Halloren – Salzwirker – Hallvolk. Eine Studie zur Forschungsgeschichte der hallischen Salzarbeiterschaft [Halloren – Salzwirker – Hallvolk. A Study on the Research History of the Halle Salt Workers]

Abstract

The history of the salt workers in Halle an der Saale is among the most complex and yet partially unresolved problems in German urban history. The soziographic and economic situation of this occupational group was largely neglected in older research in favor of folkloristic and ethnic questions. This article aims to critically assess the research history of the Halle salt workers, to evaluate the main explanatory models concerning the ethnic origins of the Salzwirker, and to trace the social structure and economic situation of the hallische Salzarbeiterschaft in their historical development. Particular attention is paid to the question of whether the salt workers constitute the earliest identifiable group of propertyless wage laborers in Halle. The study draws on written sources – in particular the Schöffenbücher, the Talrecht of 1386, and the codifications of the Hallesche Pfännerschaft – as well as archaeological evidence for prehistoric salt production in the Saale region. Also consulted are the foundational works in the research history by Hondorff (1670), Freydank (1927, 1930), and the author's own Habilitation thesis on the class of propertyless wage laborers in Halle (1958). The analysis demonstrates that the salt workers – despite their internal social differentiation into salt boilers, brine transport workers, and ancillary personnel – never acquired ownership of their means of production and thus represent the earliest documented group of propertyless wage laborers in Halle. The Salzwirkerbrüderschaft, whose roots lie in a religious corporation of the early 16th century, maintained a caste-like exclusivity well into the modern period. The question of ethnic origins – Celtic, Slavic, or Frankish – proves ultimately unresolvable; more significant is the occupational and social structure of the salt workers, first codified in the Talrecht of 1386.