Abstract
Between the 16th and 19th centuries the state influenced musical life in the Mecklenburg duchies by regulating cultural events through the imposition of orders, and by granting privileges in relation to musical appearances. There are attempts to reduce the excessive costs of public events, to curb immoral behaviour, to ensure the sanctity of Sunday and other holy days, and to suppress certain traditional events such as Carnival and Wassailing. During the 17th century the autonomy of the open countryside disappeared with the Duke’s award of privileges to trained town musicians of all the Mecklenburg districts. Such privileges enabled a musician to establish a monopoly in a specific administrative area. The penetration of municipal ‘waits’ into the rural landscape changed traditional music.