Continuing the history of Schwaigern, there was a net influx of people in the second half of the Seventeenth Century (after the Thirty Years' War). These people came from many sources. The written history that I am following mentions Reformed and Catholic people from France and the Salzburg areas, but we know it was broader than this.
Even though the Thirty Years' War was over (in 1648), wars continued in southwestern Germany. In 1674 to 1679, in 1689 to 1698, and in 1702 to 1709, there were troops in the area making demands on housing (using the homes of the citizens), and on food. The armies had to be supported by taxes, and discipline was maintained by shootings. In 1713, Anna Maria Heinrich was burned as a witch.
In the period of 1719 to 1726, Reinhard von Neipperg, the Knight who ruled Schwaigern, felt the need for more personal security, and sought it from the Emperor in the east. To win favor with the Emperor, von Neipperg converted to the Catholic religion, and won the title of Count, and a job with the Emperor. He still maintained, until 1755, the right to name the Lutheran pastor in the local church. In giving up the right, the Count transferred the choice to an expanded community representative body. Gains in representation by the populace were slow.
Fire was an ever present danger. On 22 Oct 1811, 90 buildings were destroyed by fire. Major fires also occurred on the nights of 22 January and 5 Feb in 1849. Even in "modern" times, as late as 1892 fire destroyed a major portion of the town. As a result, there was a space to build new streets to meet the needs of an expanding population. Not many years later, in 1905, fire destroyed a major part of the city again.
Hail storms wrought serious damage on several occasions. In spite of many setbacks in the nineteenth century, the prosperity of the people improved noticeably in that time.
Building fires were to be feared, especially because they were difficult to control and put out. One house on fire represented a danger to the whole city, because of the limited capability to fight fires. Because a sleeping people do not always sense a fire in its early stages, it was important to have a night watchman, whose principal job was to be on the lookout for fires, and to give the alarm in case one occurred. Some of the fires originated from faulty flues and the like, but lightning was another danger.
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.