Rural social structure
The rural social structure was and is shaped in the villages by peculiarities that result from the employment structure of the rural population. Since this peculiarity is partly lost today due to the processes of suburbanization , and partly given way to a changed structure in the 20th century, the following will primarily show the social structure as it was characteristic in Central Europe from the 16th century to the middle of the 19th century .
The rural social structure in the area of central German manorial rule
From the 16th to the 18th century there were social classes in the country, as a rule the nobility as landlords , subject peasants and rural proletariat . Especially in mountain villages with hammers and huts there were isolated early capitalist entrepreneurs .
Another social class were the trained , who can be seen as an early form of the later class of intelligence . She was represented in the villages by the pastor (which also sometimes even owned a farm and farmed) and by individuals in senior positions, such as the manor managers and top Förster (often the latter with considerable property). Others who had been trained were, according to their social status, housemen and by profession schoolmasters , cantors (even with these people it is possible to own a property), there were also court masters , pleasure gardeners and mouth cooks in villages with a noble residence. However, the trained were a small minority.
The majority of the population were full farmers , small farmers and homeowners with a small piece of land; in the contemporary language farmers, gardeners and cottagers. Millers , sheep masters and innkeepers differ greatly from village to village , depending on the size of the property and legal position ( inheritance or just tenant ). Rural craftsmen were mostly cottagers, but as early as the 18th century, part-hunters and gardeners were increasingly turning to handicraft and trading activities as a sideline. Häusler were generally the wagoners , miners , Maurer joined, lumberjacks and laborers who have been classified as proletarians. There were also independent traders , carters and self-building trades in mining areas . - Housemates were the servants and manual workers who lived in the house as tenants .
The position of individuals and families in the social structure was determined by their economic performance, which, however, was limited by inherited property, coincidences and local constraints. Nevertheless, this structure was full of dynamism and social mobility . So z. For example, in the century after the Thirty Years' War in Saxony, the relative share of cottagers, as well as village craftsmen; the proportion of all farmers fell to half of the rural population, later even more. This development led to the fact that the feudal class and layer structure dissolved in the 19th century.
Over time and progressive development, however, not only the objective proportions of social classes and strata in the total population change, but also the delimitation of the terms as they were used by contemporary people to denote social differences. For example, in 1552 Oberwürschnitz near Stollberg in the Ore Mountains had 8 possessed men , 4 gardeners and 28 residents ; In 1764 there were 18 possessed men, 12 gardeners and 20 cottagers. If the residents of 1552 are considered to be housemates, then a lot has changed in this place by 1764. In Mülsen St. Micheln (Saxony), however, there were 27 possessed men in 1569; 1750 then 23 possessed men, 18 gardeners and 43 cottagers, so the creation of numerous new cottages.
A similar development is reflected in the history of the Hüfner (full-time farmers), Kossaten (gardeners) and Büdner (cottagers) in the Brandenburg village of Gömnigk , which belonged to Saxony until 1815. Here, however, farmers and gardeners are grouped under the term possessed man in the inheritance book from 1591 , when it says: 18 possessed men, including 10 gardeners. (See chapter First Counts .)
The local historian , agricultural historian and genealogist should keep in mind to characterize the people who live in historical times so that they do not fit into the social structure of their time. For this purpose, in addition to the church registers , other sources, especially court trade books and tax lists, must be consulted. Since the size of the hooves , the soil yield and other conditions can vary greatly from area to area, the same external social position can go hand in hand with quite different material possessions. The reproduction of sales prices and deposits for goods and houses (e.g. in an ancestral list ) gives clues for this, albeit only relatively.
Solidarity in case of danger
As part of the rural social structure at the beginning of the 19th century, when a fire broke out, certain residents had to fetch the fire engine immediately . A fire walker had to request another fire pump if necessary. In many villages, when a fire was detected, the local teachers had to ring the bell and sound the alarm for the committee drum. All residents who were able to work had to rush to the scene of the fire with the bucket full and line up in double rows after the nearest water (e.g. stream, fire pond): "The bucket flew through the chain between my hands."
See also
literature
- Herrmann Grees: Lower classes with real estate in rural settlements in Central Europe . In: Gerhard Henkel (Ed.): The rural settlement as a research subject of geography. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1983, ISBN 3-534-08697-X , pp. 193-223. (= Ways of Research 616) - With table on p. 194 about the designations for peasant classes and lower classes and their regional distribution.
- Gerhard Hanke : On the social structure of the rural settlements of old Bavaria in the 17th and 18th centuries . In: Society and Domination. Research on social and regional historical problems mainly in Bavaria. CH Beck, Munich 1969, DNB 456742514 , pp. 219-270.
- Geert Mak: How God disappeared from Jorwerd: The downfall of the village in Europe . Siedler, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88680-669-3 .
- Josef Mooser : Rural Class Society 1770-1848. Peasants and lower classes , agriculture and trade in eastern Westphalia (= critical studies on historical science . Volume 64). Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-525-35723-0 .
- Brigitta Vits: The economic and social structure of rural settlements in Northern Hesse from the 16th to the 19th century . Marburger Geographische Gesellschaft, Marburg 1993, ISBN 3-88353-047-6 (= Marburger Geographische Schriften 123).
- Elisabeth Schwarze: Social structure and ownership of the rural population of East Thuringia in the 16th century . Böhlau, Weimar 1975, DNB 760109486
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Franz-Josef Sehr : The fire extinguishing system in Obertiefenbach from earlier times . In: Yearbook for the Limburg-Weilburg district 1994 . The district committee of the Limburg-Weilburg district, Limburg-Weilburg 1993, p. 151-153 .