How did the servant class arise? By the Eighteenth Century, the land had been divided so much among the heirs that it became impossible to divide it further. This was the result of the increase in population. (The population of Würzburg increased from 160,000 to 310,000 in the Eighteenth Century.) Young men, such as Johann Georg Braungardt, whose parents owned neither land nor a home in Winterhausen, had to hire themselves out as farmhands.
The women outnumbered the men in the servant class by perhaps three to one. Orphanages were one source of servant labor. A child was raised in the orphanage until he/she was, perhaps as teenager or even younger, sent out to earn a living as a servant. Vagrant children on the streets, or, in some cases, taken from their parents because of a lack of care for them, followed the path to the orphanage, and on to being a servant.
Only a few servants had annual contracts or agreements. Six months was more common. On the farms, it was less than this; it was only for the duration of the peak harvest season.
Some instances of wages include 14 months for 6 guilders (see the last note for what this could buy). More typically, the annual wage was 12 guilders , though there were higher wages, but not by much. Prince-Bishop Seinsheim, ca 1770, paid good wages of 20 guilders for a maid and 24 guilders for a coachman . Other low paying jobs were night watchmen and goose-herders. In a time when the soldiers were needed, they might earn 42 guilders per year plus a bread allowance. But when peace came, wages dropped for soldiers. Most servants received food and shelter as a part of their compensation. The budgets for these items often exceeded the actual wages.
During the winter, when work was scarce, the unemployed often resorted to begging, vagrancy, and petty crimes. Many women became full-time or part-time prostitutes. But perhaps even worse, women servants were considered fair game by members of the nobility and court bureaucrats. There were laws against such activity, but they were unfairly directly against the women ! The men received warnings; the women received jail sentences.
Marriage was not possible for many servants. Property requirements and fees to obtain a marriage license were beyond the reach of the servant class. Some ministers, who were willing to overlook the requirement (the 250 guilders for a marriage permit), made large sums of money by the sheer volume of the business they did.
There was no hope of escaping from the status of servant, unless one ran away. One might find his/her way to a port where a captain might take him/her on board against a future contract of servitude. Anything would be better than a continued existence as a servant.
(23 Nov 02)
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.