In the last note, I mentioned Haubergs. This requires some explanation. Haubergs originated centuries ago, apparently as a political solution to a thorny problem of resource allocation.
There was a demand for oak bark to use in the tanneries. There was a demand for wood to make charcoal. There was a demand to have wood for heating and cooking in homes. There was a need to grow grain. To meet these competing demands, the leaders (princes?) in the communities set up societies to which the property owners had to belong. Apparently the Hauberg rights could not be separated from the home. If you bought a home, you became a member of the Hauberg society.
One Hauberg society seemed to own the land in common among many homes. The tract was divided into about twenty parcels. In any one year, the oak trees on one parcel would be cut down. Before cutting the tree, the bark would be pealed up the tree for about twelve feet and left hanging to dry. After the bark was dry, it was cut off the tree and taken to the tannery.
Then the tree would be cut down. The stem of the tree would be about six inches in diameter. This was used for making charcoal. The small parts of the tree would be carefully saved and bundled up. These were distributed among the owners of the Hauberg for cooking and heating.
The stump was not removed from the ground. It was left in place and would send up sprouts which would become the future oak trees. While the oak was small, the land could also be used for another purpose, namely growing grain. Plowing the earth would be difficult because of the oak roots. The surface was scratched by having cattle pull a shovel-like "plow" across the earth. Seed would be distributed and brushing the earth would cover up the grain. The grain would be harvested with a scythe or sickle. This could be done several years until the oaks shaded the ground too much and sapped the water resources in the ground. Some grazing might be done then.
In the next year, this pattern would be repeated on another one of the twenty plots. So every year there was a yield of wood and bark and grain. The whole process was not very efficient but was a political solution to competing demands.
In Nassau-Siegen, there is a demonstration Hauberg being developed at Fellinghausen, not far from Oberholtzklau. One can visit there and see the process in all of its stages. Or, if you can’t go, you can see the pictures that I have made available on the Photographic Essay that Eleanor and I have done on a CD. (Go
here
for information on how to order the CD, which contains ALL of our German and Austrian photos.) (You can also see some of the "Hauberg" photos on
The Fellinghausen Hauberg Photos
page on this website.)
(12 Jul 05)
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.