In the northern Kraichgau, many of the knights owned but just one village. In some cases, they rented the village to other knights which meant the burden on the villagers was to support two families. In Ittlingen, a small subsistence farming community, severe conflicts developed between the nobles and the villagers. The peasants were aware of their rights and interests and resisted the encroachments by the nobility.
In 1699, the von Öttinger family, under an agreement with one of the two ruling families of Ittlingen, the von Gemmingen family, attempted to increase duties in violation of an agreement dating back to 1579. The inhabitants succeeded in blocking this move by complaining to an Imperial Court for a confederation of knights in Heilbronn. This was the first of many appeals the Ittlingers would make to the state authorities for the protection against the local nobility.
Later the von Öttingers were replaced by the von Kochendorfs, who built fences around the village meadow. Twice the villagers tore it down. The villagers also expelled the Jewish merchant who had purchased the salt monopoly from the von Kochendorfs. The von Gemmingens and the von Kochendorfs considered the villagers of Ittlingen in rebellion. Still trying to increase their revenues to overcome their own poverty, they raised the fees for grazing rights, which had been established in 1584. The villagers refused to pay and complained to Heilbronn again. The von Gemmingens and von Kochendorfs retaliated during a Sunday morning church service, at which attendance was compulsory, by having hired men drive 160 head of hogs belonging to the villagers to Gemmingen, about five miles away. After various aborted endeavors, the villagers appealed again to Heilbronn which ruled in their favor.
The knights ignored this ruling and stepped up their aggressive ways by sending their men to take the villagers' sheep. The villagers used their guns against the men and the knights' men retreated. Fearing Imperial intervention, the von Gemmingens and von Kochendorfs lost their nerve and sought a truce. The Imperial authorities mediated a dispute in which the knights had to make a payment, below actual market value, for the hogs.
The dispute took a new turn in 1721 when the von Gemmingens handpicked a new Lutheran pastor who preached obedience to the authorities. The pastor was so harsh on this subject that the villagers held a meeting to decide what to do about him. They sent a delegation to the preacher's house and told him to change his style of preaching. Though the preacher was adamant against taking directions from his parishioners, the von Gemmingens and von Kochendorfs backed down and directed the preacher to change his approach.
Though the background of the villagers was hardly democratic, they were not entirely apolitical. In America, the Germans found a better outlet for their developing sense of their rights.
The two Smith families, the Clores, and the Weavers were Germanna families who came from Gemmingen (as in the von Gemmingen family).
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.