(Discussion of Hesse, continued from Note Nr. 1620.)
I move from Marburg to Kassel, which was larger than Marburg by about 12,000 to 5,000. The year initially is 1723. Among the 12,000 inhabitants there were 773 government officials, a high percentage. There were slightly more than 1,400 artisans. Considering half of the population were females and more than half were children, this left not more than 3,000 working men. The artisans were about half of this. The town was ruled by a Mayor and Council. The Landgraves influenced the choice of the officials. As in Marburg, the town income was not large and consisted of many elements, such as the public wine shop, fees for weighing goods at the public markets, citizenship fees, sale of goods grown on town lands, rent from buildings, etc. There was an array of regularly collected petty taxes and fees, such a beverage tax, excise tax, business licenses, and a wig tax. There were twenty-four significant guilds in town.
There was a standing order to bar the gates to the town at specified hours. Thus, one had the feeling of living in a fortress. The hours of closure included the service times at church.
In 1723, the city launched a new feature. More than one hundred street lamps were installed in the "New City". These were fired with rape seed oil. (Incidentally, rape is still grown extensively in Germany, and makes very colorful fields in May with the bright yellow blossoms. Today, the oil is used for “Canola Oil”, not for street lamps.) The new street lamps required a new tax to pay for them.
In 1730, the first regular newspaper was published. The name of it was the " Kassel Police and Commercial Newspaper ". References to several of the inns in town show names such as "Ox Head", "The Carp", and the "Thirsty Stag". The Lutherans were gaining ground, and by 1738 a new Lutheran Church building had been erected. Just prior to this, in 1732, a group of 240 Salzburg Lutheran refugees from Catholic Austria were settled in the town.
William VIII, who became Landgrave in 1730, was a great patron of the arts. He had works by many of the famous painters. These works were later stolen by Napoleon's forces. Some have been restored to Kassel, and the museum today is recognized for the quality of its collection. Of course, the average citizen in the Eighteenth Century never saw these works. Kassel, like Marburg, suffered badly during the Seven Years' War.
Landgrave Frederick II succeeded his father in 1760. Building on the work of his father and grandfather, he wanted a residence worthy of a Prince of stature. This extended to improving the appearance of Kassel. Buildings were torn down, streets were widening and straightened. The walls around the town were torn down.
(Continued in Note Nr. 1622.
(18 Mar 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.