In a message dated 10/15/2002 7:27:29 PM Eastern Standard Time,
banjo@netins.net writes:
Could someone please translate the word "brinksitzer?"
Hello Carol,
I think that this is a good summary of several terms, including "brinksitzer"
(in the last paragraph). I copied and pasted it from the Dinklage
Heimatverein's website. It is a translation of an article from the
Heimatverein's semi-annual magazine, Utkiek. The terms used in this article
for Dinklage were commonly used in the Oldenburger Münsterland area. This is
more than you asked for, but it is also probably the best English summary of
these types of terms that I have seen.
Don
Terminology of Farm Ownership.
In the historical period, most of the people in Dinklage were involved in
employment that was closely related to Agriculture. Approximately 5% of the
land was owned outright by the farmer (Freien) and described as
gutsherrnfrei. Owners of these farms had control over everyday decisions, but
they did have to pay taxes. Monthly tax payments were called Montasschatz.
Most of the rest of the land was called Eigenhörig or Leibhörig, which meant
that it was not gutsherrnfrei and was under the control of a Herrn (Lord).
Farmers living on the latter farms were not free, and they could not decide
which crops could be planted or which trees could be cut without the
permission of the Herrn. They were required to make payments in addition to
taxes. Hofhörig referred to farmers that were free people but not owners of
the land. They owned all things that could be moved on the land, and they
paid rent.
The farmer was called a Bauer, and if he owned a larger, undivided farm, he
was referred to as a Zeller. Owners of smaller, usually divided farm sites,
were called Kötter (koetter). The son of a Zeller or Kötter was not supposed
to marry the daughter of a heuermann. The actual farm site, itself, might be
referred to as Hof (yard or farm), Stelle (position), Stette, or Hoffsette. A
group of farms was sometimes referred to as a Bauernshaft or a Bauershaft.
A Dorf is a term that could be applied to a small group of farms. In later
years, Dorf referred to a larger village. The meaning of the word Ostendorf
is East-Village. The bauershaft Ostendorf was on the East Side of Bünne,
which is now located in the western part of the village Dinklage. Farmland
was called Ackerland, and an area that had been farmed for a long period of
time was called Der Esch, while a small pond was called a kuhlen.
A Heuermann (pay-man or tenant farmer) was a farmer who leased land and was
required to provide a certain amount of labor for the owner. This work was
due at the will of the farmer. Usually, the heuerman’s wife (heuermannsfrau)
and children were also required to provide labor. When not working for the
landowner, the family could tend their plot of land and work in secondary
occupations such as clock-making. A Haüsler was a man who leased land from a
farm owner and paid with cash rather than labor.
Sometimes an older farmer turned the ownership of the farm over to his oldest
son and still lived on the farm in a small house (Leibzucht). If a son was
not available to inherit the farm, a daughter (Erbtochter) could inherit it.
Relatives of the farmer (Angehörges) also might live on the farm.
A bauershaft might have to defend itself against roving bands of robbers or
soldiers. A Wehrfester was the man who organized the defense. He was usually
a farmer who had a large farm. In the center of the village, they constructed
a building with a roof that would not burn (Lehm). During the Thirty Years
War (1618-1648) small groups of 20 to 50 Spanish and Swedish soldiers
plundered the Dinklage area.
Those who lived on farms often had to give the local pastor and sexton (
Küster) regular payments of bread (brot), chickens (hahn), and hog backs (
schweinsrücken). These required gifts to the pastor were referred to as
Pröven. Farmers usually raised cows (Kühe), heifer-young female cows not
capable of giving milk- (rinder), calves (Kalb), bulls ( Bulle), Oxen (Ochse
), sheep (Schafe), horses (Pferd), and hogs (Schweine). They grew rye (Roggen
) and corn (Korn) as well as other grains.
Land was measured in hectares (2.47 acres), Schepfel Sart (approximately 1000
sq. m or 0.1 hectare), Malters Einsaat (about 4000 sq. meters), or Jüks (1.38
acres).
The Schepfel Sart (saat) was actually a measure of the bushels of seed that
could be produced by a piece of land and thus was not a constant quantity.
The productivity of Eschland (cultivated land) was measured in Malter Roggen –
Einsaat (bushels of rye – one crop), low ground was measured in bushels of
hafer (oats)- Einsaat, and garden land was measured in bushel of flax.
Pastures and meadows were measured in the number of cartloads of Heu (hay)
that were produced, and wooded areas were measured in the number of hogs that
could be fattened from acorns.
Historical Settlement Patterns
The first settlers in the Dinklage area settled in small groups for the
purpose of mutual defense and cooperation with farming tasks. These small
groups of farms became known as Bauerschafts. Each inhabitant had some land
of their own and they shared a common Mark, which was meadowland, which was
divided among the farmers for their common use. These Hofes, or farms, were
known as vollereben (full-inheritance). Usually the entire farm was inherited
by the oldest son; however, If no land was available, the children would be
reduced to servants or be forced to emigrate to another area.
A smaller section of land might be referred to in fractional terms, such as a
halberben (half-inheritance).
Sometimes an older farmer and his wife might give up the control of the land
to his eldest son and then reside in a small house on the farm, such people
were called Leibzuchtern. They maintained a one-sixth interest in the profits
of the farm and in the use of the Mark. Upon the death of one of the people,
their interest was reduced to one-twelfth of the total. Occasionally other
relatives lived in these houses if parents did not occupy them.
Over the years, the water table subsided and more land was cleared for the
establishment of small farms. If these farms came from the Mark, the settlers
were called Markkötter; otherwise, they could be called Erbkötter. The Kötter
possessed a smaller section of land which was usually less than half the
normal size farm, and the quality of the land was often not as good as that
held by the original settlers.
Eventually uncultivated land near the edge of the Mark was given to settlers
called Brinksitzers. These farms were even smaller than those held by the
kötter and were the poorest quality of farmland. The bottom end of the
peasantry consisted of the Heuerman, who paid rent, and provided labor, for
the use of a house and a small portion of a farmer’s land. When the Mark was
divided, the heuerman was left with very little land to farm. Most heuerman
families had to engage in secondary occupations. Some of them even traveled
to Holland and Denmark for seasonal work, or worked as sailors.