The Hof system that I have been talking about was not universal in Germany. The area of application was relatively small. Still, similar things to some degree were practiced in other component parts of the lands which became Germany.
Within its principal area, it provided social stability. Everyone knew just what to expect. There were no surprises.
A succession of eight male owners at one Hof involved seven name changes as the daughter inherited and married an outsider who took the Hof name.
This system developed before church records were kept. Titles and names became confused. For example, reference might be made to "der Meinert" meaning the man who owned the Meinert Hof. To keep track of the male name changes, expressions such as "Meyer genannt Meinert", meaning "Meyer who is called Meinert", came into being. The birth name Meyer might come and go even unto death. Children were christened with the Hof surname. Very often the Hof owner passed ownership to the marrying heir or heiress and moved into the "Leibzucht Haus". This was the house for the retired person(s) in the family. The retired owner might be called "der alte Meinert" (male) or "die alte Meinert (female)". Some surname variants included examples such as Meinerts Johann.
These records, from the Hofs, are usually kept in the state archives. If your research does take you into this type of record, you will encounter terms and practices that probably are not familiar. A few of the terms are given here just for the illustration they shed on life:
Abgaben : Duties paid to the Gutsherr, usually in goods and services.
Auffahrt : The process of marrying into a Hof, required the Gutsherr's permission and a fee.
colon/alias/modo : A change in man's surname.
Colon/Colonus : A title used to denote the owner of a Hof (note the resemblance to "colony").
Freibrief : A license issued by the Gutsherr for a fee, entitling a son or daughter to leave the Hof.
Guttsherr : Person or organization (church or state) holding authority over a Mark.
Mark : A district presided over by the Gutsherr.
Meyerhof : An estate farm established for defense purposes, which had its own rules.
You may want to hire a professional genealogist who is skilled at these researches. If you get the history worked out, it will make a good tale.
(16 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.