-119.<br />Heinrich Walther, Bernhard Besserer und die Politik der Reichsstadt Ulm während der Reformationzeit, in: Mitteilungen des Verein für Kunst und Altertum in Ulm und Oberschwaben 27 (1930), p. 1-69.<br />Askan Westermann, Die Besserer zu Memmingen, in: Memminger Geschichtsblätter 1932, pp. 25-29 and 33-40.<br />Albrecht Weyermann News from scholars and artists and other curious persons from Ulm, Ulm 1798.<br />Albrecht Weyermann, Neue historisch-biographisch-artistische Nachrichten von Gehrten und Künstlern auch alten und neuen ardelichen und bürgerlichen Familien aus der vormal Reichsstadt Ulm, Ulm 1829.

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House of City History - Stadtarchiv Ulm >> City Archive Ulm (Archivtektonik) >> family and domination archives, archives of organisations and companies

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  • German

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A91x29405969381332320180524150700447

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