Prisoners and beggars: quantitative data on imprisonment in Holland and Hamburg, 1597-1752

Abstract

Der vorliegende Beitrag arbeitet die These heraus, daß Inhaftierung in sogenannte Gefangenen-Arbeitshäuser, - ursprünglich geplant, das Problem des Bettelns und der Landstreicherei zu lösen - im Laufe des 17. und 18.Jahrhunderts ein zunehmend bedeutende Rolle im Strafvollzugswesen selbst spielte. Die Zeitgenossen betrachteten die Gefangenengemeinschaft als eine Art Familie oder Haushalt. Anhand der Analyse von Aufnahmebüchern in diese Einrichtungen kann der Autor zeigen, daß der ürsprüngliche Zweck der Unterdrückung der Bettelei und Landstreicherei nur eine marginale Rolle spielte. Die Insassen in Holland rekrutierten sich aus der gesamten kriminellen Population, während in Hamburg die meisten Insassen Prostituierte waren. (pmb)

'This article discusses quantitative evidence on the inmates of prison-workhouses. It elaborates on the author's earlier work which showed that imprisonment, originally planned to solve problems of begging and vagrancy, played an increasingly important role in the penal system during the 17th and 18th centuries and that contemporaries viewed the ideal prison community as a kind of family or household. The quantitative evidence from entry books is used to answer three questions following from these observations. They refer to the imprisonment of beggars during the early years, the identity of imprisoned convicts and the economic contribution of inmates. The article arrives at the following conclusions: prison-workhouses played just a marginal role in the repression of begging and vagrancy. Convicts selected for imprisonment in Holland resembled the general criminal population, while in Hamburg most of the inmates were prostitutes. An analysis of prison terms reveals that inmates were not valued primarily for their labor power.' (author's abstract)