The laugh

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Board of "Theelacht to Nörden" at the old town hall in the north

The Theelacht zu Norden has been a family association that has been run on a cooperative basis for around 1100 years, making it the world's oldest cooperative association. In the north it is one of the three old cooperatives that still meet today (Theelacht, Altenbürgerlanden , Leegemoorgesellschaft ). It administers joint property in the marshes of the northern and eastern Norderland and distributes the profits made by leasing to its members. The Theelacht has its central administrative headquarters in the Theelacht Chamber of the Old Town Hall on the market square in North America.

Meaning of the name

It is unclear where the name Theelacht comes from. The first word component is often equated with the Low German word Deel , which means part or proportion , while eight , the second word component, means an institution in the region charged with control and maintenance tasks. Rudolf Folkerts also made this interpretation in his book Die Theelacht to the north. A family association that has been run on a cooperative basis for 1100 years . (see dike eight ; Sielacht , Püttacht ). In contrast, Arend Remmers is certain that Theel cannot correspond to the Low German noun Deel (= part). This goes back to the Germanic * dail and did not participate in the high German sound shift from d to t . According to Remmers' view, the word component * tēl probably stands for a certain proportion of newly gained land and can be translated as land that one cultivates . As a field name, Teeler still occurs today in the Loquard district . Remmers suspects that the term goes back to the old Frisian tilia and has to be translated as witness , cultivate . In his opinion it is also possible that Theel was originally called Theen and that its final sound was influenced by Deel or Teil .

Origins

The old Theelachts traditions tell that the battle of the north of the Frisians against the Normans around 884 marked the actual beginning of the cooperative history. After the victorious Frisians and the defeated Normans withdrew, a number of northern residents took the opportunity to recapture the areas in the Hilgenrieder and Nesser bays that had once been lost to the Normans . The participants in this reconquest founded the Theelacht zu Norden with the aim of using and administering the regained areas in an undivided community. The original owner-occupation of Theelacht land has since been replaced by the leasing of the land. The Theelacht is the oldest cooperative of its kind in Europe.

Structure and statutes of Theelacht

Title page of "Theelrechts" printed in Halle in 1759

The Theelachter developed their own legal system. Decisions are made democratically. A medieval law of inheritance , which is still valid today and which is likely to have been the legal model for the restricted registered shares of today's company law, ensures that the cooperative shares remain in the hands of the old Theelacht families for generations. Four Theelachter manage the Theel-Lande and take care of the twice yearly accounting. This takes place according to a precisely defined ceremony in which clay pipes, tobacco and the warm theel beer are served to the assembled.

The shares are divided into “Arv- and Kooptheele” (inheritance and purchase shares). Only the owners of the Arvtheele, the Arvburen ( hereditary farmers ), have active and passive voting rights. The Koopburen (members who have shopped) have a seat in the Theelachtsammlung, but no vote.

The Arvtheel, the size of which fluctuates depending on the number of Arvburs, is passed on to the youngest son according to old Frisian law. If there are several married sons with their own household, they can "touch"; they receive a full Arvtheel and can pass on their share to the next generation, so that the inheritance shares increase.

Heirlooms are also allowed if there are no sons. Their rights are exercised by their husbands in the evening meeting. These husbands married with heirlooms are called Pelzburen.

The Theel of an Arvburen who died childless falls back to the Theelacht. If an Arvbur sells his share, this Theel also reverts to the Theelacht on his death - unless the Theelacht gives its consent to the conversion of the Arvtheel into a Kooptheel. The Koopburen already mentioned are the owners of the Kooptheels.

The Theelacht lands are divided into 8 Theele, also called Theene or Bücher: Eber (formerly: Leidumer), Ekeler, Gaster, Hover, Linteler, Neugroder, Osthover and Trimser Theel. In the case of two income payments - one before Easter , the other before Christmas - the profits are distributed for four theele each. The Theele billed at Easter are called "Vörjahrstheele", the other "Harfstheele".

The laughter today

The Theelacht has lost its original economic function and importance. The once not insignificant cash assets were largely lost in the currency reforms of the 20th century; the income from the leasing of the approximately 450 hectares of land only covers the ongoing maintenance of the Theelachtskammer (to which the entrance fees also contribute) as well as the costs of the meetings themselves. Thus, only a symbolic amount is paid for the expenses. As is customary with all cultivation of customs , the social and community aspect is in the foreground today.

Despite the history of the Theelacht spanning more than 1100 years, it is an extremely rare occurrence that a Theelacht can hold this office for more than 50 years. In such an event, his name, initially recorded in white letters on the pedigree of the Theelkammer, will be gilded during a larger ceremony. This anniversary could only be celebrated three times: in 1888 by Theelachter Menke B. Uven, 1950 by Theelachter Johannes Reinhard Fleeth and on September 9, 2006 by Theelachter Gerhard E. Seeba.

See also

literature

  • Rudolf Folkerts: Die Theelacht zu Norden: A family association that has been run on a cooperative basis for 1100 years . 1st edition. Soltau-Kurier Verlag, Norden 1986, ISBN 3-922365-52-3 .
  • Ufke Cremer : North through the ages . Verlag Heinrich Soltau, Norden 1955, p. 10 f .
  • 1100 years of Theelacht. In: Supplement to the Ostfriesischer Kurier. from Friday, d. September 14, 1988.
  • Artur Bay: Theelacht North. In: Merian Ostfriesland. 2nd year 1950, issue 12.

Web links

Commons : Theelacht  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Die Theelacht zu Norden - History , accessed on November 10, 2011
  2. a b Jessica Cronshagen: Simply elegant: The house people of the northwest German coastal march in the early modern period . Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-2696-5 , p. 181 .
  3. ^ Rudolf Folkerts: The Theelacht to the north . North 1986.
  4. Arend Remmers: Medieval field names in East Friesland. (PDF) East Frisian Landscape, June 18, 2011, accessed on July 27, 2018 .
  5. Arend Remmers: From Aaltukerei to Zwischenmooren: The settlement names between Dollart and Jade . 1st edition. Verlag Schuster, Leer 2004, ISBN 3-7963-0359-5 .
  6. ^ Rudolf Folkerts: The Theelacht to the north. Norden 1986, p. 76 f.
  7. Map with the Theel areas in 1985 in the Theel-Lande 1985 map ( Memento from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 3, 2018.