Johann Adam Melsheimer

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Gravestone of the "Hunter from Kurpfalz" on the Argenthaler Friedhof

Johann Adam Melsheimer (* 22. February 1683 in Altendambach ; † 14. August 1757 in Forsthaus Struthhof, Münchwald ) was from 1719 to 1757 Forester and Electoral Palatinate horseback hunters in the Soonwald .

Life and work as a forester

Melsheimer was born the son of a forester in Altendambach in what is now Thuringia . He learned near Heidelberg and after this training worked as a forester in the Odenwald . In 1719 he took over the forester position at the Struthhof forester's house built in 723 in the Hunsrück. Melsheimer came from the Electoral Palatinate area in the Soonwald, which until 1707 belonged to the joint property of the Margraviate of Baden and the Electoral Palatinate on the territory of the Upper County of Sponheim .

In the death register of the Protestant parish church in Gebroth , the date August 14, 1757 reads:

On August 14th, Mr. Johann Adam Melsheimer, Churpfälzischer riding forester in the Soonwald, died of a protracted illness, dropsy, on the Struthof and was buried according to Churpfälz ordinance to Argenthai, his age 74 years. Requiescat in pace.

He is buried in Argenthal . In addition to the memorial stone on the Argenthal cemetery, there is another memorial plaque at the Struthhof forester's house, which commemorates the forester Johann Adam Melsheimer.

The hunter from Electoral Palatinate

Alongside Friedrich Wilhelm Utsch and Johann Kasimir, Johann Adam Melsheimer is considered the legendary hunter who is sung about in the folk song Ein Jäger aus Kurpfalz . However, this has not been proven and, according to recent research, is considered unlikely. Because of his origins, Melsheimer was referred to by the population as the "hunter from the Electoral Palatinate". On his hit list for 1720 there are 26 red deer, eight bucks, two roe deer and three sows.

literature

  • Achim R. Baumgarten and Fritz Schellack: 900 years of Argenthal 1091–1991. With contributions by H. Dunger and J. König . Edited by the local community of Argenthal. Argenthal 1991. pp. 403-404.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tobias Widmaier: A hunter from Kurpfalz (2008). In: Popular and Traditional Songs. Historical-critical song lexicon of the German Folk Song Archive
personal data
SURNAME Melsheimer, Johann Adam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Forester and horse hunter from the Palatinate in the Soonwald
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1683
PLACE OF BIRTH Altendambach , Thuringia
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1757
Place of death Forsthaus Struthhof, Münchwald