Bernhard von Reesen (1491 – 1521) was a successful
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
born to a
patrician family in the
Hanseatic city of Danzig (
Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
). The Reesen name, with its prefix "von" (of), indicates that the family had its origins in the city of
Rees
Rees may refer to:
Places
* Rees, Germany, a city on the lower Rhine
* Rees, Illinois, United States, a community in the Jacksonville, Illinois micropolitan area
* Rees River, a river in New Zealand
* 4587 Rees, an Amor asteroid
Other uses
* Re ...
.
He was the son of Bernd von Reesen (c. 1460 – 1506) and Brigitte Proite (d. 1506) who were married in 1489. His younger brother Heinrich (1497 – 1532) was also a merchant; his eldest sister, Margarethe (b. 1490), married, in 1516, Hans (Johann) von
Schwarzwald (1468 – 1521), an
alderman of Danzig.
[ ][ ]
Reesen was highly educated as was the custom for men of his background at that time. The wealthy businessman was evidently one of a circle of merchants with whom
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
of
Nuremberg and his wife were in regular contact while the artist was in Antwerp. In early 1521, when Reesen was about thirty, Dürer painted his
portrait. The painting can be seen in the permanent exhibition of Old Masters in
Dresden,
Germany.
He died in October 1521, ''"tempore pestis''" according to the chronicler, Stenzel Bornbach. The day, place and cause of his death are unknown.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
1491 births
1521 deaths
Businesspeople from Gdańsk
German merchants
Polish merchants
{{Germany-bio-stub