Innungen#

Guilds, associations of master craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices, and the various traders connected with a particular craft formed for mutual aid and protection and for the furtherance of professional interests, existent since the Middle Ages, gained public character through the industrial code/trade regulations in 1859, and were incorporated into the organisation of the Chamber of Commerce as part of the trades and crafts section of the Economic Chambers in the form of trade groups (federal guilds) or trade associations (provincial guilds) by the 1946 Chamber of Commerce Act (Handelskammergesetz). They have a separate legal personality, represent their members' professional interests and also run special trade schools.

Literature#