John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes
Note 2326
In the Northern Kraichgau, there were six market towns where there was a higher degree of freedom for the inhabitants. The citizens were either craftsmen or farmers who farmed the surrounding fields. Not all of the farmers actually owned land; many of them were laborers who worked for others. Physically, the towns and villages tended to be circular in shape and a wall would surround the village or town for protection. Very often a part of the wall which survives unto today is the watch tower where the entry gate was located.
Schwaigern was one of the market towns. At the center was the residence of the knight (von Neipperg) and the (Lutheran) Church. The town hall was close by and the cellar, where wine was made, was located on the center square also. The residential area was closely packed as the walls defined the area available and growth in the population forced the citizens to live close together. Nearly all of the residents lived in this central area.
The villages themselves were not far apart. From the watchtower one could see the adjacent villages. From Schwaigern, Gemmingen lay about three away, Massenbach about two, and Schluchtern was similar. Even the market towns were not far apart. From Schwaigern to Sinsheim was fourteen miles, from Schwaigern to Eppingen was seven miles. It was possible for the inhabitants of the smaller villages to walk to a market town, do their trading, and return home the same day.
The close proximity of the villages meant that the land available for farming was very limited. The median size of the parish was only slightly more than two thousand acres. This was just a little more than three square miles or an area that was less than two miles by two miles. If homes were located in the villages and the village was centered in the parish, than the farmers had about a mile to walk to the fields. During the Eighteenth Century, the population continued to grow in the rebirth after the wars of the Seventeenth Century. The land available for each resident declined steadily.
By the second decade of the Eighteenth Century, say in the 1710's, arguments were developing between the villages about where the villages' boundaries were. A border dispute between Bonfeld and Kirchhausen began in 1717 and continued for decades. Though there had been formal, legal descriptions of the boundaries, many of these were lost during the wars of the Seventeenth Century. At first, with the reduced population, the exact boundaries were not important, but the growth of the population created many minor crises. Land was in short supply and contributed to the desire to emigrate.
(20 Jun 06)