The Katzmair of Munich

The Katzmair once were one of Munich’s most influencial and important families. They were part of the patrician elite that “ruled” the city being members of the city’s inner and outer council. As some of the other families like the Astaler or the Pötschner the family died out in 1533 although there was an illegitimate son mentioned in the early 16th century who may have kept the surname Katzmair and preserved the name.

1. Martin I¹ Katzmair was born about 1286 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany and he died about 1336 in Munich. He married Sophie Küchel, from Munich, the daughter of Ludwig I Küchel who was mentioned as a member of Munich's council on 25.02.1335. She had three brothers, Heinrich, Liebhart and Ludwig II.

From 10.02.1318 Martin I appears as a member of the council in Munich and in 1319 he was mentioned as "Pfleger des Salzes" (lit. 'guardian of the salt'). From about 1329 he was the chamberlain of the city and on 24.08.1334 he acts as a member of the inner council while on 25.02.1335 he is mentioned being in the sworn council in Munich.

Children of Martin I Katzmair and Sophie Küchel were:

2 i Anna² Katzmair was born Munich and died there. After 1353 she married Heinrich II Rudolph, born 1310 in Munich and died between Feb 22 1378 and Mar 26 1378 in Munich.

Heinrich II Rudolph was first mentioned in Munich on 22.01.1333. Between 1334 and 1340 he was Munich's chamberlain and between 1365 and 1374 he acted as mayor of Munich. In 1377 he is mentioned as Grand-Master of the "Heiliggeistspital". In the years 1367-1369 and 1375 he was taxed as the second richest citizen of Munich. He was the son of Heinrich I Rudolph, who since 10.02.1318, together with Anna's father Martin, appeared to be a member of the outer council and from 1320 in the inner council, and Katharina Weissenfelder. Anna was his second wife. His first wife Katharina Pötschner died 14 Aug 1353. It was his great-grandfather, Wilbald Rudolph who in 1272, together with Ludwig Bart and Konrad Ligsalz, was sent to Rome to pope Gregor X., by Munich's citizenry to request the split of the St. Peter parish, which was a monastery since the 8th century. Successfully the pope confirmed the split on March 29th 1273 and thus the "Frauenkirche", Munich's Cathedral of Our Dear Lady became Munich's second parish.

The Rudolph family appears as well as one of Munich's most influential families. The Katzmair and the Rudolph were closely related by marriage. Finally in 1533 they will be the ones to inherit all the Katzmairs property and belongings after the family dies out with Georg III.

3 ii Jakob² Katzmair, born and died in Munich. He only is mentioned in the council's lists together with his brother Johannes in 1355.

4 iii Johannes I² Katzmair, born in Munich and died 30 Nov 1384 in Munich. He married Elisabeth Rudolph.

5 iv Konrad² Katzmair , born in Munich and died 29 Dec 1346 in Munich. Between 1337 and 1346 he acts several times as a member of the council of Munich and on the 12.08.1346 he appears as a member of the sworn council.

Generation 2

4. Johannes I² Katzmair (Martin I¹), born in Munich, died 30 Nov 1384 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He married Elisabeth Rudolph , from Munich, she died 2 Jul 1405 in Munich. Since 1362 Johannes repeatedly appeared to be a member in the inner and outer council of Munich. In 1367 he was Church Provost and from 1372 he was a member of the sworn council. He was a merchant, trading with wine and horses. Johannes Katzmair bought Lake Wörth including the island and the entire vicinity on the 8th September 1369.

Children of Johannes I Katzmair and Elisabeth Rudolph were as follows:

6 i Agnes I³ Katzmair, born in Munich, she died between Sep 1415 and Nov 1416 in Munich. She married Heinrich Schluder, born in Munich, died abt 1369 in Munich. Heinrich and his father Konrad were banned from Munich in 1317 after disputes about the city council's constitution. After Heinrich died in 1369 Agnes returned to Munich and re-married again around 1370/71. Her second husband was Erwart Herwart, born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany and he died about 1375 in Munich.

7 ii Georg `Joerg`³ Katzmair , born in Munich, died 5 Mar 1417 in Munich. He married Katharina Käuzl.

8 iii Hans II³ Katzmair , born aft 1364 in Munich, died before 1384 in Munich.

9 iv Martin II³ Katzmair , born in Munich, died before 1384 in Munich.

Generation 3

7. Georg `Joerg`³ Katzmair (Johannes I², Martin I¹), born in Munich and died 5 Mar 1417 in Munich. He married Katharina Käuzl , born in Salzburg, Bavaria, and she died 14 Apr 1427 in Munich.

Since 1386 ‘Joerg’ appears as member of the inner council and several times as mayor of the city of Munich. Most famous he became with the report he wrote on the riots in the city of Munich between 1397 and 1403. He was, together with Ulrich Ebner, Konrad Schluder, Mathias Sendlinger and Hans Rudolf, banned from Munich on 03.08.1398, lost most of his real estate and possessions, and sought refuge at the court of the Dukes Ernest and William.

It was only 1403 that he could return to the city, being reinstated to all his offices and receiving back his wealth and property.

Children of Georg `Joerg` Katzmair and Katharina Käuzl were:

10 i Agnes II⁴ Katzmair was born bef 1424 in Munich. Agnes appeared to have been a nun in the Franciscan monastery "St. Jakob am Anger" as part of the "Order of St. Clare". Since the early 13th century this was the start of the Bavarian part of the "Camiño de Santiago" the way of the apostle St. James to Santiago de Compostela.

Kloster St. Klara bei St. Jakob am Anger

11 ii Hans III⁴ Katzmair , born abt 1398 in Munich and died about 1420 in Munich.

12 iii Martin III⁴ Katzmair , born abt 1401 in Munich and died 4 Nov 1481 in Munich. He married Anna Pötschner.

Generation 4

12. Martin III⁴ Katzmair (Georg `Joerg`³, Johannes I², Martin I¹) was born about 1401 in Munich where he died on 4 Nov 1481. He married Anna Pötschner, born and died in Munich, the daughter of Peter Pötschner and Anna Schrenck. Martin II. in 1429 was a member of Munich's council and from 1430 he acted as the first chamberlain of the council. In May 1431 he held the first time the mayor's office and as such denied the officials of the Corpus Christi procession the "Geyrenmall and Fressgeltt". Katzmair had caused a scandal by abolishing those hitherto usual strength at the expense of the city.

In the documents of the 1430s Katzmair occurs variously as legal spokesperson at the "Hofgericht" and as co-decider ("veriecher") in arbitration cases.

Castle Wörth

1446 a castle was built on his behalf on the island in Lake Wörth which was acquired by his grandfather Johannes in 1396 from the Greifenberger family.

Popularly the small island today is also called "Mouse Island". An old legend says that this is because hundreds of years ago at the chateau in Seefeld an earl was living, which, although he called an immense fortune his own, was very hard-hearted. In no other area the peasants were as poor as here but the count squeezed out even the last of them.

One day a great famine broke out among the rural population but the count was untouched that his people had to starve on the streets. On the contrary, he made fun of those to whom it went bad and had nothing to eat, and hosted a lavish feast. On the night on which the binge took place, many of the poor assembled before the count's castle and lamented for help and food. The irascible earl fell into rage and ordered his guards to let the begging in and then to close the gates. Then the guards should lure the poor into a barn, promise them food and as this was done the count commanded: "Light the barn!". The guards did not believe their ears but they obeyed his command. The barn was set on fire and the poor were burned alive. They screamed and begged for mercy, and that the Count may save them from death by fire but he just laughed scornfully and replied: "You wanted that I release you from your hunger!". After some time, the wailing grew quieter and the Count said to his guards, "Do you hear the whimpering mice and rats? This vermin will soon be wiped out".

He went back to his castle but soon this was ravaged by a terrible plague of rats that could not be contained. Since the rats and mice even stole the Earl’s food from his plate he fled to his small castle on the island in Lake Wörth. Here, he thought, he was safe from the plague, but he was wrong. The rats and mice followed him to the island and there was nothing that could be done against the animals and so it came as it had to come, and the rats ate up the Count. Then, without any trace, they disappeared from the island and from the castle at Seefeld. Since that time, the island in Lake Wörth is also called "Mouse Island".

Today the island and the lake is the private property of the Counts of Toerring-Jettenbach - one of the oldest upper Bavarian noble families - and therefore not open to the public.

In 1468 Martin, still being a member of Munich's council, was mentioned as church provost ("kirchenpropst Martein Katzmair von innderm rat").

Children of Martin III Katzmair and Anna Pötschner were as follows:

13 i Anna⁵ Katzmair , born abt 1425 in Munich and died in Munich. She married Balthasar I Ridler, born about 1410 in Munich, died abt 1491 in Munich.

14 ii Georg II⁵ Katzmair , born abt 1430 in Munich, died 24 Jun 1485 in Munich. He married (1) Beatrix von Hausen and, after her death (2) Dorothea Stupf.

15 iii Hans IV⁵ Katzmair , born about 1435 in Munich, died aft 1494 in Munich. He married Clara Ridler, born in Munich, died aft 28 Jul 1536 in Munich. Hans IV was a member of the outer council of Munich between 1484 and 1486.

Generation 5

14. Georg II⁵ Katzmair (Martin III⁴, Georg `Joerg`³, Johannes I², Martin I¹), born about 1430 in Munich, died 24 Jun 1485 in Munich. He married (1) Dorothea Stupf before 1450 in Munich and after she died on 19 Dec 1471 he married (2) Beatrix von Hausen , died about 1485 in Munich.

Children of Georg II Katzmair and Beatrix von Hausen were as follows:

16 i Jakob II⁶ Katzmair , born abt 1472 in Munich, died in Munich. His wife’s name remains unknown.

17 ii Niklas⁶ Katzmair , born aft 1471 in Munich, died abt 1523 in Munich. He married Katharina Rudolph.

Children of Georg II Katzmair and Dorothea Stupf were as follows:

18 i Hans V⁶ Katzmair, born between 1450 and 1471 in Munich, died about 1515 in Munich. He was married to the daughter of Hans Schluder zu Weilbach.

19 ii N.N.⁶ Katzmair, born in Munich, died in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. She married Albrecht Fröschel.

Generation 6

16. Jakob II⁶ Katzmair (Georg II⁵, Martin III⁴, Georg `Joerg`³, Johannes I², Martin I¹), born about 1472 in Munich, died in Munich. A contract from 27.01.1506 indicates that Jakob was mentally ill - blödigkeitshalber seins leibs". His brother Hans (18) committed in the contract to take care of him and his illegitimate son. At that time they live at Rindermarkt 7B. Jakob’s son, his given name remains unknown, must have been born about 1506 in Munich. We can not rule out that he kept his father's name and carried it forward. In young years he was living with his uncle Hans V. Katzmair. After his cousin Georg III Katzmair died in 1533 he was most probably the last living Katzmair of Munich. However he was excluded from Georg's inheritance which went completely to the Rudolph family, namely Paul Rudolph and his sister Margaretha, being his cousins from his mother's side.

17. Niklas⁶ Katzmair (Georg II⁵, Martin III⁴, Georg `Joerg`³, Johannes I², Martin I¹), born aft 1471 in Munich, died abt 1523 in Munich. He married Katharina Rudolph, born and died in Munich, daughter of Thomas I Rudolph and Veronica Schluder. It seems that Niklas was the last Katzmair in Munich's city council. In 1500 he was elected for the collection of the imperial taxes.

Children of Niklas Katzmair and Katharina Rudolph were as follows:

21 i Barbara⁷ Katzmair, born in Munich, died 10 Aug 1520 in Munich. From her gravestone: "anno 1520 des 10. tages octobris starb jungfrau Barbara, Niclas Kaczmars dochter".

22 ii Georg III⁷ Katzmair, born bef 1523 in Munich, died about 1533 in Munich.