Dienstmann

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Rudolf Graf Rex: Würfelnde Dienstmänner ("Dice-playing Dienstmänner"), around 1890
Memorial for a Dienstmann in Peine, Germany

A Dienstmann (German:

medieval retainer or vassal and, later, a hired man, in German-speaking countries, particularly in Austria
until the first half of the 20th century.

Usage

The term Dienstmann first surfaced in the Middle Ages as a Germanicization of the Latin word ministerialis,[1] for men, who served at a court and, in the course of time, were raised to be armigers with a social status similar to that of free knights (Ritter).[2]

However the term Dienstmann could also refer to men who were obliged to pay duties or render

serf.[3]

Later, the term described was used to describe a hired man who, in public service or in a private household, was contracted to perform time-limited functions of all types in return for a fee. His main duties were the carriage of belongings, such as suitcases, and messenger duties.

In fiction

Well-known fictional Dienstmänner are the Dienstmann, Alois Hingerl, in Ludwig Thoma's Satire Ein Münchner im Himmel or Hans Moser and Paul Hörbiger, the Dienstmänner in the film Hallo Dienstmann. As a so-called Berliner Original, the Dienstmann, Ferdinand Strumpf, went under the name, Eckensteher Nante.

References

  1. ^ Thompson, p. 470.
  2. ^ Delbrűck, p. 254, note 17
  3. ^ Bachrach, Bernard S. "Charlemagne and the Carolingian General Staff" Journal of Military History 66, no. 2 (2002) p. 316-7

Literature

External links

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