19世紀半Kr. Lennep (Rheinland)の産業構造 : ドイツ産業革命の特質解明のために

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The circuit (Kreis) of Lennep in the government district (Regierungsbezirk) of Dusseldorf was one of the industrial centers of the "Bergisches Land" which was in turn one of the most thickly populated and industrialized regions in Germany around the middle of the 19th century. Although the population of the Lennep Circuit was only a little over 70, 000 and covered an area of only 5. 5 square miles, some of the most important industries, namely the textile and metalworking industries, were concentrated within its small confines. The Lennep Circuit can be divided into three different industial areas as follows : 1) the communities of Remscheid and Liittringhausen (hardware indusry); 2) the communities of Wermelskirchen, Dabringhausen and Ronsdorf (ribbon and cotton weaving industry); 3) the communities of Lennep and Hiickeswagen (woolindustry). There was a big difference between the organization of the wool industry and that of the other types of industry. The wool industry was already organized into factories by the middle of the 19th century, whereas the remaining industries ware still organized for the most part into handicrafts. Moreover this situation remained essentially the same until the end of the 19th century. Thus the working class of the circuit was divided into two groups: on one hand, there was a large group of independent craftsmen (often called "Fabrikanten" according to local custom) with their journeymen and apprentices (constituting the middle class), and on the other hand, a small group of factory workers (making up the lower class). One of the purposes of this article is to throw light on the cause of this structuring into two distinct classes. The religious situation in the circuit in question constituted an exeption to the general situation in the Rhineland in that 85% of the population was Protestant and was scattered in all parts of the circuit. This fact made for a characteristically Protestant atmosphere. The Catholic minority, however, was concentrated in a relatively small number of communities, above all in Lennep and Huckeswagen in the very area where the wool industry was flourishing. For this reason there arises the question of whether there is some kind of correlation between the middle class consciousness of the large group of independent craftsmen and Protestant Ethics. Another conspicuous fact in regard to this area is that there was an continuous emigration to the New World, esp. to North America. These emigrants were not from the proletariat but from the middle class. It seems legitimate to say that, whenever the craftsmen were unable to earn a decent livelihood, they preferred to leave the Lennep Circuit in order to preserve their economic and social independence rather than remain and consequently be degraded to the lower class. This meant, of course, that it became difficult for the entrepreneurs to find workers enough for the new factory system. If it is true that Protestant Ethics encouraged a spirit of independence, then it must have been difficult in a heavily Protestant area to make the change from the system of independent trades to the factory system. Thus, only in areas with a large Catholic population did the introduction of the factory system meet with less resistance. We may therefore conclude that Protestantism became at this stage rather a hinderance for the development of industrial productivity. If we further call to mind that it was the Huguenots who in the 16th century laid the foundation for the industrial development of the barren "Bergisches Land", we see that there was a historical interaction between the two confessions in the economic sphere. Besides this, it must not be forgotten that the emigration of a part of the middle class to North America had the positive effect of providing a new market outlet for the Lennep industry. The fierce competition comming from the other industrial centers of the "Zollverein", namely from Saxony, Silesia and South Germany, forced the Lennep industry to seek market outlets in countries outside of the "Zollverein". The main foreign outlet was the United States of America. The more Germans emigrated to America the more the demand from America for goods fabricated in the Lennep Circuit and elsewhere increased. This account of the industrial development of the Lennep Circuit enables us to better understand the process of industrialization in the Rhineland and in Westphalia. Although the "Bergisches Land" was an inexhaustable reservoir of entrepreneurs, who guided the industrial development of the whole Rhineland and Westphalia, its rate of development was not as rapid as that of the surrounding areas and it preserved the traditional handicrafts etc. to a greater extent. However, in the areas around the "Bergisches Land", namely in the Lower Rhine and Ruhr Valley, large enterpreises sprang up with astonishing speed. And the impetus came from the "Bergisches Land". The Catholic worker, be it the local population or be it later Polish immigrants, played thereby a great roll. It is in this sense that we can say that the industrial development of the Lennep Circuit is a prototype of the industrial development of the Rhineland and Westphalia.
政治経済学・経済史学会の論文
1971-04-20

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渡辺尚
北海道大学経済学部

19世紀半Kr. Lennep (Rheinland)の産業構造 : ドイツ産業革命の特質解明のために

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