It was my pleasure to hear Roger P. Minert, who spoke at the Palatines to America Conference in Pennsylvania last fall. If I can, I will try to repeat a bit of what he said. Dr. Minert is an American who does a lot of genealogical research in Germany and in Austria. In the following account, he tells a bit of what he learned as he was researching his own family in the region of Western Hannover, Oldenburg, and Westphalia.
In this area a set of land ownership practices developed which had their roots prior to the Carolinian Era. By 1500, the practices were set, and remained so until early in the nineteenth century. The core of the landed property was The Hof, or estate farm, which could not be subdivided. The youngest son or daughter inherited everything. Other siblings inherited nothing. This had the force of law, not just practice.
Sons on the farm who did not inherit the farm changed their name. Whereas they might have had the name Meiner, they changed their name to Meinersmann, after their youngest sibling inherited the farm. The result was that only one family had the name of the Hof. What if a daughter inherited the Hof? When she married, her husband took the name of the Hof. Her brothers could no longer use the name of the farm alone.
More than one family might live on the farm and they had different statuses. The "Vollerbe" had the full rights. There was also a "Halberbe" who had half-rights, and the Erbkötter and the Markkötter. The last position is the easiest to explain. The owner of this position had a cottage, gardens, and another job off the farm. He was essentially just renting a house and gardens. The person in this position might be one of the sons who had not inherited.
But before you think the Vollerbe was an entity unto himself, consider the limitations on him. The next man above him in the social structure was the Gutsherr (estate owner, laird). The Vollerbe had to have the permission of his Gutsherr to marry, harvest trees, or build new structures. He had to pay a fee to the Gutsherr to marry, and at his death the family had to pay a death tax of one-half of what he owned. If the Vollerbe mismanaged the estate, he could lose it to the Gutsherr. He could not leave the farm without the permission of the Gutsherr.
The local government was the Mark council. As a Vollerbe, one had more votes in the council and more rights in the common property owned by the council. The Vollerbe did not have to serve in the military. His tenancy was protected if he managed the property well.
The surname went with the Hof, not with one’s biological father or mother. We see that this had the potential to create problems in genealogical research. A man’s name could change between birth and death. One needed to know how the property was inherited and especially whom the youngest sibling married.
(14 Feb 01)
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.