This is the second of a multi-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. Read part 1 on farming here.

Here is the translation of an excerpt describing the lifestyle of people in the Rhöne, as viewed in 1881.

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How does the Rhöner Live?

The first measure of the character of the people is evident to a stranger in their homes. Proud and substantial houses, with curtains and flowers in the windows, testify to the prosperity and aesthetic sense of the residents.

Only the better Rhön valleys have such substantial houses; the high Rhön, however, has none to show. And yet, even there, poverty does not appear as starkly as in the Spessart, where the dilapidated, shaky houses with their miserable clay walls look so sadly upon us. Although the house of the Rhöner, resting on a plain stone or basalt wall, also has only half-timbered walls, they are usually covered with weatherboards on two sides. Or they are coated with a layer of plaster and whitewash, according to the Rhöner’s taste, in bright colors.

The often intricately interwoven or winding, but always symmetrical beams are painted brown or red, very often even light blue, from which the white fields stand out starkly; in Danzwiese, there is even a little house entirely in light blue attire. Some house gables are adorned with sayings; one in Kleinsassen even has a dialect saying, which, depending on how it is translated, has a double meaning.

It goes:

All men must die, I – alone, will not.

Other sayings, more or less prosaic, poetic, and biblical, are as follows:

  1. Toward your neighbor, always adhere to that rule of love set by God and nature, which should be written in large letters on every house. What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.
  2. Great God, with Your blessing, be present in this house!
  3. To You I call, Lord Jesus Christ, for You are a faithful helper!
  4. The longer it goes, the worse it gets, it never gets better.
  5. This house is mine and yet not mine; another will come in, and it will again not be his.
  6. We are the birds of all things; we sing the song of whose bread we eat.
  7. The fox is a friend of chickens, the fox’s tail is a friend’s friend; whoever can stroke the fox’s tail is well regarded.
  8. To do right by all people is an art that no one can master.
  9. This cross would be half as heavy if there weren’t an evil wife.
  10. I let go of worrying and drink bridal wine!
  11. Here I stand like an ape and gape; the time I stand here, I could go a bit further.
  12. To the painter a roasted hare, to the reader dirt on the nose.
  13. When there are so many envious people, what God wants still happens.
  14. Titles without means are like a house without a roof.
  15. Where a house is kept clean, there lives a clean woman.

The most practical saying is on the former inn in Roth:

Here lives the innkeeper Georg Link.
 A cooper and a brewer quick,
Welcome you are, dear guest,
As long as you have money in your purse.

Two-story houses are very common in the main valleys. An annex of every larger farmhouse is the “Uiszugshüsje,” almost directly attached and fully furnished; it is intended for the elderly who “take the Uiszug” and then continue their independent household in close proximity but separated.

The layout of the house is almost always the same. The living room with a chamber is on the gable side facing the street, and the stable is on the other side. The Rhöner lives under the same roof with his livestock. With a few steps, he can go from the living room to the stable, as both doors open into the house, allowing him to move quickly from one task to another, from feeding the livestock to the loom and back. The warmth from the livestock stable benefits the entire house, especially the children’s bedroom above the stable.

In the living room itself, there is a paved path from the door to the stove, where those entering place their wooden shoes, as everyone walks “stömpig” (in socks) on the floorboards. One corner of the room is occupied by the massive dining table, another by the large bed or the loom, and the third by the mighty iron stove. Above the stove, various rods are attached, the so-called Ofendäuse, used for drying fruit, drying yarn, or for the wood shavings, which are now only used for starting fires and lighting pipes, whereas they were once commonly used as a lighting apparatus. They were then fixed to a tall wooden frame (Lüchter, Leuchter) so that the falling embers would land in a metal tray attached below. Burning shavings later came to be seen as a sign of excessive frugality when tallow candles and the now common petroleum became available, which is why even now a miser is still called a “Spähnbrenner” (shavings burner).

Quite peculiar living conditions exist in the high-lying Weimar villages of Birz and Frenkenheim, especially in the latter. Houses with tiled roofs and chimneys are a rarity; for decades, straw and moss in various shades have formed a thick, warm blanket over the single-story cottages, whose inhabitants are crowded into one or two small, blackened chambers. At doors, windows, and stairs, the principle of the Rococo style prevails, with straight lines being eschewed. And how poetic! The smoke does not rise uniformly straight from the chimney, as elsewhere in the world, but rather it winds broadly and comfortably out of all the crevices under the moss roof or strolls unbothered through the kitchen and front door. One almost regrets that the uniform picturesque image is disturbed by a few new cottages with tiled roofs.

Many Rhöner people have two major faults in their homes. They ventilate too little, so that the dust and dirt from spinning and weaving soon build up and turn the atmosphere quite unbearable. They also love warmth too much, so that even in the middle of summer, during cold and damp weather, they immediately light a fire, and thus, in no single month is the stove left unused. “On the day before St. John’s Day,” they say, “we stop firing up, and on the day after, we start again.” The only ventilation in many houses consists of an air hole that goes to the upper room, which then receives part of the excess heat. Another opening is in the outer wall, through which the blackbird or the black thrush have their passage from winter to summer quarters, as there is a birdcage inside and outside. Additionally, young goslings or piglets, often both at the same time, are co-inhabitants of the living room, as they require special care. This creates a lively, colorful life, as the children particularly enjoy spending time with these two- and four-legged playmates. However, it also creates an air that only the Rhöner, with his strong nerves, can endure. This lack of fresh air likely contributes significantly to the often pale complexion of the Rhöner people, although this is more due to their diet.

Questions?

In the next part, we’ll cover the food and drink of the Rhöner. If you have questions about ancestors from this region of Germany, or would like help uncovering your family’s history, please contact me!