A Dienstmann (pronounced as /de/plural: Dienstleute, pronounced as /de/or, in Austria, Dienstmänner, pronounced as /de/) was a medieval retainer or vassal and, later, a hired man, in German-speaking countries, particularly in Austria until the first half of the 20th century.
The term Dienstmann first surfaced in the Middle Ages as a Germanicization of the Latin word ministerialis,[1] for men, who served at a court and, in the course of time, were raised to be armigers with a social status similar to that of free knights (Ritter).[2]
However the term Dienstmann could also refer to men who were obliged to pay duties or render socage to their liege lords a socager, or socman. Unlike ministeriales, they held a lower social rank equivalent to the English serf.[3]
Later, the term described was used to describe a hired man who, in public service or in a private household, was contracted to perform time-limited functions of all types in return for a fee. His main duties were the carriage of belongings, such as suitcases, and messenger duties.
Well-known fictional Dienstmänner are the Dienstmann, Alois Hingerl, in Ludwig Thoma's Satire Ein Münchner im Himmel or Hans Moser and Paul Hörbiger, the Dienstmänner in the film Hallo Dienstmann. As a so-called Berliner Original, the Dienstmann, Ferdinand Strumpf, went under the name, Eckensteher Nante.