The term Sklavenkasse (slave fund) was a

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...

and ransom insurance scheme designated to pay ransom for European seafarers who had been captured by

Barbary Pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and off the coasts of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and sold into the Barbary slave trade. Several North German free imperial cities set up their own slave funds which existed until the mid 19th century. The earliest slave funds were created in the 17th century by members of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. In 1725, seafarers and shipowners in neighbouring Denmark-Norway had to make compulsory contributions to a ransom insurance. The individual premiums were based on the seamen's rank and income.

Hamburg Slave Fund

The Free City of Hamburg's slave fund was created in 1624 by the Hamburg Admiralty, Hamburg's former harbour authority. The scheme was financed by all seamen embarking in Hamburg who, depending on their rank, had to pay a certain amount of their wages into the scheme. The assets of the Hamburg slave fund were supplemented by regular collections in the city's churches and also relied on private donations. The idea for the Hamburg slave fund was based on an insurance scheme of the same kind set up in Hamburg two years prior, but only for naval officers. Since the premiums were unaffordable for lower-rank crewmen, the general slave fund soon followed with premiums relative to rank and income, which constituted an early form of social insurance. Between 1719 and 1747 alone, the fund paid 1.8 million "Mark Banco" for the release of a total of 633 seamen, with one Mark Banco being defined as of silver. This translates into an average price of silver per enslaved Hamburg seaman.

Lübeck Slave Fund

The

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

slave fund was established by the city council in 1627. It began operations on May 8, 1629, and existed until the mid 19th century. With the decline of Lübeck's direct shipping connections to the Mediterranean sea, the city's slave fund was highly liquid from the 18th century onwards.''Rezension Graßmann :'
PDF (p.455)
/ref> The last ransom payment was made in 1805, while its remaining assets afterwards were used to pay the

Sound Dues The Sound Dues (or Sound Tolls; ) were a toll on the use of the Øresund, or "Sound" strait separating the modern day borders of Denmark and Sweden. The tolls constituted up to two thirds of Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centurie ...

(1857) and to fund the city's customs authority. Lübeck's slave fund was finally dissolved on July 24, 1861, when the city became part of the German Customs Union.

References

{{Pirates Members of the Hanseatic League Maritime culture Maritime law Hanseatic League Barbary slave trade 1624 Barbary piracy Marine insurance Piracy in the Mediterranean Ransom History of insurance Travel insurance Economic history of Germany

Hamburg Slave Fund

Lübeck Slave Fund

See also

References