The Kraichgau is a region between the Rhine and Neckar River valleys, south of Heidelberg, due west of Heilbronn, and northeast of Karlsruhe. The land is rolling, of varied soils, providing an uneven but rich topography. Politically, there is no defined Kraichgau region as it consisted of a scattered collection of tiny, semi-independent territories strewn haphazardly across the landscape. Perhaps the reason that they were semi-independent is that they lie where several larger German States came together, Baden on the south along the east bank of the Rhine, Wuerttemberg on the south spread across the Neckar, Hesse on the north, and the Palatinate on the west. The smaller, local rulers took advantage of the confusion to set up their own confederation of "Knights". In 1599, there were 75 knights in the Confederation. Toward Heidelberg, where Pastor Henkel worked, the Palatine Elector exerted his influence and obtained the loyalty of the Knights in the northwestern region of the Kraichgau. Even here, though, jurisdictions were confused, as the Lutheran churches were subject to the control of the Lutheran body in Hesse, even as groups in the Palatinate tried, successfully in the end, to exert control over the Lutheran churches in the northern Kraichgau.
The ethnic, religious, and political mosaic in the Kraichgau in 1700 was varied. There were people from Switzerland, from France, from Austria, and from Bavaria who had moved in the last half of the Seventeenth Century. All three major, recognized religions were represented, i.e., the Lutherans, the Reformed, and the Catholic. In addition there were Huguenots, Mennonites, and Jewish adherents. (Perhaps all of this diversity prepared those who emigrated to Pennsylvania with a good training in living with others who believed differently.)
In the Kraichgau, no strong state was emerging, such as in Catholic Austria or Lutheran Brandenburg-Prussia. There was not a regional power which controlled the area as in the Lutheran state of Wuerttemberg or Catholic Bavaria. Even the weaker states of Baden and the Palatine Electorate exerted no strong influence throughout the Kraichgau. Instead, tiny loosely united principalities, such as the von Neipperg, von Gemmingen, and von Bettendorf territories were the norm. The von Neipperg family had its seat in Schwaigern.
The Knights and lesser nobles suffered during the Thirty Years' War along with the inhabitants of their territories. After the war, they faced a rebuilding job, as did all of the people in general. They needed to re-exert their authority, which had been diminished sharply. They needed money. The inhabitants were trying to reclaim what they considered their rights. They, too, needed their income. The result was a series of clashes between the rulers and the villagers. The villagers sought help from the rulers of the larger states such as Wuerttemberg, whom the local rulers did not want involved, since they, the local rulers, might lose what power they did have.
(09 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.