Salve Regina, 1511

Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, A1_1511_Nov_8
Anton II and Hans IX Tucher donate a Salve Regina to the Heilig-Geist-Spital in Nuremberg, 1511

Anton II, the imperial city’s highest official for twenty years, was characterised by the deepest medieval piety. At the same time he was considered a "good Lutheran" and one of the political pioneers of the Reformation in Nuremberg. The Tucher family’s many ecclesiastical endowments were completely anchored in the old faith. Like the famous "Angelic Salvation", the endowment of a Salve Regina chant is also in the context of Anton’s devotion to Mary. He donated the chant for the benefit of the sick in the Heilig-Geist-Spital, of which he was the guardian. Anton II laid down the details in a deed "for eternal future times" together with his cousin and co-partner in the Tucher trading company, Hans IX Tucher (1452-1521).

The deed, adorned with an initial "I" in ornamental writing, states that the endowment will be endowed with 10 gulden interest annually. Among other things, it is to pay for four poor choir students to be able to sing. The Salve Regina should be heard daily, except on feast days, after Compline, the last hour of prayer before sleep.

The coats of arms of the witnessing council members Jacob Groland and Georg Holzschuher as well as the two Tucher coats of arms have been preserved on the document’s seals. After the Reformation, the endowment was used for the preacher at the hospital.

Claudia Däubler-Hauschke