Before my Liebermann-weekend in Berlin and than my trip to Prague I will write this promised report. I want that, if the danish list-members know something more about this theme or if something isn't right, will write to the list. So we find out as much as possible.
Some parts of the beginning I wrote before Tönder, but other wise it will not be clear.
There is a very early information about lace-making in Danmark in a letter, written in 1595, from the wife of a rural dean in Tönder. Her name Agneta Fabricius and she asks in this letter her daughter to send "the 4 ells of lace she had ordered for the price of 7 - 8 shilling per ell". ( In that time the danish ell was about two feet) Another information of 1622 in Tönder Court Record says that "Nils Simesens daughter from Otterböl has served Johan Becker in Tönder for 9 years as a lace-maker".
From Christian IV. we know all this paintings which laces still at the boots and there is a note from him in his diary on 3rd September, 1619, that he gave 889 rigsdaler the same day to various tradesmen for linen and lace. On the 4th November, 1620, he wrote that he bought some lace for 10 rigsdaler from a girl lace-maker in Flensburg and some more notes about lace-buy. (Sorry, I could not find out how much one rigsdaler was worth in todays currency)
There are some more proofs about lace-making around Tönder, Husum (25 miles south of Tönder but german) and Flensburg (east of Tönder also german).
The danish history is a very complicated one. They had a long time kings from Schleswig-Holstein which is german and several wars take place against Sweden, Prussia and so on. They had to speak german a long time what gave problems, we will see this later once more.
In one war the loose parts of their country in others they get parts far away to their own. There was a time when Altona, which belongs to Hamburg today was danish.
Tönder is the oldest danish city who got the official town charter. It is mentioned for the first time in 1130 as a harbour-town and has a ship in its coat of arms. Then in 1243 the town got the right to trade inside its walls what's in danish called "köbstadsret". About 1238 the Franciscan build there a cloistre.
But than it become nessecaire to protect the people from the power of the North Sea and they built dykes during 1553 and 1556, and so Tönder lost its importance as a harbour. So they had the idea to support lace-making. the time was good for this because the living conditions in the district were cheap, the people were content with little. And also very important, lace-making was a good thing for a domestic industry in which children and older people could work in comfort and social groups too. With this girls could stay at home and have not to go in service by strangers. In its best time Tönder's lace-making region streched from Leck in the south to Ribe-Marstrup in the north. It formed a triangle which two sides of abot 37 miles and the third with about 22miles, so it was Tönder - Lögumkloster - Skärbäck on one side. The other on the North sea, Römö included, their laces were of a particular fine quality. There about 12 000, in other sources 16 00, lace-makers were employed, mainly in their own homes.
I must finish here for today Greetings Ilske
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