Vicke Schorler (c. 1560–1625) was a grocer in the German Hanseatic city of Rostock. He created two historically significant works about the city: the "Vicke Schorler scroll", a monumental drawing with the title Wahrhaftige Abcontrafactur der hochloblichen und weitberuhmten alten See- und Hensestadt Rostock (approximately True depiction of the highly praiseworthy and widely famous old sea port and Hanseatic city of Rostock) (1578–1586), and the Rostock Chronicle (1583–1625).
Sources
Despite the extensive historical record, Vicke Schorler preserved of Rostock during his time, little is known about his life. For example, his authorship of the anonymous Rostock Chronicle was discovered by chance. He left his name only on the Vicke Schorler Scroll, which was later named after him. No evidence suggests that he created the Rostock Chronicle or the scroll as commissioned works. His work was therefore likely based on a personal interest in his hometown.
Life and work
Origin Vicke, a common diminutive for Friedrich in Low German, was the name by which Schorler identified himself. His birthplace is likely Rostock, though this is not certain. He had a brother, the merchant Hans Schorler, and an unnamed sister. As the brothers were initially not wealthy, records suggest they both married widows and moved into their homes. Vicke Schorler acquired citizenship on 11 January 1589 as a journeyman grocer. He became self-employed, married, and joined the Krämerkompanie on 3 February 1589, indicating he had sufficient financial means at that time. The entrance fee for this company included an official fee of 50 guilders and a chapel fee of 3 guilders. A 1589 source indicates that Schorler lived in a house on Am Schilde, previously owned by Marten Randow of Beutler. Randow’s widow, Margarete Schmidt, transferred the house to Schorler on 4 July 1590, suggesting their marriage occurred in 1589. Margarete Schmidt’s prior marriage to Randow was brief, as his previous wife, Anna, died in 1582. Nevertheless, she brought two children from that marriage, making Vicke Schorler a stepfather. Schorler himself had at least two children, a daughter, and a son. Schorler’s wife was the daughter of a furrier, or master furrier, specialising in precious skins, who owned a house in Blutstraße, now part of Kröpeliner Straße between Neuer Markt and Universitätsplatz. She later inherited this house, which was transferred to Schorler as her legal guardian. Schorler likely served as a member of Rostock’s Hundred Men College until his death, holding a significant political office in addition to his role as an elder of the Landfahrer-Krämerkompanie zur Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit. The goods he traded were not documented. As one of Rostock’s wealthiest shopkeepers, he was probably a silk, spice, or iron merchant, as these trades were highly valued. The final entry in Schorler’s Rostock Chronicle is dated February 1625, three months after his wife’s death. Tax lists from 1626 note him as deceased.
Family Schorler’s son, likely named Franz after his father-in-law, was a shopkeeper like his father. He was enrolled in the shopkeepers’ company on 4 April 1616 and acquired citizenship on 1 February 1617. On 4 April 1617, Schorler transferred the house on Am Schilde to his son, with the condition that the cellar was reserved for him and his wife as a permanent dwelling. Around the same time, he sold the house in Blutstraße to Hans Klein, Schorler’s son-in-law, the elder of the goldsmiths’ council, and later mint master of Rostock. Shortly thereafter, Hans Klein and Franz Schorler exchanged the houses. Vicke Schorler remained in the house on Am Schilde until his death. Schorler’s son died within a year of his father’s death. In 1624, he sold the house again, likely due to financial difficulties, as he left behind children, a widow, and debts. Vicke Schorler’s daughter also died soon after, as evidenced by Hans Klein’s marriage to the widow Anna Fickers in 1632. Hans Klein later gained renown for creating the great seal of Charles II of England in the service of the English king. Schorler’s brother, likely of similar age, died between 1600 and 1603, aged about 38. He married a widow who brought five children into the marriage and had two children with her. The brothers also had a sister who lived in Rostock. Schorler’s family reveals much about the typical family structure in Rostock at the time. They lived in middle-class conditions shaped by care, maintenance, and financial and legal security. Family structures were influenced by high mortality rates among women and children, resulting in many orphans, half-orphans, and widows. Citizens were rarely married only once.
The picture roll of Vicke Schorler The coloured pen-and-ink drawing, measuring 18.68 metres by 60 centimetres, is entitled True Abcontrafactur of the Highly Praiseworthy and Widely Famous Old Lake and the Hanse City of Rostock – Capital of the Land of Mecklenburg. Here, "capital" refers to the most important and largest city in the region, as reflected in the drawing’s composition. Rostock occupies the centre, dominating most of the scroll. On the outskirts are church villages, including Kessin, Schwaan, and the larger princely residence of Güstrow, the earliest known illustration of which appears on the Vicke Schorler Scroll. Warnemünde is depicted in a bird’s-eye view. The scroll depicts significant buildings, roads, trade routes, ships, and people, such as merchants and students, engaged in their activities. Schorler worked on the drawing for eight years, completing it in 1586, as inscribed: "Anno Domini 1586, on the day of St. John the Baptist, I, Vicke Schorler, have completed the aforesaid work entirely and completely".
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