Moving skills, moving ideas – migrant glassworkers in 17th–19th-century Estonia

SUMMARY

This paper uncovers previously unstudied patterns of interregional movement and life histories of migrant glassworkers in 17th-19th-century Estonia. Using material and archival traces of 1,231 individuals associated with glassworking or production sites, workers’ lives are followed from childhood to old age. Guild-based division of skilled professions restricted access to positions within the glass industry to the enserfed locals, leading to a constant demand for foreign labour until the 1840s. The Wentzell, Hagen, and Runge families of the migrant-led industry are presented as case studies.

Keywords:

• Migrant workers
• glass industry
• Estonia

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the collection managers for all their help at Tallinn University Archaeological Research Collection, Tallinn Town Museum, FDN Pärnu Museum, FDN Haapsalu ja Läänemaa muuseumid, FDN Hiiumaa muuseumid, Tartu Town Museum, FDN Estonian History Museum, National Archives of Estonia, and Swedish National Archives. The author is also grateful to reviewers of earlier drafts of this article for their input.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in DataDOI at http://dx.doi.org/10.23673/re-448, and they are part of the author’s PhD project ‘Glass and its makers in post-medieval Estonia’ carried out at the University of Tartu, Estonia from 2017-23. Further data was derived from the following resources available in the public domain: cemetery management database HAUDI, https://www.kalmistud.ee/eng/ and Statistikaamet (Statistics Estonia) application for family name statistics, https://stat.ee/nimed/pere/ (queries: Hagen, Haagen, Runge, Vensel, Ventsel, Ventsli, Wenzel). Non-digital data supporting this study are curated at the RA and indexed on https://ais.ra.ee.

SUMMARY IN ESTONIAN

RÉSUMÉ

Oskuste ja ideede levik – võõrtöölised Eesti 17.–19. sajandi klaasitööstuses

Selles artiklis käsitletakse varem uurimata rändklaasitööliste regioonisiseseid liikumismustreid ja elulugusid 17.-19. sajandi Eestis. Aineliste ja kirjalike jälgede abil vaadeldakse 1231 klaasitöö või klaasikodadega seotud isiku elu lapsepõlvest vanaduseani. Gildidepõhine erialade jaotus piiras pärisorjadest kohalike juurdepääsu ametikohtadele klaasitööstuses, mis viis pideva vöörtööjõu nõudluseni, mis kestis 1840. aastateni. Võõrtööjõule toetuva tööstuse suguvõsadest esitatakse juhtumiuuringutena Wentzelli, Hageni ja Runge perekondade lood.

Notes

1 Unless specified otherwise, ‘Estonia’ is used to denote the territory of modern-day Estonia, including northern Livonia throughout this article.

2 Par some brief hiatuses, a glass factory is still in operation at the original premises.

3 In 1915, the first godparent listed for Roderich Oscar Feldmann was a young unmarried woman, Miss Klara Feldmann, who had closer ties as a member of the same family than the merchant (Oscar Wildt) or pastor (Johannes Rammann-Dahlen) listed as the other godparents. In the wake of World War I, the position of a godparent could have become less symbolic and more practical. EAA.1850.1.1122.

4 A tax-paying Russian peasant engaged in trade.

5 Here and below, only the born surname is counted, i.e. married surnames are not considered.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology.