Cowl interest
The Kuttenzins or Thomaspfennig is a tax that the residents of Stangerode ( Saxony-Anhalt ) in the Harz region according to legend had to pay annually because farmers from the village killed a monk (a cellar master) from the Konradsburg monastery who was having a relationship with a farmer's wife would have. According to legend, the spirit of the monk led the authorities to the place where they had buried the monk. As a punishment, 13 farms had to pay a fine of one pfennig each year on the feast of St. Thomas (hence the Thomas pfennig). The legend probably originated after the monastery was abandoned in 1526 as a result of the peasant wars.
The following folk custom, which existed until the 18th century, was established with the legend. On the evening (December 20th) before the feast of St. Thomas, the master builder went through the village and collected - according to "Give our Lord the Thomas pfennig, the cowl interest!" - in front of 13 farmhouses in the village (which at that time had around 78 farms) a silver penny each. The whole thing developed into a wild procession of the whole village, who took the money to Endorf, two hours away on foot, where the court was. The court clerk accepted 6 pfennigs around midnight (the master builder kept seven for himself, and in Endorf he received a tip far in excess of 6 pfennigs ). In the land registers of Endorf it was stated that the amount had to be handed over before sunrise on St. Thomas's Day, every minute of delay cost a ton of herrings.
Since, according to the legend, the slain was a monk who collected the dues for the Konradsburg monastery, and because of the term cowl interest, the legend is based on a medieval basic interest that originally belonged to the monastery, perhaps even before its foundation, to the lord of the castle on the Konradsburg. The place name Stangerode indicates a clearing site. It was customary to leave cleared land to settlers, who paid a relatively small annual fee to recognize sovereignty. As far as the delivery of religious institutions was entitled, it was also called Kreuzpfennig in other areas. Such taxes had in common that they would become considerably more expensive if not paid on time. Originally, a failure to meet the deadline could presumably also lead to the loss of the property, which is why such taxes were also called Vahrpfennig or Vahrschuld (of danger).
literature
- Jacob Grimm: German antiquities . First volume, reprint Darmstadt 1983, keyword: grundzins. P. 533 f.
- Friedrich Gottschalck: Legends and folk tales of the Germans. Hall 1814.
