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 HamburgAugust Abendroth (1796–1876), lawyerCarl Eduard Abenroth (1804–1885), merchant, member of the Hamburg parliamentJohann Christoph Albers (1741–1800), merchant representative of BremenJohann Heinrich Albers (1775–1800), merchant of Bremen/London, art collectorAnton Albers der Ältere (1765–1844), merchant of Bremen/Lausanne, painterRudolf Amsinck (1577–1636), senator of HamburgWilhelm Amsinck (1752–1831), mayor of HamburgBerenberg, Goßler and Berenberg-Goßler
Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–1790), bankerJohann Heinrich Gossler (1775–1842), senator and bankerAnna Henriette Gossler (1771–1836), married to Ludwig Edwin SeylerHermann Goßler (1802–1877), senator and First Mayor of HamburgJohn von Berenberg-Gossler (1866–1943), Hamburg senator and bankerOskar Goßler (1875–1953), German scullerGustav Goßler (1879–1940), German scullerJohann Heinrich Burchard (1852–1912), mayor of HamburgJohannes Leopold Burchard (1857–1925), Hamburg lawyerWilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz (1878–1963), mayor of HamburgFrédéric de Chapeaurouge (1813–1867), senator of HamburgCharles Ami de Chapeaurouge (1830–1897), senator of HamburgPaul de Chapeaurouge (1876–1952), senator of HamburgAlfred de Chapeaurouge (1907–1993), German politicianHermann von Fehling (1812–1885), German chemistJohann Fehling (1835–1893), Lübeck senatorEmil Ferdinand Fehling (1847–1927), mayor of Lübeck, "Dr. Moritz Hagenström" in BuddenbrooksJohann Cesar VI. Godeffroy (1813-1885), Hamburg merchantJohann Michael Hudtwalcker (1747–1818), Hamburg merchantMartin Hieronymus Hudtwalcker (1787–1865) Hamburg senatorNicolaus Hudtwalcker (1794–1863), Hamburg insurance brokerJohann Christian Jauch senior (1765–1855), Hamburg merchant and Grand BurgherAuguste Jauch (1822–1902), Hamburg benefactor to the poorCarl Jauch (1828–1888), Grand Burgher, Lord of Wellingsbüttel and cavalry lieutenant in the Hamburg Citizen MilitiaAugust Jauch (1861–1930), delegate of the grand burghers (Notabelnabgeordneter) to the Hamburg parliamentHans Jauch (1883–1985), German colonel and Freikorps-leaderWalter Jauch (1888–1976), founder of Aon Jauch & HübenerGünther Jauch (b. 1956), German television host and producerHeinrich Kellinghusen (1796–1879), Hamburg merchant and first mayorThomas Johann Heinrich Mann (1840–1891), senator of Lübeck, "Thomas Buddenbrook" in BuddenbrooksHeinrich Mann (1871–1950), German novelistThomas Mann (1875–1955), German novelistErika Mann (1905–1969), German actress and writerKlaus Mann (1906–1949), German novelistGolo Mann (1909–1994), German historianHeinrich Johann Merck (1770–1853), Hamburg senatorCarl Hermann Merck (1809–1880), Hamburg privy councillorBaron Ernst Merck (1811–1863), Hamburg merchant and cavalry chief of the Hamburg Citizen MilitiaBarthold (Bartholomeus) Moller (1605–1667), mayor of HamburgMatthias Mutzenbecher (1653–1735), senator of HamburgJohann Baptista Mutzenbecher (1691–1759), privy councillor (Senatssyndicus) of HamburgJohann Daniel Overbeck (1715–1802), theologian and dean of the KatharineumChristian Adolph Overbeck (1755–1821), mayor of Lübeck, novelistChristian Gerhard Overbeck (1784–1846), judge at the High Court of Appeal of the four free citiesJohann Friedrich Overbeck (1789–1869), German painter, head of the Nazarene movementChristian Theodor Overbeck (1818–1880), senator of LübeckJohannes Overbeck (1826–1895), German archaeologistJohn Parish (1742–1829), Hamburg merchantCarl Friedrich Petersen (1809–1892), mayor of HamburgCarl Wilhelm Petersen (1868–1933), mayor of HamburgRudolf Petersen (1878–1962), mayor of HamburgChristian Matthias Schröder (1742–1821), mayor of HamburgChristian Mathias Schröder (1778–1860), Hamburg senatorJohann Heinrich Schröder (Freiherr John Henry Schröder) (1784–1883), Baron, Hamburg bankerCarl August Schröder (1821–1902), Hamburg judge and member of parliamentCarl August Schröder (1855–1945), mayor of HamburgNicolaus Schuback (1700–1783), mayor of HamburgEdmund Siemers (1840–1918), Hamburg ship-ownerKurt Siemers (1873–1944), Hamburg ship-owner and bankerKurt Hartwig Siemers (1907–1988), Hamburg bankerGeorg Heinrich Sieveking (1751–1791), Hamburg merchantSir Edward Henry Sieveking (1816–1904), physicianKurt Sieveking (1897–1986), mayor of HamburgGarlieb Sillem (1717–1732), mayor of HamburgRobert Miles Sloman (1783–1867), Hamburg ship-ownerHenry Brarens Sloman (1848–1931), Hamburg ship-ownerPeter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1648–1723), mayor of LübeckPeter Hinrich Tesdorpf (1751–1832), mayor of LübeckJohann Matthaeus Tesdorpf (1749–1824), mayor of LübeckAdolph Tesdorpf (1811–1887), Hamburg senatorEbba Tesdorpf (1851–1920), Hamburg illustrator and watercolourist
