Simon of Utrecht (, died 14 October 1437) was a warship captain of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. He was probably born in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, but emigrated to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where he received citizenship in 1400. He became famous for his participation in the capturing the pirate

Klaus Störtebeker "Nikolaus" Storzenbecher or "Klaus" Störtebeker (1360 – supposed 20 October 1401) was reputed to be leader of a group of privateers known as the Victual Brothers (german: Vitalienbrüder). The Victual Brothers ( la, victualia) were o ...

in 1401. Based on his popularity stemming from his battle against the Likedeelers at

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

, he was voted into Hamburg's city council in 1425. Despite his political obligations, he continued to participate in sea battles, for example the war between the

and the

Danish islands This is a list of islands of Denmark. Overview There are about 406 islands in Denmark, not including the Faroe Islands or Greenland. Some 70 of them are populated while the rest are uninhabited. Some of the uninhabited islands have only become u ...

in 1428. From 1432 until 1433, he commandeered the Hanseatic fleet fighting Frisian looters, culminating in the destruction of the Frisian pirate base Sebaldusburg and occupation of their capital

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

. For his merits in the fight against the enemies of the Hanseatic League, he was named the only "honorary Mayor" of the city of Hamburg in 1433. Simon of Utrecht died on 14 October 1437 in Hamburg and was buried in the St. Nikolai Church in Hamburg. In 1566, his descendants sold the grave to Hinrich Rheder, but the

Hamburg Senate The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...

intervened and reversed the deal. In 1661, the grave was sold to Jürgen Kellinghusen. Utrecht's burial stone is property of the

Hamburgmuseum The Museum for Hamburg History () is a history museum located in the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. The museum was established in 1908 and opened at its current location in 1922, although its parent organization was founded in 1839. The muse ...

. Several bridges and streets in cities of the Hanseatic League such as

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

were named in honor of Simon of Utrecht. In

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, the medieval capital of the Hanseatic League, a whole city district was named after Utrecht's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

().

Statue

Simon van Utrecht - Kersten-Miles-Brücke CROP

In 1897 the ' (Kersten-Miles-Bridge) in Hamburg-Neustadt was inaugurated, featuring four statues of personalities important to Hamburg's history, one of which depicted Simon of Utrecht. The vandalism of this statue in 1985 is considered as a political act, as the

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

placed on the bottom of the statue indicated. The graffiti slogans said ' (We will get hold of all Pfeffersäcke! Pfeffersack is a derogatory term referring to the wealthiest amongst the merchants of the Hanse) and ' (Not all heads roll off after 500 years only!). This incident is considered to be a reaction to van Utrecht's involvement in the seizing and beheading of

Gödeke Michels Gödeke Michels (Low Saxon language, Low Saxon; died 1402), also known as Gottfried Michaelsen in High German language, High German, was a German pirate and one of the leaders of the Likedeeler, a combination of former Victual Brothers, Vitalienb ...

, a famous pirate during the late 14th century. The statue has since been restored.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Utrecht, Simon 15th-century German people Mayors of Hamburg Military personnel from Hamburg History of Lübeck 1437 deaths Date of birth unknown

Statue

See also

References