Schwendbau
Schwendbau (cf. Middle High German geswinde for fast, speed ) is, in the narrower sense, a form of field cultivation that used to be widespread in Europe and the sub-Saharan . In the process, potential arable land (more rarely pastureland ) is cleared of vegetation (trees, bushes) without removing the roots. Word components such as Schwend or Gschwendt can be found as clearing names in place names.
In a broader sense, fire cultivation is also referred to as Schwendbau; see. english swidden and swedish svedjebruk .
Schwenden, also known as wasting, was mostly done by notching the bark ( ringlets ), which caused the trees to die and dry out. The clearing of the stumps and rhizomes was too laborious and not absolutely necessary, as the area gained could be used for the cultivation of grave stocks . On slopes, the remaining roots reduced the erosion and the risk of landslides . In prehistoric terms, Schwendbau was probably supported by overexploitation of the forests as forest pastures and by slash and burn .
In the alpine region, Schwendbau also included the slow expansion and maintenance of the open land on the Rain , also in alpine operations ( summer dawn ). In this case (as well as small-scale one used a series of pivoting extension by ringlets clear-cutting or removal of individual trees), then the transition phase of stagnation ( coppice ) for roughage and Laubheu ( pollarding ) and weaving material for fence maintenance, Wicker and other, then free land reclamation.
A last form of Schwendbau was preserved in the Siegerland Haubergswirtschaft , where rye or buckwheat ("Haubergskorn") was grown annually on the wasted land before the vegetation was permitted again.
If an open area is neither mowed nor swept away, in most locations in Central Europe it becomes bushy within a few years before it becomes forest . Today, Schwenden is an important part of alpine farming , with the alpine pastures being cleared of bushes, mountain pines and alpine roses , which would displace the forage plants.
The common practice until the middle of the 20th century of simply setting fire to alpine meadows and slopes that are heavily bushed with mountain pine or alpine rose ( slash and burn) is prohibited in Europe today. The plant protection then expanded on the Alpenrose until showed that this because shunned by cattle, applies to the Alpine areas as a weed and a large area overgrown mats in a few years. That the Alpine farmers and their herdsmen entitled Schwendberg law allows in Germany also eliminating otherwise strictly protected plants like the Almrose. Today's alpine farmers are faced with the dilemma that Schwenden is labor-intensive and expensive. In the context of volunteer work, the mountain farmers are therefore supported by the mountain forest project in Schwenden. Areas with emerging tree growth that have not been wasted for several years are often declared to be protective forest by the responsible forest authorities and are thus lost as pastureland.
A typical historical tool is the Schwendsense, which carries a short, massive scythe blade and, on the opposite side, a small hoe . Swinging is now mostly done electromechanically with a brushcutter or chainsaw .
See also
literature
- Jens Lüning: Stone Age farmers in Germany. Agriculture in the Neolithic (= university research on prehistoric archeology , vol. 58). Habelt, Bonn 2000, ISBN 3-7749-2953-X .
