Conrad Justinger

Conrad Justinger was probably born in Strasbourg.[1] Justinger, who had learned the trade of a chronicler in his home-town, appears to have moved to the city of Bern in the last quarter of the 14th century.[1] From 1390 until his death, Justinger served the city of Bern as a magistrate and notary public.[1]

In 1388, Justinger copied Jakob Twinger von Königshofen’s treatise Computus Novus Chirometralis. Justinger’s handwriting furthermore appears in a number of chancellery documents of the city of Bern, such as the Udelbuch from 1390, the Satzungenbuch (German: ‘Statutes Book’) from 1398, the Freiheitenbuch (German: ‘Book of Liberties’) from 1431 as well as a Habsburg urbarium written after 1415.[2] In 1420, Justinger, who was appointed chronicler of the city of Bern around 1400, was entrusted by the Bernese council to chronicle the history of his hometown.[3] This chronicle, which Justinger completed in 1430, is known under the name of Bernese Chronicle (German: Chronik der Stadt Bern).[2]

Conrad Justinger, whose name was frequently omitted in later publications of the Bernese Chronicle, probably died childless in April 1438.[3] The original is lost, but a copy of the text survives in Jena. The original may have been illustrated; if so, that would make it the precursor of the late 15th century Swiss illustrated chronicles.