Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Shopkeeper
(1,455 words)

1. Urban

1.1. Status and occupation

Shopkeepers (German Krämer) controlled the urban retail trade in goods brought from abroad (Trade, Long-distance). They differed from merchants in having the right to engage in “penny trade,” direct sale of small quantities to consumers. Shopkeepers ranked “above” hawkers (German Höker, Low German Haken, Upper German Gremper, Austrian Greißler), who hawked food from neighboring farms (see 2. below). Shopkeepers bought their goods at trade fairs and offered them for sale in sho…

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Schultz, Helga and Pfister, Ulrich, “Shopkeeper”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 22 September 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022714>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180208



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