Dienstmannen

A Dienstmann (plural: Dienstleute or, in Austria, Dienstmänner) was a medieval retainer or vassal and, later, a hired man, in German-speaking countries, particularly in Austria until the first half of the 20th century.

The term Dienstmann first surfaced in the Middle Ages as a Germanicization of the Latin word ministerialis, for men, who served at a court and, in the course of time, were raised to be armigers with a social status similar to that of free knights (Ritter).

However the term Dienstmann could also refer to men who were obliged to pay duties or render socage to their liege lords a socager, or socman. Unlike ministeriales, they held a lower social rank equivalent to the English serf.

Later, the term described was used to describe a hired man who, in public service or in a private household, was contracted to perform time-limited functions of all types in return for a fee. His main duties were the carriage of belongings, such as suitcases, and messenger duties.

Well-known fictional Dienstmänner are the Dienstmann, Alois Hingerl, in Ludwig Thoma's Satire Ein Münchner im Himmel or Hans Moser and Paul Hörbiger, the Dienstmänner in the film Hallo Dienstmann. As a so-called Berliner Original, the Dienstmann, Ferdinand Strumpf, went under the name, Eckensteher Nante.

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