Zünfte#

Guilds (craftsmen´s associations or brotherhoods, in Austria usually referred to as "Zeche" or "Innung"), cooperative organisations of masters ("Meister") ( Crafts, handicrafts and trades) of the same or similar Crafts and Trades. Guilds emerged in the 13th  century as religious societies and eventually turned into organisations representing economic interests in the 14th century. The economic function of guilds was to protect the "burgher´s subsistence", that is, reserving the market to guild members; in the Late Middle Ages the number of workshops was limited and raw materials and manpower were evenly distributed among the members. The social function of guilds comprised assistance and loans for members and the establishment and maintenance of a community spirit, which was strengthened by various guild customs. They were usually organised on a local level but there were also regional guilds for rare trades. The religious character of guilds was particularly emphasized during the Baroque period.

Although Rudolf IV tried to undermine the influence of the guilds because of their cartel policies, they gained new significance around 1400 and demanded more influence in municipal governments (Vienna, 1396 and 1462). Associations of journeymen ("Gesellenbruderschaften"), which emerged in the 15th  century (Vienna, 1411), were put under the control of the guild masters in 1439. When Vienna received a new town charter (guilds were deprived of their right to participate in the municipal government in 1526) and Ferdinand I issued a new handicrafts ordinance in 1527 (more control of the guilds by superior authorities), the guilds began a long fight for their position within the state. From the 17th  century onwards, the new mercantilist policy also permitted craftsmen who were not members of a guild to practice their crafts and trades under exemptions granted by the court, by licences (authorised craftsmen) and by dividing the trades into "police" and "commercial" trades (1754). The 1732 handicrafts ordinance was based on the imperial crafts ordinance (1731) and entailed more stringent controls of the guilds, while under Maria Theresia and Joseph II many restrictions were abolished. There were about 11,000 craftsmen in Vienna in 1736, of whom only 32 % were masters belonging to a guild, the rest were exempted from membership by the court or held special licences, or were "Stoerer" (itinerants who worked at the customer´s home). The privileges of the guilds were not confirmed by Joseph II and were officially abolished by the Trade Regulation Act of 1859. The guilds were replaced by voluntary "gewerbliche Genossenschaften" (trade cooperatives) which became compulsory for small trades by the trade regulation amendment of 1883.

Literature#