The geographical mobility of artisans in early modern central Europe has become an important theme of social history. Historical research has produced abundant evidence showing the extent of artisanal migratory movements and, in particular, the urban crafts' dependence upon immigration. The peculiar structures and functions as well as the cultural and institutional frameworks of artisan migration have been widely discussed among historians in the last few decades (Hochstadt, 1983; Jaritz and Müller, 1988). Migration of artisans in the nineteenth century, in contrast to that of the early modern period, has not received the same attention. This is probably due to a change in research perspectives as far as spatial mobility during the Industrial Revolution and the ensuing period is concerned. The migrational movements associated with the processes of industrialization and urbanization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were subject matter for the emerging social sciences from their very inception, and they continue to occupy the central focus of attention of modern ‘social historical migration research’ (Bade, 1988). Of pre-eminent interest has been migration to the emerging industrial centres and large cities, migrational inter-relationships between large urban centres, as well as overseas emigration (Bade, 1987). With respect to time frame, we notice a strong concentration of research upon the period from about 1880 up to the First World War, which is well documented with source material derived from aggregated governmental statistics (cf Langewiesche, 1977).