Patrician families of Munich

According to Titus Livius Patavinus in ancient Rome it was the first 100 men appointed senators by Romulus that were called the fathers (patres) and their descendants became the patrician class. Originally referring to these ruling class families, they were distinct from the plebeians because they had wider political influence in ancient Rome, the term patrician (Latin: patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος, patrikios) was re-defined in medieval times and subsequently in many countries became a vague term for aristocrats and the higher bourgeoisie.

In medieval German cities the patrician class emerged in the 11th century from the former local nobility or the local ministerials. They called themselves "Geschlechter", German for families or tribes but in old Latin documents this was translated to "patricius". These families occupied the Council and other important municipal offices and tried to maintain an exclusive right to these. It was only by the early 16th century that the term patrician was used to clearly distinct the noble urban families and many of these were nobilitated by German sovereigns.

In Munich the political and social elite of the city arose from the members of the city council. The patrician families mostly came from the merchant class and even from richer craftsmen. This closed, exclusive circle of patricians, for the membership, the election to the Inner Council was a decisive criterion, ruled the city for a long time. Since the 17th century the Bavarian sovereigns bestowed hereditary "Patriziatsdiplome" and the last time such a privilege was granted in 1800.

The creation of this upper-class civil community and the emergence of the Munich Council went hand in hand. For the first time the city council of Munich was mentioned in a document from 1286 ("consules civitatis Monacensis"). In the "Rudolfinum" from 1294, the oldest surviving town charter, the council is already the central "authority" of the city and in possession of the statutes of autonomy, the police and lower judiciary.

Basically the patriciate always consisted of about 20 to 30 closely related families. Their names are preserved in the oldest council lists since 1295: these are old families of Munich like the Sendlinger (since 1170), the Pütrich (since 1189), the Rudolf (since 1237), the Guldein (Aureus) (since 1239), the Wilbrecht (since 1239/42), the Freimanner (since 1253), the Draechsel (since 1269), the Ligsalz (since 1269), the Schrenck (since 1269), the Schluder (since 1271), the Bart (since 1272) and the Ridler (since 1295). Some other names and families already vanished again from Munich dying out like the Katzmair (1533), the Astaler (1475), the Tulbeck (1476), the Gießer (1494), the Tömlinger (1519/25), the Wilbrecht (1526/48), the Schluder (1535) and the Pötschner (1541).

These families, represented inside the council, mostly married amongst each other, many of them were related by marriage, so for example the Katzmair with the Schrenck, the Rudolf, the Schluder and the Pötschner. However, the corporative unity and exclusivity has never been as great as for example in Nuremberg. Marriage connections with the "Reichspatriziat" of Regensburg, Nuremberg and Augsburg were not uncommon, as well with the squirearchy in the 14th century.