The Hanseaten ( [hanzeˈaːtn̩], Hanseatics) is a collective term for the hierarchy group (so called First Families) consisting of elite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted the ruling class of the free imperial city of Hamburg, conjointly with the equal First Families of the free imperial cities Bremen and Lübeck. The members of these First Families were the persons in possession of hereditary grand burghership (Großbürgerschaft) of these cities, including the mayors (Bürgermeister), the senators (Senatoren), joint diplomats (Diplomaten) and the senior pastors (Hauptpastoren). Hanseaten refers specifically to the ruling families of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, but more broadly, this group is also referred to as patricians along with similar social groups elsewhere in continental Europe.
The three cities since the Congress of Vienna 1815 are each officially named the "Free and Hanseatic City Hamburg" (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), the "Free Hanseatic City Bremen" (Freie Hansestadt Bremen) and the "Free and Hanseatic City Lübeck" (Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck), since 1937 merely the "Hanseatic City Lübeck" (Hansestadt Lübeck).
Hamburg was one of the oldest stringent civic republics, in which the Hanseatics preserved their constitutional privileges granted in 1189 by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, until the German Revolution of 1918–19 and the Weimar Constitution. Hamburg was strictly republican, but it was not a democracy, but rather an oligarchy.
The Hanseaten were regarded as being of equal rank to the (landed) nobility elsewhere in Europe, although the Hanseaten often regarded the (rural) nobility outside the city republics as inferior to the (urban and often more affluent, and in their own view, cultivated) Hanseaten. Thomas Mann, a member of a Lübeck Hanseatic family, portrayed this class in his Nobel Prize-winning novel Buddenbrooks.
The relationship between the Hanseatic and noble families varied depending on the city. The most republican city was Hamburg, where the nobility was banned, from the 13th century to the 19th century, from owning property, participating in the political life of the city republic, and even from living within its walls. Hamburg, however, was not a true democracy, but rather an oligarchy, with the Hanseaten as its elite occupying the position held by noble and princely families elsewhere. According to Richard J. Evans, "the wealthy of nineteenth-century Hamburg were for the most part stern republicans, abhorring titles, refusing to accord any deference to the Prussian nobility, and determinedly loyal to their urban background and mercantile heritage." Many grand burghers considered the nobility inferior to Hanseatic families. A marriage between a daughter of a Hanseatic family and a noble was often undesired by the Hanseaten. From the late 19th century, being integrated into a German nation state, a number of Hanseatic families were nevertheless ennobled (by other German states, e.g. Prussia), but this was often met with criticism among their fellow Hanseaten. As the Hanseatic banker Johann von Berenberg-Gossler was ennobled in Prussia in 1889, his sister Susanne, married Amsinck, exclaimed "Aber John, unser guter Name! [But John, our good name!]" Upon hearing of the ennoblement of Rudolph Schröder (1852–1938) of the ancient Hanseatic Schröder family, Hamburg First Mayor Johann Heinrich Burchard remarked that the Prussian King could indeed "place" (versetzen) Schröder among the nobles, but he could not "elevate" (erheben) a Hanseatic merchant.
A few prominent families are listed here.
Amandus Augustus Abendroth (1767–1842), mayor of Hamburg
August Abendroth (1796–1876), lawyer
Carl Eduard Abenroth (1804–1885), merchant, member of the Hamburg parliament
Johann Christoph Albers (1741–1800), merchant representative of Bremen
Johann Heinrich Albers (1775–1800), merchant of Bremen/London, art collector
Anton Albers der Ältere (1765–1844), merchant of Bremen/Lausanne, painter
Rudolf Amsinck (1577–1636), senator of Hamburg
Wilhelm Amsinck (1752–1831), mayor of Hamburg
Berenberg, Goßler and Berenberg-Goßler
Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–1790), banker
Johann Heinrich Gossler (1775–1842), senator and banker
Anna Henriette Gossler (1771–1836), married to Ludwig Edwin Seyler
Hermann Goßler (1802–1877), senator and First Mayor of Hamburg
John von Berenberg-Gossler (1866–1943), Hamburg senator and banker
Oskar Goßler (1875–1953), German sculler
Gustav Goßler (1879–1940), German sculler
Johann Heinrich Burchard (1852–1912), mayor of Hamburg
Johannes Leopold Burchard (1857–1925), Hamburg lawyer
Wilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz (1878–1963), mayor of Hamburg
Frédéric de Chapeaurouge (1813–1867), senator of Hamburg
Charles Ami de Chapeaurouge (1830–1897), senator of Hamburg
Paul de Chapeaurouge (1876–1952), senator of Hamburg
Alfred de Chapeaurouge (1907–1993), German politician
Hermann von Fehling (1812–1885), German chemist
Johann Fehling (1835–1893), Lübeck senator
Emil Ferdinand Fehling (1847–1927), mayor of Lübeck, "Dr. Moritz Hagenström" in Buddenbrooks
Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy (1813-1885), Hamburg merchant
Johann Michael Hudtwalcker (1747–1818), Hamburg merchant
Martin Hieronymus Hudtwalcker (1787–1865) Hamburg senator
Nicolaus Hudtwalcker (1794–1863), Hamburg insurance broker
Johann Christian Jauch senior (1765–1855), Hamburg merchant and Grand Burgher
Auguste Jauch (1822–1902), Hamburg benefactor to the poor
Carl Jauch (1828–1888), Grand Burgher, Lord of Wellingsbüttel and cavalry lieutenant in the Hamburg Citizen Militia
August Jauch (1861–1930), delegate of the grand burghers (Notabelnabgeordneter) to the Hamburg parliament
Hans Jauch (1883–1985), German colonel and Freikorps-leader
Walter Jauch (1888–1976), founder of Aon Jauch & Hübener
Günther Jauch (b. 1956), German television host and producer
Heinrich Kellinghusen (1796–1879), Hamburg merchant and first mayor
Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann (1840–1891), senator of Lübeck, "Thomas Buddenbrook" in Buddenbrooks
Heinrich Mann (1871–1950), German novelist
Thomas Mann (1875–1955), German novelist
Erika Mann (1905–1969), German actress and writer
Klaus Mann (1906–1949), German novelist
Golo Mann (1909–1994), German historian
Heinrich Johann Merck (1770–1853), Hamburg senator
Carl Hermann Merck (1809–1880), Hamburg privy councillor
Baron Ernst Merck (1811–1863), Hamburg merchant and cavalry chief of the Hamburg Citizen Militia
Barthold (Bartholomeus) Moller (1605–1667), mayor of Hamburg
Matthias Mutzenbecher (1653–1735), senator of Hamburg
Johann Baptista Mutzenbecher (1691–1759), privy councillor (Senatssyndicus) of Hamburg
Johann Daniel Overbeck (1715–1802), theologian and dean of the Katharineum
Christian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821), mayor of Lübeck, novelist
Christian Gerhard Overbeck (1784–1846), judge at the High Court of Appeal of the four free cities
Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869), German painter, head of the Nazarene movement
Christian Theodor Overbeck (1818–1880), senator of Lübeck
Johannes Overbeck (1826–1895), German archaeologist
John Parish (1742–1829), Hamburg merchant
Carl Friedrich Petersen (1809–1892), mayor of Hamburg
Carl Wilhelm Petersen (1868–1933), mayor of Hamburg
Rudolf Petersen (1878–1962), mayor of Hamburg
Christian Matthias Schröder (1742–1821), mayor of Hamburg
Christian Mathias Schröder (1778–1860), Hamburg senator
Johann Heinrich Schröder (Freiherr John Henry Schröder) (1784–1883), Baron, Hamburg banker
Carl August Schröder (1821–1902), Hamburg judge and member of parliament
Carl August Schröder (1855–1945), mayor of Hamburg
Nicolaus Schuback (1700–1783), mayor of Hamburg
Edmund Siemers (1840–1918), Hamburg ship-owner
Kurt Siemers (1873–1944), Hamburg ship-owner and banker
Kurt Hartwig Siemers (1907–1988), Hamburg banker
Georg Heinrich Sieveking (1751–1791), Hamburg merchant
Sir Edward Henry Sieveking (1816–1904), physician
Kurt Sieveking (1897–1986), mayor of Hamburg
Garlieb Sillem (1717–1732), mayor of Hamburg
Robert Miles Sloman (1783–1867), Hamburg ship-owner
Henry Brarens Sloman (1848–1931), Hamburg ship-owner
Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1648–1723), mayor of Lübeck
Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1751–1832), mayor of Lübeck
Johann Matthaeus Tesdorpf (1749–1824), mayor of Lübeck
Adolph Tesdorpf (1811–1887), Hamburg senator
Ebba Tesdorpf (1851–1920), Hamburg illustrator and watercolourist
