Wikipedia

Kammermohr

Kammermohr (or Hofmohr; pl. Kammermohren, lit. "chamber-black") was a German-language term since the 18th century for a court servant of black skin colour, which had by that time long been a common feature in European courts.[1]

Portrait of the Countess Palatine Francisca Christina of Sulzbach with her "Kammermohr" Ignatius Fortuna, by Johann Jakob Schmitz, Cologne 1772
Sophie Amalie of Lüneburg, queen of Denmark, with her hand upon her Kammermohr, 17th-century.

History

edit

People of black skin colour from the Orient, Africa and America had often been taken to Europe as valets during the time of colonialism. This became common in the 16th-century and continued to be fashionable until the early 19th-century. The term Kammermohr was first used as an official term in a court protocol in 1747 in Saxon.

The splendidly decorated Kammermohr, often in livery, served a ruler, church dignitaries or wealthy merchants as an exotic object of prestige and as a status symbol, showcasing their wealth and luxury lifestyle. Above all, however, the valets symbolized the worldwide relations of their employer.

Etymology

edit

'Kammer' is the German word for chamber, in particular the private rooms of a wealthy person. 'Mohr' is ultimately derived from the name for the Moors, a historic people in the western Mediterranean who originated from northern Africa during the Middle Ages.

Hence, 'Kammermohr' would translate to 'chamber Moor'.

Other similarly derived words include Blackamoor, Matamoros, Maure, Mohr im Hemd, Moresca, Moresche, Moresque, Moreška, Morianbron, Morisco, Moros y cristianos, and Morris dance.

Notable examples

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Atlantic understandings: essays on European and American history in honor of Hermann Wellenreuther (in German). LIT Verlag. 2007. p. 88. ISBN 978-3825896072.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kammermohr&oldid=1240877551"