Paulus Johann Eder
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www.heimatforschung-regensburg.de eForum Paulus, Johann Eder The Eders worked there under the bailiff Peter Holm. 33 One of the few and at the same time the oldest proof of their presence in the Hokksund is a baptism record of the parish of Eiker, in charge of Nøstetangen: On 10 th
appears as a godfather, together with other glassworks people. 34
Here, I would like to point out the particular situation in which the Eder family lived, as Catho- lics in a strictly Lutheran environment, as it had already been the case in Sweden, and now again in Norway. To describe those circumstances we can draw upon the research of the Norwegian historian Anne Minken who has investigated the living conditions of the immi- grants at Norwegian and Swedish glassworks. 35
In the 18 th century, the Norwegian society was strictly conditioned Lutheran. A decree of 1613 even prohibited the presence of Catholics in the country. 36 Only in 1748, that regulation was eased by an order allowing Catholics to stay in Norway. However, they were still forbid- den to practise their religion. 37 The impression cannot be dismissed that that concession was granted in the face of the necessity to recruit foreign Catholic glassmakers for the establish- ment of a national crystal glass production. For glassblowers, to be German or of German descent was considered as a kind of guarantee of quality in Norway. 38 This looks like an ex- ample for one of those cases, where a legal custom which has crept in, is sanctioned after the fact, as Anne Minken has found examples of marriages between Catholics and Lutherans in the church books of Eiker, prior to 1748: In 1742, the Catholic daughter of a German glassmaker married a Protestant. In 1746, the Catholic glassmaker Bahnholz married a Swedish woman of Lutheran confession. 39 The above mentioned godparenthood of the Catholic Lorenz Eder at a Lutheran baptism is a further indication of that oecumenical prac- tise at Nøstetangen.
The members of the Eder family – and probably other glassmakers as well – were devotional Catholics and very keen to worship and to fulfil their religious duties. That is witnessed finally by their religious activities shown later on in Spain, where they surpassed by far their acquit- tal. 40
gent Protestant environment surrounding them in Sweden and Norway. The other employees
33 Gunnar E. C HRISTIANSEN , De gamle privilegerte Norske glassverker og Christiania glasmagasin, Oslo 1939, p. 456. 34 Church book Eiker (1724 1753), fol. 149v, Nr. 101 (available on-line). 35 Anne M
INKEN , Innvandrere ved norske glassverk og etterkommerne deres (1741 1865). En un- dersøkelse av etnisk identitet. Bergen, 2002. 36 Ibid., p. 123. 37 Ibid., p. 127. 38 Ibid., p. 159. 39 Friendly advice by Mrs. Anne M INKEN .
Cf. P AULUS
, Bayerische Glasmacher, as above note 2. 8
www.heimatforschung-regensburg.de eForum Paulus, Johann Eder from Bavaria, Bohemia and France at the early Norwegian glassworks must have fared in a similar way. 41 According to Anne Minken the Catholic glassmakers in Sweden and Norway attached great importance to fulfilling a minimum of their religious duties, in spite of the pro- hibition of Catholic worship. They insisted in the privilege to be allowed to go to Stockholm or Copenhagen, respectively, at least once a year, to go to confession and to worship. 42 In the said capitals, Catholic envoys of foreign states had been allowed churches and priests per- mitting them to practise their religion. Minken reports that the situation was a little bit easier for Catholic glassmakers in Sweden than in Norway. Some Swedish employment contracts contain stipulations ensuring them the privilege to travel to Stockholm to worship, at full re- imbursement of costs. In Norwegian contracts no such concessions were to be found. 43
It was only in 1761, when Catholic priests were permitted to stay in Norway, at all. 44 And
even this was due to the pressure of Catholic glassmakers who had threatened to travel to Copenhagen, if they were not allowed to receive a Catholic clergyman. The journey from the Norwegian factories to Copenhagen was long, and the bailiffs at the glassworks did not want to accept such a long absence of their workers. So, they filed a corresponding petition in 1761, which was immediately accepted by King Frederick V, one of the major shareholders in the glassworks. Thereupon, a Catholic priest visited Christiania in September 1761 45 ,
priests, they only went as far as Christiania. The glassmakers had to pay for their own travel- ling costs as well as for those of the priests. 46
For weddings and baptisms, the Catholics could make use of the services of the Lutheran church. At weddings between Catholics and Lutherans, the couple had to vow to bring up their offspring in the Lutheran belief. In cases of death, Minken found examples where Catholics were buried without ceremony and spiritual succour. Some deaths of Catholics were recorded in the Lutheran church book without any comment. 47
While several conversions were found in Sweden, the Catholic glassmakers who had come to Norway seem to have stayed with their belief, despite the implicated constraints. Following
41 M
, Innvandrere, as above note 35, p. 124. 42 Ibid., p. 167. 43 Friendly advice by Mrs. Anne M INKEN .
M INKEN
, Innvandrere, as above note 35, p. 126. 45 Nowadays: Oslo. 46 Friendly advice by Mrs. Anne M INKEN .
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