Some people in Baden-Durlach saw the problems being created by the growth of the population and the division of the land among the heirs. They told the authorities that the health and wealth of the realm were being harmed. Among the measures that the government in Karlsruhe took was to outlaw marriage before the age of 25 (to check the population growth). Also, it was forbidden to divide the land into "too small parts".
The peasant's reaction could be expected. They resented the interference, and ignored the regulations. They continued to divide their land among their heirs. This problem continued into the mid-Eighteenth Century, when the courts issued a general proclamation forbidding the division of fields, pastures, and vineyards under one-quarter "Jauchert" (about a fifth of an acre). Gardens could not be divided into parcels of less than one-eight Jauchert, or about a tenth of an acre. Since an acre is about 43,000 square feet, a tenth of an acre would be just over 4,000 square feet, or the floor area of a large house. For people who were attempting to live from such small parcels, their standard of living could only be very poor.
Another part of the measure by the Karlsruhe government was to forbid further immigration. Though immigration had been strongly encouraged in the late Seventeenth Century, it became illegal in 1724. Out-migration was still discouraged, and taxed.
Faced with the prospect of making a living off a parcel of land a mere fraction of the size worked by their grandparents, and faced with increasing government interference in the affairs and customs of the villages, many peasants chose to seek their fortunes elsewhere, as they had done for centuries under similar pressures. Up to the year 1720, the level of emigration was very low, but it started increasing rapidly after that date. By 1750, the numbers reached a peak that probably had seldom been attained. After a decline, a second peak occurred just before 1770. (These patterns included immigration to the east, as well as to the British North American Colonies.)
The figures were very similar throughout southwestern Germany and the areas along the Rhine River. Much of this immigration was caused by climatic and agricultural disasters. The most notable of the climatic influences was the 1708-1709 severe winter. After that, it was not until later in the century that climate had such a profound effect. A large emigration in 1770-1771 was the result of the worst crop failure of the century, followed by a severe winter.
As living conditions fell, it took less and less in the way of natural disasters to encourage people to leave for other areas.
(31 May 03)
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.