Hans Jacob Rietmann
Hans Jacob Rietmann was a Swiss civic leader, belonging to the Rietmann patrician family, who served as mayor of St. Gallen in the 18th century under the city’s guild-based constitution. From 1729 to 1756 he held, in triennial rotation, the paired senior magistracies of Amtsbürgermeister and Altbürgermeister as well as Reichsvogt.
Life and career
Rietmann was the son of Jacob Rietmann and Dorothea Leu. Within the weavers’ guild he served as cloth quality inspector, became a member of the council of eleven in 1720, then guild master from 1721 to 1725, and deputy mayor from 1725 to 1729.Under St. Gallen’s corporative constitution, the three top civic offices—Amtsbürgermeister, Altbürgermeister and Reichsvogt —were held in a triennial rotation among designated magistrates and worked alongside the Kleiner Rat.