Master Builders and Painters- Generation 3

      In the 3rd generation of the Schuttenhelm/Schittenhelm family, the story continues to unfold in and around Nordlingen, Bavaria. Details about our ancestors are sketchy of course, but the record shows that they continued to do well in their chosen fields of work. Given the growing power of the trades in Germany and the control which guilds exercised over the trades, it is not surprising that Konrad's and Claus' sons continued to make good livings as journeymen and master craftsmen.
      Claus had two sons to our knowledge. Caspar was his first-born and he made his living as a goldsmith. This seems a bit ironic since one of the main theories concerning the etymology of our surname is that the "Schutten" comes from the schutten (pours) that were used in the mining of gold. Caspar's younger brother, Ulrich, lived and presumably died in Nordlingen, but we know nothing else about him.
      On the other hand, Cunz (Konrad) had three sons, two of which left their marks in ways that have lasted to this day. Cunz's first son was Heinrich, was named after his grandfather, He was born before 1410 in Nordlingen and died after 1454 in Lauingen, Bavaria, which is 25 miles south of Nordlingen. Heinrich earned his living as a Baumeister (master builder) and as a Mahler (painter artist), and it appears that he fared very well. We know, for instance, that he painted the White Horse that gave the well-known Schimmelturn (White Horse Tower) in Lauingen, Bavaria its name. In addition, it is likely that Heinrich also painted the hospital in Lauingen and it is speculated that he also built the annex and cloister at Alpirsbach (see Wilson, pg. 21).
     However it was Henrich's youngest brother, Hans, who built the Schimmelturn (pictured below), and it is also suspected that Hans built the cloisters at the ancient monastery at Bebenhausen, which is on the edge of Tubingen, Germany, where Hans Schuttenhelm died sometime after 1455.

Monastery in Alpirsbach

Monastery in Bebenhausen

Monastery at Alpirsbach

Bebenhausen

WHITE HORSE TOWER
LAUINGEN, BAVARIA
BUILDER- HANS SCHUTTENHELM
PAINTER- HEINRICH SCHUTTENHELM

Tubingen on the Neckar River

      Peter Schuttenhelm was Konrad's middle son. He (born bef. 1414- died aft. 1444) was a painter/artist (Mahler). There is no reason to doubt that he wasn't every bit as talented as his brothers, but we don't know anything else about him, In sum, Caspar, Ulrich, Heinrich, Peter, and Hans constituted the 3rd generation of our family tree. Four of the five men stayed in Nordlingen, but Hans found his way to Tubingen, where his son, Heinricus, would be reared, go to college, make a name for himself, and be awarded the first Shedenhelm Coat of Arms!