The Wanderbuch of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 1834-1837

8/3/2019 The Wanderbuch of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 1834-1837

1/14

THE WANDERBUCH

OF

PHILLIPP LUDWIG

HARTMANN

Grand Duchy of Hesse

1834-1837


2/14

I recently acquired the "Wanderbuch" of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann, who lived in theGrand Duchy of Hesse during the first part of the 1800s. The Wanderbuch is adocument required by the Hesse authorities for craftsmen who worked in differentlocations within Hesse.

The word "Wanderbuch" can be translated directly as "travel book," but such atranslation does not adequately capture its meaning. A "Wanderer" is not simply atraveler (Reisender), but a specific type of traveler, generally someone travelingfrom place to place. The difference between a Wanderer and Reisender in Germanis very similar to the difference in English between a wanderer and a traveler.

The Wanderbuch contains the provisions of the 1810 governmental edict thatordered its creation and specified, in detail, what it was to contain. According to thisedict, the Wanderbuch was created because some traveling craftsmen weremisrepresenting their training, experience, and expertise, thus defrauding thepeople buying their services. To avoid that, the Wanderbuch was required toofficially document the training a craftsman received (for example, with whom he

serves an apprenticeship, where he worked as a journeyman, and how long heworked in different places. This information was to be entered and certified with asignature and seal by local officials in each place the person earned a credential.

The first page of the Wanderbuch of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann contains personalinformation to identify him. The handwritten German script is a challenge, but thefollowing is what have been able to translate from this first page of the document:

Gebuertig von (born in): Harras-HausenSeiner profession (his profession): wholesaler (fuker?)Alter (age): nine and twenty years

Statur (height): 6 feet 8 inchesHaare (hair color): brownStirne (Forehead): ??Augenbraunen (eyebrow color): brownAugen (eye color): brownNase (nose): strong and ??Mund (mouth)" ??Kinn (chin): oval (?)Gesicht (face/look): ??Other signs: 0

The seal of the Grand Duchy of Hesse is at the top of the page. Another stamp, as

required by the edict, specifies the type of paper in the Wanderbuch (and its cost,40 Kronen). As required, it has 64 pages.

Of course, a detailed description of the individual named in the Wanderbuch wasnecessary because photographs were not available at the time. Thus, when a localofficial was presented with a Wanderbuch, he had to check the descriptive items tomake sure that the person presenting the document was the person whose nameappeared on it.


3/14

After the first page with descriptive information, the Wanderbuch then contains thelaw that mandated Wanderbuch. After that. all of the pages have room for entriesdescribing the training and experience of the person.

Page 5 of Philipp Hartmann's Wanderbuch has a full page of writing. I cannot readmost of this German script, but I recognize a date (23 November 1834) and thenames the city of Marburg and the city or district of Offenbach, followed by a date(May 1800, twenty-seven).

My guess is that this page certifies the completion of an apprenticeship or someother type of training by Hartmann on November 25, 1834, and it is signed by the"Master" or the person providing the apprenticeship or training, who received hiscertification in May 1800. This page has the official stamp of the city (or district) ofOffenbach.

Two other pages in the Wanderbuch document stays by Hartman in a couple ofcities. The last entry in Hesse is in Bremen, dated July 7, 1837, noting that

Hartmann was traveling to Baltimore.

Records available on Ancestry.com show that Hartmann arrived in Baltimore onOctober 19, 1837. He traveled from Bremen to Baltimore on the Gustav. Accordingto the arrival records, Hartmann was a tailor.

After skipping a few pages, Hartmann wrote a few things in the Wanderbuch abouthis life. He wrote that he was born on April 7, 1808 in Darmstadt, a city in Hesse.He married Maria Volberh (Volberg?), who was born in Philadelphia on May 22,1820. They were married in Philadephia on January 17, 1839. He also mentionsthe birth of two sons and a daughter. His last entry noted the birth of the daughter

on December 21, 1845.

I was unable to find out more about him, but some documents indicate that he andhis wife lived in Baltimore.


4/14


5/14


6/14


7/14


8/14


9/14


10/14


11/14


12/14


13/14


14/14

The Wanderbuch of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 1834-1837

Documents

Transcript of The Wanderbuch of Philipp Ludwig Hartmann of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, 1834-1837