I have talked about southwest Germany, and, in particular, about Baden-Durlach. I wish now to concentrate on the region where Baden-Durlach, the Palatinate, and Wuerttemberg come together (and not too far from Hesse, which was mentioned not long ago). The area is noted for having many small, relatively weak rulers who were semi-independent of the domination by any of the three larger surrounding regions. If one were to draw a line from Heilbronn to Heidelberg, it would cut through this region which is called the Kraichgau.
Many of the Germanna colonists came from this area, which includes the villages of Schwaigern, Gemmingen, Bonfeld, Sinsheim, and perhaps some of the area served by Pastor Henkel. Physically, the Kraichgau is partially defined by the sweep of the Neckar River as it changes its course from its northerly flow into a westerly flow and empties into the Rhine River just after it has passed Heidelberg.
Most of the people who emigrated from within this region left in small groups from the villages. Often, there were only a few families, who were sometimes related to one another. These endeavors were strictly private affairs. After 1717, the emigrants could often say that they knew someone who had left previously. Hans Herr and his party left from this region in 1709 and they wrote letters home and sent emissaries to Germany to persuade more people to come. Those that left in 1719 for Virginia appear to have been aware of what had happened to those who left in 1717.
The political heads of these smaller regions might best be considered as Knights, having the control of their own small region. The Kraichgau refers to a scattered set of tiny, semi-independent territories scattered haphazardly across the landscape in this region. The heads of these entities united in a Confederation of Knights, known as Kraichgauer Rittersschaftskanton. In 1600, membership in the Confederation consisted of seventy-five Knights, some rich and some poor, who owned seventy-two separate territories. The average size of one territory was fourteen square miles. This is an area less than four miles by four miles. If the seat of the Knight were in the center, the farthest reach of his domain would be about two miles from his seat. There were fifty-three parishes in this region. Most of the parishes consisted of subsistence-farming communities, but a few of the villages were designated as market towns, such as Schwaigern.
There was no accurate census for the fifty-three parishes until 1809. Then, there were 41,700 inhabitants after a century of growth. This was about 30 people per square mile. Since one square mile contains 640 acres, there was about 20 acres per person.
The descendants of the Second Germanna Colony wrote about their life in Germany in a petition, and they used the phrase, "Petty Princes". We can see the reason why the phrase was appropriate.
(07 Jun 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.