Schwaighof (courtyard shape)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the Upper German-speaking area, Schwaighof / Schweighof is a manorial farm that focuses on cattle breeding, from which a place name or family name often developed.

Word origin and economic history

Schwaige , in Bavarian Schwoag , is derived from Middle High German  sweige  for 'Sennerei, Herd, Viehhof'. The terms Sennhof, Grashof, Viehhof, Schwaiglehen have roughly the same meaning or designate partial aspects of the Schwaige.

The concept of the Schwaige is in the 12./13. Century in the northern and central Alps and their foothills and describes a farm on mountain slopes or in high and main valleys. The Schwaighof was a permanent settlement as a single farm , which mainly operated dairy farming ( cattle breeding and dairy farming ) and was mostly found from an altitude of approx. 1,200 m.

On closer inspection, special characteristics can be identified for the type of farm of the Schwaighöfe that distinguish it from other farms with predominantly livestock farming: These are the herds provided by the landlord and the related interest of regularly 300 cheeses, whereby the herds are also referred to as Schwaigen.

Schwaigen ( "swaigas" ) in the Ötztal in the village of Niederthai are attested as early as the years 1130–1145 , who gave 900 caseos ("cheese [loaves]") to the Ottobeuren monastery every year . In the Salbuch of Benediktbeuern Monastery from 1294, for example,  17 vaccariae (cattle farms, from Latin vacca , “the cow”) are listed for Jachenau , which had to make 100 to 200 wheels of cheese as Kasgilt every year . The farms in Jachenau are still only operated as cattle farms today because of the harsh climate that precludes the cultivation of crops.

In the 15th century, the Schwaighöfe gradually disappeared and gave way to other forms of business. Nevertheless, it was not until 1728 that the Benediktbeuern monastery founded a Schwaighof in Walchensee to supply the local taverns . Schwaigen were mostly given as fiefdoms . As a rule, the operator looked after their own cattle and their own. For the use of the land and cattle of the landlord , he was liable to pay taxes.

Distribution and variants

The word Schwaighof is mainly used in Austria , South Tyrol and Bavaria , Schweighof mainly in Baden , Switzerland and Alsace .

Numerous field names and the word Schwaige have been preserved in the Eastern Alps for 'mountain pasture' (Alm / Alpe) .

Examples:

analogous:

Names of origin such as Schwaiger , Schweiger , Schwaighofer or Schweighofer are correspondingly frequent .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reinhard Riepl: Dictionary on family and local history research in Bavaria and Austria. Waldkraiburg 2003, p. 339.
  2. ↑ Hannes Obermair , Volker Stamm : Alpine economy in high and low altitudes - the example of Tyrol in the late Middle Ages and early modern times . In: Luigi Lorenzetti et al. (Ed.): Relire l'altitude: la terre et ses usages. Suisse et espaces avoisinants, XIIe – XXIe siècles . Éditions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses, Neuchâtel 2019, ISBN 978-2-88930-206-2 , p. 29-56, here: p. 32 ( researchgate.net ).
  3. ↑ Martin Bitschnau , Hannes Obermair: Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 1: By the year 1140 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2009, ISBN 978-3-7030-0469-8 , p. 185-186, No. 204 .
  4. ↑ BHStA Munich , KL Benediktbeuern 32, fol. 21st
  5. ↑ Gudelius, Jost: The Jachenau . Jachenau 2008, p. 240
  6. ↑ BHStA Munich, land Benediktbeuern from October 25, 1728

literature

  • Otto Stolz : The Schwaighöfe in Tyrol. A contribution to the settlement and economic history of the high alpine valleys (scientific publications of DÖAV 5). Innsbruck 1930. (online)
  • Susanne Pacher: The Schwaighof colonization in the Alpine region: new research from a historical-geographical point of view (research on German regional studies 236). Trier: Central Committee for German Regional Studies 1993. ISBN 3-88143-047-4
  • Hannes Obermair, Volker Stamm: Alpine economy in high and low altitudes - the example of Tyrol in the late Middle Ages and early modern times . In: Luigi Lorenzetti, Yann Decorzant, Anne-Lise Head-König (eds.): Relire l'altitude: la terre et ses usages. Suisse et espaces avoisinants, XIIe – XXIe siècles . Éditions Alphil-Presses universitaires suisses, Neuchâtel 2019, ISBN 978-2-88930-206-2 , p. 29-56, section pp. 32-37 ( researchgate.net ).