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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 13%%sup th/%  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.

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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 
15%%sup th/%  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 17%%sup th/%  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
H. Zatschek, Handwerk und Gewerbe in Wien, 1949; idem, 
Einigung und Zeche, Festschrift fuer E. E. Stengel, 1952; E. 
Zoellner (ed.), Oesterr. Sozialstrukturen, 1980.


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