Many farms still lay in ruins in 1651 and would be occupied again only during the following decades.
Around 1200 the southwest region of Mecklenburg was occupied by a Slavic tribe, called the Wenden. They lived in
small villages, cultivated the light and sandy soil with wooden hook ploughs and also had some livestock.
From about 1200 on Dutch and German settlers (most came from Westphalia) came to the country.
The immigrants recieved land from the ruler who had defeated the Slavic Prince.These estates were
called "Hufe". A Hufe had no strict size. It's size depended on the quality of the soil and the yield that was
to be expected.
Some of the Wenden farmers who were living there were driven off their property. They
now had to cultivate the remote fields, the so called "Wendenflur". Sometimes the settlers
founded new villages and sometimes they built their houses in the Slavic settlements.
For about 400 years the people worked on their fields and payed taxes to the Government and to the Church.
1621, at the beginning of the Thirty Year's War, the Government and the Lords needed money to bear the costs of the war. But where on earth find it without stealing? Well, stealing...:
Every farmer who did not have the documents to prove his ownership of his property was declared to be a Pächter (tenant) of the estate. And which farmer had a 400 year old document lying in his chest? Apart from the fact that at that time most people could not read or write anyway..
From now on the farmers just owned the unfixed property: furniture, household goods, farm implement - the
so called Hofwehr - and the livestock.They were called "Hauswirt".
In the following time the farmers also lost their right of ownership of the Hofwehr. However, they had to renew and repair their equipment. The repairs or building of new houses now became the duty of the Government
or the Lords (Rittergutsbesitzer, Junker).
| |
The Thirty Years's War caused many sacrifices in the Griese Gegend as well. Plundering troops attacked the villages, burned down the houses, raped the women and killed the people. They stole the farmer's crops and livestock. Many people also died from diseases. The survivors left their villages to look for shelter in the cities. We read quite often that the inhabitants of the villages still lived in Hamburg, Ratzeburg and Lübeck years after the end of the war. Many farms still lay in ruins in 1651 and would be occupied again only during the following decades. |
In the Southwest most of the land belonged to the ruler, the Mecklenburgian Prince. This area was called Domanium. In contrast to the Gutsbesitzer, the government was treating the farmers a little bit better. Usually the farm was leased to the son (or other heir) of the former tenant, except when he was lazy or not able to run the farm properly. If the heir of a deceased farmer was too young to take the farm the government decided to take another tenant, who was very often was a relative of the deceased farmer. When the heir was underage an Interimswirt (tenant in-between) was appointed until the heir was grown up. Often the widow married this Interimswirt, who could be a lot younger than herself.
Nevertheless, a permanent insecurity remained and so the farmers tended to work carelessly . It wasn't their own estate they tilled and it wasn't their own house they lived in. They also had to pay increasing taxes.
A traveller describes it:
"If we managed to pass the dogs luckily we still have not reached the house. Easily we can sink somewhere in
the dung which covers the whole courtyard. At some places it heaps as high as the window sills, covers at other
places deep holes or puddles which only the select can avoid safely. Animal carcasses are buried there, fouling rests
of vegetable, bones and rubbish lie mixed together.
Sometimes it happens that the farmer's own cart gets stuck on his yard. After dark no neighbour dares to visit his neighbour.
And after continous rain a stranger can't cross the yard even at daylight.
Luckily the courtyards are located in quite a distance from each other so the fresh air can sweep over them from each
direction. Otherwise the farmers would live in the middle of a swamp's foul stench. Cold fever, mutual fever,
fouling fever...never disappear and bother the old ones and weaken many of the young ones.
In the middle of this rude mess the "Soot" (well) is standing. The sloping handle (or swivel arm) rises high
into the air. A thin pole is hanging down from it and carries the bucket. The enclosing is leaking and rotten.
Sometimes it had happened that a cat fell into the well and drowned and nobody cared about it for weeks [people
having fallen into the well usually were taken out again], also drowned rats the bucket uses to get out quite
regularly..."
This description is surely a little bit exaggerated, and perhaps not everywhere was such a mess.
If a couple wanted to marry it needed the owner's permission. In the Lord's areas it was usually not permitted that someone who belonged to Lord A to marry someone belonging to Lord B, except if there was a couple as counterpart. The Lords didn't want to loose human labour.
Many people fled to the towns ("Stadtluft macht frei" - The air in a town makes you free) or to adjoining
countries - from the Griese Gegend, quite often to Sachsen-Anhalt. But woe betides anyone who was recaptured!
The least he would have recieved was corporal punishment which wasn't survived by everybody.
In 1821 serfdom was finally abolished in Mecklenburg. It was the last German stateto do so.
The farmers' situation improved a little bit because now they could theoretically bye their farm. But most farmers
could not do that because they didn't have enough money. In 1876 "Erbpachtrecht" (law of hereditary lease) was
invented. The heir of the deceased tenant had the right to keep the farm. This meant that the people were sure
to keep the fruit of their labour in the family.
 "I am a poor farmer and digging is a hard way" |
From the beginning the farmers were obliged to do "Spanndienste". For a few days in the year, they had to help
the Government or the Lord with their horses or oxen, carts and workers. They had to cultivate the fields
(ploughing, sowing etc.), help with the harvest, transport wood or grain or help to repair the roads.
At first they had to help just at a few days in the year, later the duties increased to 6 days a week in about 1750 (in the Lord's area). In the Domanium, as in the Griese Gegend as well, the farmers had more luck. Their duties were much less, but instead they had to pay "Dienstgeld" (money as substitute). From about 1770 the duties began to be abolished. |
A farmer who leased a farm was called "Hauswirt". To this farm along with all outbuildings, there belonged a certain
amount of land: the "Hufe". The farmers with a whole Hufe (called Hüfner or Vollhüfner), later there also were
farmers with a half or a quarter Hufe (Halb- or Viertelhüfner).
The Hauswirte belonged to the upper society in a village because they were comparitivly "wealthy".
My ancestor Peter Schmidt senior, a Halbhüfner, had the following livestock:
In 1693, after taking over a deserted farm: no livestock (maybe he had to pull the plough himself?)
in 1694 he had 2 head of cattle
in 1703 he had 2 horses, 3 head of cattle, 1 sheep, 2 pigs and
in 1707, because of his bad "Vorspann" (horses or oxen to pull the carts or ploughs), he was released from the duties
of cartloads
Compared to most of the other farmers in Loosen/parish of Leussow he had a small number of
livestock. The other farmers usually had just 2 horses as well, but about 5 to 10 head of cattle, 5 to 20
sheep and 2 to 3 pigs.
1.Horses:
If possible, every farm kept about 10 horses. This high number was necessary because of the "Spanndienste". In
Leussow where the number of "Spanntage" (days of duty with horses/oxen) was lower as in most other areas, only a
few horses were kept.
The animals were tough but quite small and weak. Therefore they could be only used for carts, not for
the work in the fields
4 to 6 horses at a cart equivalent to 2 today. Designed breeding to improve performance did not happen.
From documents written between 1730 to 1830, we know at that at least on some farms in Leussow und Göhlen, a Hauswirt usually had only 4 horses which belonged to the Hofwehr (inventary). That means that these 4 horses, same as the
buildings and equipment, didn't belong to the farmer, but to the Government. The farmer wasn't allowed to sell this
Hofwehr but was obliged to hand it over completely to his successor.
Some farmers, especially the more prosperous "Schulzen" (village mayors), sometimes had one or two more horses.
2.Cattle:
Every farm kept about 4 to 6 head of cattle. There were not many meadows in the Griese Gegend. The soil was too dry
and sandy. Because of that pasture was precious. As a consequence, there was a lack of hay. In winter the animals had to be
fed on foliage. That is why the cows didn't give much milk.
As well as the cows the farms kept 2 to 4 oxen to pull carts and plough.
Today in north Germany you can usually see black and white cattle.
In former times there used to be in Mecklenburg only red or red patched, sometimes also yellow or grey animals.
3.Sheep:
Usually 3 to 4 sheep were kept on a farm. That was enough to cover their personal needs of meat and wool.
Because the sheep were very undemanding they survived well with the bad conditions of pasture.
The Lords of the manors and tenants of Domanium farms used to keep large flocks.
4.Pigs:
About 2 to 4 pigs were kept on each farm. They were fattened in meadows or in forests, where they fed on acorns,
beechnuts, rowans, nuts, wild fruits, mushrooms, berries, worms etc. Fattening in the forests ("Waldmast") was a
privilege of the Lords or the Government. The farmers had to pay "Mastgeld" to be allowed to fatten their pigs
in the forest.
5.Poultry:
In addition to 5 to 10 chicken and a cock the farmers kept 2 to 4 geese and a gander. The feathers were important to stuff
pillows and duvets. The villages had to give a small number of geese every year as tax.
6.Bees:
Before 1670 one or two beehives were mentioned quite regularly on each farm. After 1730 beehives are seldom noted
any more.
7.Goats:
Sometimes goats are mentioned in older tax lists. They were called "Hoiken". After 1730, no goats appear in the
documents.
| Around 1700 rye, oat,buckwheat and barley were predominately in the fields in the Griese Gegend. |  |
The cultivation of wheat was never huge, though at certain times at the markets, the demand for it was high. Probably the soil was too poor. The Lord's manors specialised in cultivating wheat and therefore they tore down a lot of farms and turned the farmers to daylabourers (Bauernlegen).
People used to cultivate mainly cabbage in their gardens.
In former times fruit growing was not very popular. Orders of the government compelled the farmers to plant apple, pear and
plum trees. From farm documents we know that a Hauswirt had about 8 apple and 8 pear trees and about 10 plum trees.
One farm owned, beside the usual number of apple and pear trees, the large number od 130 plum trees.
Other fruit trees like cherry and peach are not mentioned earlier than the 19th century. The fruit was dried in
the oven to preserve it. A large quantity was sold in the town. Dried fruit ("Backobst") became an important ingredient
in the Mecklenburgian homestyle cooking. Before the cultivation of sugar beet in the 19th century became a regular practice,
"Backobst" and the valuable honey were used to sweeten the food. Mecklenburg people love sweet food even today!
Because there wasn't enough land for all farmers' sons to rent a Hufe, small farmers (Büdner) were invented around 1760:
Büdner. Everybody could apply for renting a "Büdnerei" (Büdner's farm), except inhabitants of a town. The applicant
had to learn a trade before he could do this.
They lived in a "Bude". That was a farm house similiar to the Hauswirt's house but it was much smaller. At first
Büdners had only a garden and the right to send one cow (they weren't allowed to keep more), a few pigs and sheep
together with the village herd to the village's common pasture.
During the 19th century they recieved some more land so that sometimes the farm was large enough to nourish the
family. But most Büdners had to earn some more money by using their learned trade. They usually were weavers,
bunglers or tailors.
The Büdners also were obliged to do "Spanndienste" but they couldn't afford either oxen or horses. So the Hauswirte
assumed the obligations. In exchange the Büdners helped the Hauswirte with the harvest. Some Büdners also harnessed
their cow to plough or carriage.They were contemptously called "Kauhbuern" (cow farmers).
This hard labour made the modest milk production drop even more.
The teasing occured "Wer sin Kauh as Ossen vorspannt, möt sin Pir melken." (He who harnesses his cow like an ox has
to milk his horses.)
The Büdner farms were founded on surplus common land or on deserted farmland (wüste Hufen: deserted farms which
had not been leased for a long time). The Hauswirte who perhaps had had their eyes on this land did not like it
very much.
Because the Hauswirt farms were situated near to each other and the Büdner farms were built along the roads the saying
came up: "De Hauswirte dei wahnt up de Pann, die Bäudners dei wahnt up den Stähl." (The Hauswirte live on the
pan, the Büdners live on the panhandle.)
partly from Friedrich Mager (s. Literaturliste), tax documents and farm documents of the parish of Leussow