Mathias Mulich

A wealthy trader, Mathias was a member of the merchant family Mulich which is regarded as an example of successful expansion of the South German trading houses on the Southern Baltic coast.

He was born in Nuremberg as a son of Kunz (Conrad) Mulig the Elder, a long distance trader who died when Mathias was still underage. The family business was taken over by his brothers, especially the older Kunz, Hans and Paul, who established themselves in Lübeck and became its citizens.

The brothers were active in trade with Livonia and Scandinavia to the north, and southern Germany to the south. Preserved correspondence of the family business affairs serve as an important source of economic and social history of the late Hanseatic period.

Mathias became the most prominent member of the Mulich family. Since 1490 he lived in Lübeck where he married in 1515 daughter of Lübeck Mayor, Catherine of Stiten and after her death three years later; he married again for Catherine, born Kortzack. In the year 1515 Mathias became the patrician of Lübeck, with connections with the dukes of Schleswig and Mecklenburg and even with the king of Denmark, who granted him a fief in Oldesloe.

Besides mercantile activities, Mathias was also engaged in moneylending, copper business, and served as a financier and court supplier.

He died childless and was buried in St. Catherine’s church.