Hans to Rantzau

Hans Graf zu Rantzau auf Ascheberg (* August 14, 1693 ; † January 15, 1769 ) abolished serfdom for his farmers step by step from 1739 and did so as one of the first Holstein landlords alongside Benedikt Wilhelm von Ahlefeldt . In the 18th century, he had his Ascheberg estate expanded into a lavish country residence.

family

Hans zu Rantzau was the son of the privy councilor Christian Rantzau (1649–1704), owner of the Salzau , Rastorf and Ascheberg estates , and Margarethe, the daughter of Bertram Rantzau auf Ascheberg (1642–1708). His brothers were Christian and Detlef. He was married to Margarethe Hedwig (1702–1741), a daughter of Schack Brockdorff. From 1733 he lived separated from his wife. Schack Carl von Rantzau was his son.

After the death of his father, his property was divided between the brothers. In 1728 all three brothers were appointed imperial counts as compensation for the confiscation of the county of Rantzau by Denmark . From 1746 to 1749 he was chief president of Altona .

reformer

Rantzau had been the Danish ambassador to England from 1730 to 1932 , where he had become acquainted with feudalism without serfdom. Back on his estates, he saw that the listlessness with which his serfs stood up for his gain and gain was absolutely counterproductive. He therefore thought about how the peasant's self-interest could be more productively linked to that of the landlord, and tried this out in 1739 with a piece of land about 18 hectares (today's size) on which he built a house with stables; He provided ten cows, two horses and four pigs, a wagon, plow and seeds. Four fields and five pasture fields, each separated by hedges ( crooks ), were set up by means of coupling . Rantzau handed this model farm over to one of his serfs for management. This was able to increase productivity significantly through drainage and clover cultivation; the rent he paid the landlord was far above what he would have earned with serfs from the same piece of land. In the course of the following decades, Rantzau set up a further 30 commercial farms based on this model. With a bonus system he encouraged the "colonists" to compete and also took care of improving school education.

Rantzau campaigned for his practically successful reforms with a pamphlet. It was published in Plön in 1766 and was entitled The Answer of an Old Patriot to a Young Patriot's Inquiry as to how the peasant class and the economy of noble estates in Holstein could be improved . The fact that serfdom was abolished in Denmark in 1788 and in the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein in 1804 is also thanks to this pioneer of peasant liberation - which, of course , was dictated just as much by economic advantages as by humanistic ideals.

literature

• Christian Degn: Schleswig-Holstein, a state history . Neumünster (Wachholtz) 1994 ISBN 3-529-05215-9
• Eckardt Opitz: Schleswig-Holstein, national history in pictures, texts and documents . Hamburg (Rasch and Röhring), 1988 ISBN 3-89136-137-8
• Wolfgang Prange: Rantzau, Hans. In: SHBL 3. pp. 220-222