FAME OF THE COOPERS

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 83, 2 January 1930, Page 20

FAME OF THE COOPERS

600TH ANNIVERSARY OF VIENNA’S GUILD.

The Guild of Coopers of the City of Vienna recently celebrated the six hundredth anniversary of its foundation, by a special service at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and a street procession, in whit-h members of all the ancient guilds took part,. wearing their quaint costumes and displaying their banners arms and other insignia. Old scrolls aud documents show that the trade of the cooper dates back beyond 1329, but it was only in that year that permission to establish a guild was granted. During the succeeding six centuries this corporation gained a great/ reputation for the high moral standards of its members, and in the decree issued by the Empress Maria Theresa of 1748 they are given high praise. Untruth, deceit and humbug are expressly condemned iu their precepts and their practice. We find among the rules that “No member of the guild shall act dishonourably to another No master shall have anything to do with a crooked character,” etc.

The guild was highly respected by all, and the counsel of its masters was considered of great weight in all city meetings. But it is probable that their greatest fame was achieved in Germany and Austria during the period of the plague. At a time wheiKothers dared not venture into the open street for fear of contamination, the coopers buried the dead and carried out other humanitarian duties. They were not afraid of the pestilance because the tannin which they inhaled from the wood in which they worked helped ’o make them immune.

Among the treasures of the Viennese Guild are the shield, the mullet, and the finished barrel (dated from 1329), the banner, which was completed ten years later, and is now carefully guard under glass, the Guild Chest of 4647, renovated in 1792, an excellent example of workmanship in wood", and many documents.