Caspar price

Caspar Preis , also Kaspar Preiß (* probably in the 17th century in Leidenhofen near the Ebsdorfergrund ; † 1667 or later in Stausebach , Kurmainz ) was a farmer and is considered to be the author of the Stausebach local chronicle. He was probably the son of Baltzer Preiß and was married to Gerdraut Krämer from Wittelsberg .

Through his chronicle a regional picture of the Thirty Years' War has been passed down, which shows the plight of the peasants by billeting and looting . The Stausebacher Ortschronik has proven to be particularly useful for research into regional history.

Youth and the years up to 1636

The year of birth of Caspar Preis' is unknown, as he does not write anything about it in his notes, but a Baltzer Price in 1592 can be determined based on the Salbuch of the Ebsdorf and Frauenberg courts , which could be a relative. He grew up in the village of Leidenhofen . Nothing more is known about his youth. In 1621 he married Gerdraut Krämer (* 1596) from Wittelsberg . Shortly after their marriage they moved to Schröck in the Amöneburg office in Mainz and were thus subjects of the Elector of Mainz Georg Friedrich von Greiffenclau zu Vollrads . The Preis couple lived in Schröck for 14 years.

The Thirty-Year War

On February 22nd, 1636, the Preis von Schröck couple moved to Stausebach after they had bought the Michaelshof from Hans Krämer (called: Grohans) and his wife Rebecka for 700 guilders. So Caspar Preis cannot have been poor. Grohans Krämer was the brother of his father-in-law Caspar Preis'. He didn't want the “famous” farm to be sold to a stranger. The Preis couple moved to Stausebach because of their debts, although they could employ servants and maids. Price paid the lease to the church in Kirchhain. The land and buildings that Caspar Preis acquired had already been affected by the war.

"In Jar 1636 uff S. Petterstag I am Caspar Preis, Gerdraut my housewife moved from Schrickt to Stausebach uff the S. Michälshoff, so the church box for Kirchain knocks. [...] The farm was so utterly devastated and spoiled in the war system that not a handful of grain was seen. "

Preis saw the Thirty Years' War as God's punishment for the “sins of Germany” and writes that the imperial princes and imperial cities turned away from the emperor and called a king of Sweden to help. He reports in detail about the looting that Hesse and Sweden are carrying out in Stausebach and the surrounding area. Your sovereign, the Archbishop of Mainz Anselm Casimir Wambolt von Umstadt , is on the emperor's side. As early as 1636 there were rumors of a peace that did not come true. In the following years of war, attacks by the Swedes (partly under French orders) or the Hessians (allied with Sweden) were repeatedly written about. Preis reports kidnappings, ransom payments, escapes to the Kirchhain fortress, increased food prices and rape. In 1640 the village was fortified with palisades against the attackers and protected by the captain of the Amöneburg. Price himself takes part in the battle for Kirchhain with a lieutenant colonel. In September he is alone in Stausebach, as all the residents have fled to the cities. Price is knowledgeable about the area. He knows that Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria , Imperial Count Octavio Piccolomini and Johann Kaspar von Stadion are in Kirchhain, that the population of the surrounding villages in Giessen and Frankfurt have to buy bread because of the food shortage. In addition to the devastation caused by war, there are also mouse plagues, epidemics and floods.

Administrative activity and past years

Due to the war there was no priest in Stausebach in 1649/50. The existing clergyman had to look after twelve villages and the city. Due to this emergency situation, the residents of Stausebach were forced to hold "alternative services". Caspar Preis acted as a lecturer there. He read the gospel and preached. However, he was laughed at by his neighbors and did not hold church services on some Sundays.

“In the morning we sound like a priest was there. Whoever is true of a Christian mind would do his own thing. [...] Whenever we then, as heard, sang a psalms or some other song, I named poor Caspar the book and read the Gospel and the Pretig. "

From 1644 to 1659 he was the “Castenmaster” in Amöneburg and proudly writes that he “wrote invoices and registers himself”. In 1663 he reproduces the contents of a letter from the "Turkish Emperor" to the "Roman Emperor". In 1665 the farm was given to his son Caspar Preis jr. to hand over. The last entry in the chronicle is in 1667. It is written with a shaky hand. Perhaps Preis passed away this year, as he was prophesied.

“The Warheyt is told to me in the 1667th year since I was worth dying in. God knows, I don't know. God the Almighty be all set aside. He's doing it with me, he pointed out. "

Stausebacher local history

The Stausebacher Ortschronik consists of 98 sheets of paper in the original format 18.5 × 15.5 cm. The original parchment binding was from the 19th century and the pages were numbered from 1 to 196. Before and after the actual text there are writing exercises that come from both Caspar Preis himself and his family members. These exercises were not included in the editions. A scribe from the late 18th century also added notes. The chronicle was thus further received and edited in the family circle, as much was no longer understandable for the descendants.

Caspar Preis reports on the period from 1636 to 1667. However, he writes in a kind of foreword when he married his wife and where the Preis couple grew up. Much of the information in the chronicle can be proven on the basis of invoices from the Amöneburg office in Mainz and the books of the Ebsdorf and Frauenberg courts. He reports on the events of the Thirty Years' War, the current grain and livestock prices and everyday farm life. After the war, the chronicle developed more and more into a house book, in which observations about family celebrations, the weather and the harvest are recorded. Caspar Preis writes standard German with a few glimpses of dialect. For a common man, he writes “beautiful and legible”.

Editions and honors

Caspar Price Path in Stausebach

The first editions were made in the early 20th century. The Hessian State Archives in Marburg acquired the original of the chronicle from private sources in the summer of 1991. The editing of the text was done by certified archivist Helmut Klingelhöfer. In Stausebach (incorporated into Kirchhain since 1971), a path was named after the famous son of the village.

literature

• Fabian Brändle: "In Suma, it was an unbelievably pathetic time" The Hessian farmer Caspar Preis in the Thirty Years' War . In: Claudia Glunz, Thomas Schneider (Ed.): Literary processing of the war from the 17th to the 20th century (=  war and literature ). Yearbook XVI. Universitätsverlag Osnabrück, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-89971-637-5 , p. 37-47 .
• Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Farm life in the age of the Thirty Years War. The Stausebacher Chronicle of the Caspar Prize 1636–1667 (=  contributions to Hessian history . Volume 13 ). Trautvetter & Fischer Nachf., Marburg an der Lahn 1998, ISBN 3-87822-110-X .
• Franz von Geyso: From the 30 Years War. An epilogue to the Stausebacher Chronicle . In: Hessenland . No. 25 , 1911, pp. 3-6 .
• Walter Kürschner: From the 30 Years War. The "Stausebacher Chronicle" . In: Hessenland . No. 24 , 1910, pp. 317-320 .
• Josef Ruhl: The Stausenbacher chronicle of the Kaspar price 1636–1667 . In: Fulda history sheets . No. 1 , 1902, pp. 113-125 .
• Alfred Schneider: The Stausebacher Chronicle of Kaspar Preiß 1636–1667 . In: Supplement to the Amöneburg leaves . No. 1-3 (1987-1989) .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Peasant Life in the Age of the Thirty Years' War. The Stausebacher Chronicle of the Caspar Price 1636–1667. (= Contributions to Hessian history. Volume 13). Marburg 1998, p. 23.
2. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 2. (The page numbers refer to the handwritten original.)
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 5.
4. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 8.
5. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 6 and 7.
6. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. Pp. 13-29.
7. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 30; 32; 35.
8. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 83.
9. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 139.
10. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 169.
11. ↑ Stausebacher Chronicle. P. 193.
12. ^ Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Peasant Life in the Age of the Thirty Years' War. 1998, p. 21.
13. ↑ A note z. B. on p. 44 of the chronicle, ie Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Farm life in the age of the Thirty Years War. 1998, p. 54.
14. ^ Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Peasant Life in the Age of the Thirty Years' War. 1998, p. 23.
15. ↑ Fabian Brändle: "In Suma, it was a miserable time beyond the masses" The Hessian farmer Caspar Preis in the Thirty Years' War. In: Claudia Glunz, Thomas Schneider (Ed.): Literary processing of the war from the 17th to the 20th century. (= War and Literature. Yearbook XVI ). Universitätsverlag Osnabrück, Göttingen 2010, p. 43.
16. ↑ Joseph Ruhl: The congestion Bacher chronicle of Kaspar price from 1636 to 1667. In: Fulda history sheets. 1, 1902, p. 114.
17. ^ Franz von Geyso: From the 30 Years War. An epilogue to the Stausebacher Chronicle. In: Hessenland. No. 25, 1911, pp. 3-6.
    Walter Kürschner: From the 30 Years War. The "Stausebacher Chronicle". In: Hessenland. No. 24, 1910, pp. 317-320.
    Josef Ruhl: The Stausenbacher chronicle of the Kaspar price 1636–1667. In: Fulda history sheets. No. 1, 1902, pp. 113-125.
18. ^ Wilhelm A. Eckhardt, Helmut Klingelhöfer: Peasant Life in the Age of the Thirty Years' War. 1998, pp. 21 and 32.