German Passport History and Borders (2/4)
Vagabonds
If this went wrong, there was a risk of being considered a vagabond and being punished, says Marta Vater. Foreign beggars were shunted from lord to lord because it could be a huge burden on the municipal coffers.
In the vast majority of cases, these vagabonds had no identification. You had to be a subject somewhere or at least have a baptismal certificate. If you didn’t have such papers, you were always at risk of being captured and deported.
In addition to baptismal certificates, marriage certificates, journeyman’s letters, trading licenses or peddler’s licenses, trade books or the type of luggage were also used to legitimize a journey. Finally, one’s own negotiating skills probably also determined whether a journey continued or ended.
Passports that referred to a person, like Martin Luther’s safe conduct pass, hardly existed at that time. The term did, however. It first appeared in France in the 15th century.
King Louis XI had decreed that all royal messengers had to travel with a so-called passport. Literally, this means passing through a port. This refers to permission to go ashore or leave the country.
Der Reisepass (passport) History German Passports
In German, this became the passport. From the 16th century onwards, the passport increasingly became the most important travel document. Even though its appearance has changed since then, the essence has remained the same: it certifies the right to travel and confirms the identity of the holder.
Until the 20th century, only official seals, stamps and signatures could prove the authenticity of a document. Passports in Germany did not have a photo, which is now part of every ID card, until the First World War.
Personal Description (Signalement)
Until then, a personal description was sufficient to check whether the passport holder was actually traveling. The so-called signalement contained information on the age, height, religion, hair and eye color as well as the shape of the traveler’s head. History German Passports
There were also passports that stated skin color pale or sickly.
It was very individual what the respective official then entered in the passport. That’s what makes these documents so charming, because every passport tells its own story.
Gradually, the states succeeded in bringing the passport system under their control. The churches, guilds and landlords had to give up their privilege of writing recommendations and issuing travel documents.
Only official institutions were allowed to issue passports History German Passports
In the 18th century, they were part of the everyday documents used by all social groups. The privilege of a travel document had become a duty.
The Austrian historian Valentin Gröbner describes this development as a grand narrative of increasing control, bureaucratic administration and, ultimately, discipline. Passports, regulations and registers were intended to make the confusing goings-on visible and steer them in the direction desired by the state.
The French Revolution brought about important innovations on the way to a standardized passport system. With the declaration of human rights in France, for the first time in Europe a section of the population was granted the general right to freedom of movement. History German Passports
The political upheavals in Europe until the end of the Napoleonic Wars also led to increasing migration movements. The authorities in the German territories had little interest in the new freedoms.
Tom Topol | Passport History Expert & Author.
Featured in media incl. CNN, BBC, Newsweek. Awarded by the U.S. Department of State.
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