Moving skills, moving ideas – migrant glassworkers in 17th–19th-century Estonia

Abstract

SUMMARYThis paper uncovers previously unstudied patterns of interregional movement and life histories of migrant glassworkers in 17th-19th-century Estonia. Using material and archival traces of 1,231 individuals associated with glassworking or production sites, workers’ lives are followed from childhood to old age. Guild-based division of skilled professions restricted access to positions within the glass industry to the enserfed locals, leading to a constant demand for foreign labour until the 1840s. The Wentzell, Hagen, and Runge families of the migrant-led industry are presented as case studies.