[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] What citizenship does Bürger imply?

[Dana Parker]

Thank you both so much, Frank and Paul.   I had assumed it meant Prussian national,  because the relevant area became part of South Prussia and Posen, but then I began finding it in earlier records.  

There is a strong shoemakers' guild connection to that part of my family.   So this makes good sense.  

Kind regards,
Dana Parker

> On Sep 27, 2016, at 12:03 PM, Paul Rakow <paul.rakow at cantab.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>  Dana,
>       As Frank says:
> 
>       "Bürger" will be a citizen of the town - usually someone
> of "middle-class" status, for example a master in one of the
> craft-guilds. For some towns the records of the town council
> have survived, and you can find out when your ancestor took
> the oath to become a Bürger, but in the books I've seen, it
> hasn't included any extra information about where the new
> citizens came from.
> 
>               Paul Rakow
> 
>> On Mon, September 26, 2016 01:39, Frank Schultz wrote:
>> Hello Dana,
>> 
>> 
>> "Bürger" is actually an old medieval term and referred to people who
>> lived in a stronghold, a "Burg". Nowadays the term means basically being
>> a citizen. In the context you mentioned my guess would be that it means
>> men who lived in a town since country people would have their profession
>> listed. I do not believe that it will help with identifying where
>> somebody came from. That said, I hope to see some of the other responses.
>> 
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Frank
>> ________________________________
>> From: Ger-Poland-Volhynia <ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at sggee.org> on
>> behalf of Dana Parker <parker.dana at sbcglobal.net> Sent: Sunday, September
>> 25, 2016 6:08:03 PM
>> To: ger-poland-volhynia at sggee.org
>> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] What citizenship does Bürger imply?
>> 
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> 
>> Before any of the Partitions of Poland, Lutheran records from Zduny,
>> Krotoszyn refer to some, but not all, of the men as Bürger.
>> 
>> 
>> What does Bürger mean in this context?   Town citizen, without regard to
>> nationality?   Prussian citizen living in Poland?   Courtesy title?  Does
>> it imply where someone came from?
>> 
>> Kind regards,
>> Dana Parker
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dana Parker
>> _______________________________________________
>> 
>