Denying the right to work. German trade regulation and anti-Gypsy policy 1871–1914

ABSTRACT

This article examines the role that a discriminatory application of the German Trade Code (Gewerbeordnung) played in the ‘Gypsy’ policy of the German Second Empire. It argues that the Code became central to the legalistic and bureaucratic form that their persecution assumed in this period, serving to criminalise the itinerant lifestyle of the Sinti and Roma and contributing greatly to their social and economic marginalisation.

KEYWORDS:

• Trade regulations
• Gypsies
• Sinti and Roma
• pedlars
• Germany
• Second Empire

Disclosure statement

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

Notes on contributor

Simon Constantine studied at Manchester and Nottingham, then taught at Aberystwyth and Southampton. He is currently Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Wolverhampton, where he works on various aspects of modern German history.

Notes

1 Reulecke, Geschichte der Urbanisierung, 69–71.

2 Over 1.2 million foreign workers were employed in Germany by 1913. See Lehmann, Ausländische Arbeiter, 6.

3 A renewed instance on proof of identity meant that they continued to be issued, although at very little cost. This summary is derived from Torpey, Passport, 87–113. The 1867 law is reproduced in Kanngiesser, Gesetze, 12.

4 For a discussion of these restrictive measures see Torpey, Passport, 91, 93, 98–9, 103, 108.

5 See, for example, Zimmermann, “Ausgrenzung,” 344–9.

6 Or only six in every thousand of the total workforce. Wilhelm Stieda pointed instead to the number of itinerant trade licences issued each year (227,000 in 1893). See Stieda, Hausiergewerbe, 21.

7 Stieda, Hausiergewerbe, 35.

8 Denecke and Shaw, “Traditional Retail Systems,” 79–82.

9 For the genesis of the 1869 regulations for itinerant trade see Rössger, “Gewerbebetrieb im Umherziehen,” 34–40.

10 ‘Nicht das Verbot, sondern die Zulässigkeit des Hausierens ist fortan die Regel’, Stieda, Hausiergewerbe, 16.

11 For the following see Verhandlungen des Reichstages des Norddeutschen Bundes vol. 9 (1869), 121–2. http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb 00018304/image_126

12 de Grais, Handbuch, 381–2. Borries, Amtsführung, 142–3.

13 There were around 20,000 ‘Gypsies’ (Zigeuner) in this period, a total which included those who identified as Sinti or Roma, and some who did not, but who were still regarded by officialdom as ‘Gypsies’, the pejorative term used by the majority of society. References to ‘Gypsies’ here reflect this usage. See Zimmermann, Rassenutopie, 72.

14 For a full account of policy see Constantine, Sinti and Roma.

15 The Prussian Directives from the 1880s are reproduced in Retzlaff, Polizeihandbuch, 441–8. The 1906 instructions can be found in Geyger, Der Polizeidienst, 100–6. Most of the other states followed the Prussian lead and issued similar edicts in the same years.

16 Verhandlungen des Reichstages des Norddeutschen Bundes 9 (1869), 122. http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00018304/image_127

17 Sächsisches Wochenblatt für Verwaltung und Polizei, issues: August 7, 1872, October 9, 1872, June 10, 1874, and March 31, 1875

18 For the 1877 changes see Schicker, Gewerbeordnung, 1161–2.

19 For the 1883 revisions see Berger, Handbuch für Verwaltungs-Beamte, 505.

20 Handbuch für Verwaltungsbeamte. Düsseldorf, 372.

21 Ibid. The ‘Gypsies’ deported in this way can be found in the weekly lists of expelled foreigners in the Centralblatt für das Deutsche Reich.

22 For the following, unless otherwise indicated, see the Code, implementation instructions, and commentary in Berger, Deutsche Gewerbe-Ordnung and Schicker, Gewerbeordnung.

23 Stoelpel, Gesetz-Codex, 21; Reichsgesetzblatt (1904), 68, 93, 111; Zimmermann, Verwaltungsgesetzgebung, 143.

24 Berger, Deutsche Gewerbe-Ordnung, 55.

25 Stieda, Hausiergwerbe, 17.

26 Rössger, “Gewerbebetrieb im Umherziehen,” 43–6.

27 Verhandlungen des Reichstages 70 (1883), 1761. http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00018440/image_171

28 Verhandlungen des Reichstages 138 (February 1, 1895), 665.

29 Retzlaff, Polizeihandbuch, 447.

30 Ibid., 446.

31 See the comments by Karl Baumbach and Walter Dirichlet in Verhandlungen des Reichstages 70 (1883), 1838. http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00018440/image_248

32 Jentsch, Schifferkinder, 3–15.

33 For a longer discussion see Constantine, Sinti and Roma, 78–95.

34 Teltower Kreisblatt (September 4, 1886), 2.

35 Bartels, Polizeilehrbuch, 152.

36 Herzol. Sächs. Ministerium, Abteilung des Innern an das Herzolgliche Landratsamt in Roda (February 15, 1902), Thüringisches Staatsarchiv Altenburg, 1-15-0003 (Ministerium zu Altenburg, Abteilung des Inneren 1866–1922), 3954 (Das Zigeunerunwesen Bd 2), doc. 44.

37 For the policy on renewal see the statement by Prussian Interior Minister von Rheinbaben in the Reichsanzeiger (January 10, 1901), unpaginated. For the separate processing of applications see also Retzlaff, Kleines Polizei Handbuch, 167.

38 v. Hippel, Handbuch der Polizeiverwaltung, 185; For the Empire as a whole, see “Ausführungsanweisung zur Gewerbeordnung 1904,” 123.

39 My italics. Ministerium des Innern an den Regierungspräsident, Bromberg (December 20, 1901), Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz (GStA PK), XVI Rep 30 1133 (Die Bekämpfung des Zigeunerunwesens 1886–1919).

40 Nachweisung über Zigeuner denen die Ertheilung des Wandergewebescheins auf der Regierungsbezirk Bromberg versagt ist (July 8, 1914), GStA PK, XVI Rep 30 1133.

41 See Altonaer Nachrichten (November 23, 1907), 2; Berliner Volkszeitung (November 6, 1914), 3; Hamburgischer Correspondent (August 12, 1930), 8; Miskow, “A Recent Settlement,” 15 and Wittich, “The South German Gypsies,” 291–2.

42 This problem was highlighted by Centre Party leader, Matthias Erzberger. See Verhandlungen des Reichstags 202 (February 27, 1905), 4842. http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00002812/image_827

43 Albrecht, Zigeuner in Altbayern, 275–8.

44 Ministerium des Innern, Karlsruhe an die Bezirksämter (November 17, 1888), Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg E 175 (Kreisregierung Ellwangen 1818–1924) Bü 4329, Hausierer, Allgemeines (1875–1924), doc. 20158. http://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/plink/?f=2-66372

45 For this policy see Constantine, Sinti and Roma, 18–21.

46 Sächsisches Staatsarchiv. Staatsarchiv Leipzig, 20024 (Kreishauptmannschaft Leipzig, 1573–1944), 0620 (Zigeuner 1886–1908), nr. 215.

47 Thüringisches Staatsarchiv Altenburg, 1-15-0003 (Ministerium zu Altenburg, Abteilung des Inneren 1866–1922), 3954 (Das Zigeunerunwesen Bd 2), docs. 32, 34, 39, 42, and 47.

48 Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv, Abteilung Wolfenbüttel, 127 (Kreisdirektion Wolfenbüttel), 3596 (Ausstellung von Wandergewerbescheinen an Zigeuner 1870–1941), no doc. nr.