We might draw several parallels in the conditions in the Kraichgau and in Nassau-Siegen in the early Eighteenth Century.
War had had a very negative impact. The Thirty Years’ War was the major war but the impact on the Kraichgau was more severe where there was a loss of life in villages from one-third to one-half. (Some villages were essentially wiped out.) Following this was a series of minor wars involving foreign powers, as France invaded late in the Seventeenth Century and the Nassau-Siegen people were involved in the Dutch liberation.
Taxes were escalating. In Schwaigern, the von Neippergs built a new castle. In Siegen, Prince Adolf restored the burned out Lower Castle. These endeavors took money, more than the usual taxes were yielding.
There were appeals to higher authorities. Even though they claimed independence, the rulers sometimes sought help. In the Kraichgau, the people themselves were willing to address their complaints to higher courts. The Knights of the Kraichgau were very sensitive to outside help and sought to minimize intervention by others. Prince Hyazinth did not pay enough attention to the possible effects from outside help and the Emperor put the Bishops of Cologne in charge of Nassau-Siegen. Prince Adolf appealed to Prussia and Hesse for support. All of this activity showed the generally weak positions of the rulers.
Human rights were violated. Flender was executed without a trial in Siegen, this in 1707. A witch was burned in Schwaigern, in 1713.
Earlier migrations showed there was an alternative. A large number of people left Nassau-Siegen in 1709. Many of these had names which occur in the First Germanna Colony ancestry. For example, Friedrich Haeger (Häger), son of Henry Hager (Häger), led the sixth party from Rotterdam to London. Other names in this party included Hoffman, Fischbach, Lueck (Lück), Schneider, Orhendorf, Becker, and Heide. While not as many left the Kraichgau in 1709, there was a small stream of people leaving up to 1717.
Religion was NOT a major factor (as many genealogy researchers have claimed). Economics was much more important. It was clearly recorded in the Gemmingen Church that the motivation was economic. In the Kraichgau there was a rebuilding of the infrastructure, after the wars, involving immigration from other areas. The land available to one family became scarcer. In Nassau-Siegen, the economy was in the doldrums and the promise of jobs in America was a better hope.
(30 Jun 06)
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.