This is the first of a mult-part series on ancestors in the Rhöne based on a translation of Rhönspiegel: Three Lectures on the Life, Customs, and Language of the Rhön People written by Leopold Höhl in 1881.

When I found that some of my ancestors lived in a village near Fulda, I decided to do some research on that area. I translated excerpts from a German book on the culture of the area written in 1881, and I’m going to share them with you.

The Rhöne is a low mountain range in central Germany that spans the states of Hesse, Bavaria, and Thuringia. It is also sometimes referred to as “Buchonia,” after the beech trees present here, whose wood was an important commodity in the Middle Ages.

In this article, we’ll read a description of farming in the Rhöne. The book was written in 1881, but describes early years as well. If you have ancestors who lived in this part of Germany and farmed, you might be able to get from this excerpt a description of their lives.

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We must not think here of the prosperous farmer from our Franconian regions, who drives to the city on market day and returns home with a full purse; nor of the farmer who stands, hands in pockets, broadly in the doorway of his house, looking with satisfaction at the two or three barn doors and the long, extended stables. Our Rhön farmer is a completely different kind of person. Let us observe him in his activities!

What a stately team—seen from afar—climbs up the hill there? It seems to be a four- or even five-horse team. Upon closer inspection, it is a wagon loaded with manure, being pulled up the hill by four or five lean cows and oxen, unless a small horse is hitched in front of or even alongside the cows. Next to this vehicle strides the little farmer, his feet in wooden shoes, his limbs wrapped in coarse linen breeches and smock; but despite this, he puffs on his little pipe, cracks his whip cheerfully, and whistles one of the little songs he has practiced at home for his family’s delight. And yet, perhaps only half of his team actually belongs to him; that is, it still appears in the debt book of a cattle dealer, and he has borrowed the other half from a neighbor, whom he in turn assists with equal friendliness when the time comes.

The main obstacles that the Rhön farmer has to contend with, which stand in the way of a productive agriculture, are the limited extent of arable and fertile land and its location and condition. When walking through the Rhön valleys, one immediately notices that more than half of the cultivated land must be devoted to meadow farming. In the valley bottom are the meadows, on the heights is often the poor pastureland (exceptions are Dammersfeld, the small Auersberg, and the black mountains), the “commons,” and on the slopes is the arable land, often stony and gravelly. Hence the difficulty of cultivation and the generally moderate, on the high Rhön poor, yield. Only a few can speak of selling their grain. Most are satisfied if they grow enough bread for the current year, while the poor people, especially the goat farmers, have to run to the baker for half or the whole year. Only barley (Rhön barley) is a good selling item, as almost every village in the rear Rhön has a brewery, and Rhön oats are also famous for their weight and quality (Brüchs, Ginolfs, Reußendorf). This does not apply, of course, to the valleys of the Streu, the Brend, and the lower Elz, which can compete with the best Franconian regions in grain cultivation and deliver a good portion to the markets of Mellrichstadt and Neustadt.

A “Schafhirte,” or shepherd.

More profitable is cattle breeding, on which the Rhön farmer relies due to the extensive meadow and grazing areas. The cattle population is very significant. Having 6-8 head of cattle in the stable is not considered particularly wealthy, while a herd of 12-20 head in the Rhön valleys is not uncommon. Those who must be content with 2-4 head are no longer considered farmers but rather smallholders; the poorest are happy if their goat thrives well and provides them with a couple of juicy roasts and a few hides for sale (at 1.5 marks each) every year. That they are just as proud of their livestock is proven by the humorous remark of a goat herder who called to his sister: “Margaret, open the stable, the cattle are coming; hep, hep, hep!”

As evidence of the extent to which cattle breeding was previously practiced and utilized, one can consider the Swiss cattle breeding that was once carried out on the Dammersfeld, which belonged to the princely Fulda court.

Efforts are increasingly being made to improve the cattle breed, which was generally small and weak in the past, so that in some places in the Streu, Ulster, and Fulda valleys, one can find a true selection of fine cattle. Even genuine Swiss breeds have been introduced by larger farmers.

Associated with cattle breeding is the institution of the herding boys (herders), who are a burden for the teacher and school inspector. The farmer takes a poor boy into the house, who has to drive the small herd out day after day and then leads the freest, most unrestrained life, sometimes also a very miserable one, when he has to seek shelter from the rough autumn storms under the wide-branched Rhön beech tree in his hood constructed from a sack.

In a Rhön village (Dietges), during Bavarian times, there was a practice of holding school from 11 AM to 2 PM in the summer, so that the herding children could fulfill their duties in the morning and afternoon. There were angry faces when the Prussian system of the eighth school year and five-hour lessons was introduced even in the summer—a system that brings many drawbacks in terms of health and morality, as 14-year-old boys with their ungainly limbs and soon-to-be-marriageable girls had to fidget around in school benches. Incidentally, many a clever boy has trained himself as a woodcarver while herding cattle, practicing the rudimentary beginnings of the art that he later learned professionally.

Sheep breeding is also quite significant; thousands of sheep go directly from the Hinter- and Weimar Rhön to Paris every year. The so-called “Rhön rams” are renowned for their size, beauty, and fatness, but especially for their exceptionally tasty meat, and are therefore fattened by some farmers. This can be attributed to the quality of the fodder, which contains a multitude of robust mountain herbs and plants. For the same reason, the beef fattened here is found to be more flavorful, and Rhön butter enjoys special praise.

Pig breeding is also conducted on a large scale in some parts of the Rhön (Streu and Ulster valleys) and yields significant sums; Nordheim is particularly noteworthy, as a single trader is said to have brought in hundreds of thousands of guilders over 50 years.
Beekeeping is widespread throughout the Rhön, especially towards Mellrichstadt.

A swineherd driving the pigs.

Fruit growing is very strong in Streugrün (Nordheim, Stockheim, and Hausen); exports of 100,000 hundredweight in some years. Similarly, in Geisa, formal orchards can be found. Hundreds of apple varieties from the Rhön have gained recognition at agricultural exhibitions, while the Ostheim cherry is considered a specialty. The Elzgrund is known as the “nut country.”
A major cause of the decline in agriculture, this source of sustenance and livelihood, is credit, mortgages, and usury, which could also be mentioned here.

An old farmer told me 60 years ago, as he sadly shuffled along beside me, that on the farm once owned by his father, he now had to toil as a poor laborer. And how did this happen? One sister, who had already received 200 guilders in cash as a dowry, sold her remaining inheritance for 800 guilders to a Jew, and that was the beginning of the end; in a few years, the farm was in the hands of the relentless creditor.

The oddity that occurred about 20 years ago in the Rhön, which was already rare at that time, namely that someone owned, is unlikely to occur anymore.
Also, fish farming must be mentioned here, although it is not operated as rationally as possible and only provides a livelihood for a few families.

Almost all rivers and streams in the Rhön are rich in fish, especially the popular trout. Ulster and Elz, Sinn and Fulda are the main sources for this, unless the otter, which is very common, makes an entry. For example, within 10 years, 150 otters were hunted in the upper and beautiful Fulda, earning the fortunate hunters a bounty of 9 marks each and yielding 15 marks from their pelts. Kissingen obtains its supply of trout entirely from the Rhön. For 40 years, a dealer from Schmalnau has been supplying 50-60 pounds weekly there, at 3 marks per pound. Another dealer in Döllbach, who exploits the beautiful Fulda extensively and even established an artificial fish farm (with around 60,000 trout), also attends the major fishing exhibitions in Berlin and is supported by the government, delivering 50-60 pounds weekly to Frankfurt and Hanau.

Recently, fish farming has been significantly advanced on the Prussian side by the fish farming facility at Halingsmühle near Niederbieber, and on the Bavarian side by the Lower Franconian Fish Farming Association, which has established several stations on the Kreuzberg and in the Sinngrund.

Questions?

I hope this article has helped you learn something about your ancestors. The entire book, in German, can be found here. If you have questions or would like help learning about your family history, contact me!