Unit 3:  Rural Germany - genesis, change, regional types of settlements

(Edgar Conrad and Lennart Hofsäß)

As the literature does not provide one final and overall applicable definition of the term, it is not easy to wholly define an area with rural character. According to the Federal Planning Law (Bundesraumordnungsgesetz), this geographical term characterizes all those areas which cannot be described as urban centres and where farming [1] characterizes the physiognomy of both the landscape and its settlements.

This unit cannot deal with all possible questions asked in connection with rural areas. Thus, it focuses on some of the essential features of rural settlements in Central Europe and outlines their development within its historic context and their specific typology. The first settlements date back to the Neolithic Age. Thereafter, it is safe to speak of continuously inhabited settlements especially in the favoured locations of Central Europe. However, for various reasons, the mountainous regions always saw strong fluctuation in this respect.

Only with the help of the working methods of archaeologists can the early phase of this development be reconstructed. Considerable numbers of findings and relicts date back to the first pre-Christian millennium. The agricultural land of the first Germanic settlers has rightly been described by Born (1957) as block- or chamber-shaped (Celtic fields). Our knowledge today of their real places of settlement is still scarce. In the area of the Roman Decumatland, characterized by a closely-knit network of villas and estates of different sizes within an area shaped in the Centuriate system - regular cultivated agricultural land - indications are more concrete. However, many traces of these early historical settlements were lost in the course of the migration of the peoples and the destruction which went with it.

The year 496 marks a new beginning when the Franconian Age begins with the establishment of the Merowingian Empire. In the course of the Franconian acquisition of land the favoured locations in Central Europe in particular saw the foundation of a wealth of isolated farms which in the course of time developed into groups of farms - hamlets - or villages, most frequent was the clustered village type of settlement.

Settlements from this particular period can easily be identified by the respective endings of their names. These names either referred to the place of settlement (-house, -village, etc.) or to the topography ( -valley, -mountain). In the Franconian Age new settlements were preferably founded on land which had already been cultivated by man. In these areas - so-called “old settlement-areas“ - settlements were considerably more condensed than elsewhere. In the lower locations of the Central Uplands the first clearings were carried out.

Clearings became most frequent during the Middle Ages (10th - 12th century) when population figures rose quickly and both the gentry and the monastery-based clergy made every effort to acquire and cultivate new land in order to enlarge their economic basis. Especially in the Central Uplands the acquisition of new and followed a clearing plan. This so-called planned colonization led to regular forms of settlements and a regular layout of the new land with Hufensiedlungen (villages arranged in a straight line with strips of farmland extending behind each house) being the most characteristic and fairly wide-spread form of settlement in the mountainous regions of Central Europe.

In the Eastern part of Central Europe, the development was somewhat different. The sparsely populated areas east of the Elbe and Saale rivers and east of the Bohemian Forest, where mostly Slav people had settled since the days of the migration of the peoples, were now systematically colonized in the course of the so-called Ostbewegung [2] (colonization of the East). The respective lords of the manor - the clergy or the gentry - recruited settlers from the West. This task was carried out by the so-called Lokatoren. In East Prussia, the Teutonic Order of Knights [3] played an important part in this process of development (foundation of the Teutonic Order state). The new settlements were either founded on wholly undeveloped land or in the vicinity of already existing Slav settlements. Regular forms of settlement were once again characteristic in this area with the majority being linear street villages and villages built around a village green (Angerdörfer). In general, the land acquired for new settlements in the Middle Ages is called Jungsiedelland.

By the end of the Middle Ages, the cultivated land covered more space due to these factors than ever before or ever after. The mid-14th century already sees a dramatic fall in the number of settlements due to epidemics [4], wars, etc. which results in a decrease of Germany's population by around 40% in the late Middle Ages. About one third of all settlements are deserted. This period of desertion which was not overcome until the early 16th century has to be described as the most important break in the settlement history of Central Europe.

One final acquisition period is linked to absolutism. The early Modern Age once again sees clearings, however, not comparable in size and scale to those of the Middle Ages. Most importantly, during the 16th century the spatial distribution of rural settlements changed again, a development which is partly linked to noticeable social changes. In particular in the North and East of Germany the foundation of estates becomes wide-spread. This process lasts through the 17th and the 18th century when the absolutistic sovereigns forced the aquisition of new land, the so-called guided absolutistic colonization. Most typical of the period is the aquisition of the North German fens and marshland which also saw regular forms of both settlements and cultivated land.

The picture of Central European settlements is highly complex due to the historic context and the various stages of development. Additional modifying factors are the cultural background, the provided building material, ethnic influences and functional criteria. Correspondingly, a wide range of aspects for the systematic registration of settlements in rural areas exists. In general, size, the form of ground plans and the density of development are the most important criteria.

With regard to size, a clear differentiation has to be made between solitary settlements on the one hand, and group settlements on the other. Solitary settlements only consist of a single farm which may, however, have several buildings. If several farms are arranged loosely together, they form a hamlet. A village usually has additional functional buildings, such as a church, a school, a city hall, etc. Solitary settlements are often found in the Allgäu region and in most parts of Northern Germany. Clustered group villages are most frequent in the state of Hessen and what is today the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The ground plan of a settlement is formed by the positions of every single building and their situation towards streets, streams and squares. Linear settlements were often founded on the banks of a river or along the course of a valley. The individual farms are strung together in this particular form of settlement. In most cases paths led directly from the farmsteads to the fields, e.g., if it was a village arranged in a straight line with strips of farmland extending behind each house (Hufensiedlung), namely the Waldhufendorf (forest village) or the Marschhufendorf (marshland village). These forms of settlement derive from the clearing- and colonization-period of the Middle Ages. A street is the central element of a linear village. Alongside it the farms are strung together. This particular form of settlement was mostly founded during the colonization of the East. At the same time many villages of the Platzsiedlungs-type were also founded. Here the individual buildings are situated around a central square, e.g. in the case of the so-called Rundling (photo [5]; ground plans). Platzsiedlungen [6] of a bigger size are called Angerdorf [7] (village built around a village green, the name comes from the word “Anger“ which means the central square where the church and the school were often erected.) As a rule, it has to be pointed out that Platzsiedlungen do not have parcels of land adjoining to the farmsteads, but that they have a dispersed field pattern (so-called Gewannflur mit Gemengelage).

Remarkable regional differences can be identified with regard to the density of building, a term which simply specifies the distance between individual buildings. In the South-West of Germany where for centuries the principles of the so-called Realteilungsrecht – a law of inheritance – which meant subdividing a farm according to the numer of heirs, were implemented, the village buildings stand particularly close together. Within the village's structure, division and supplementing of buildings were very common. In regions with the so-called Anerbenrecht - law of inheritance - which meant that an entire farm was handed over to just one heir, the density of building was considerably lower. The Streusiedelgebiete in the North of Germany have by far the lowest density rate with regard to buildings.

The most common German form of settlement is the Haufendorf or clustered village which usually has an irregular ground plan form. This irregularity is the result of a long-lasting growth process. Therefore, clustered villages are rightly labelled as “grown settlements“. Those settlements with a regular ground plan form were in general the result of a planned decision of a so-called Kolonisationsträger, a term which aims at the clergy, the gentry or the sovereigns who ordered the aquisition of new land. These settlements are therefore also called “planned settlements“ and were often built over only a short period of time within a specific colonization phase.

Generally speaking, the ground plan forms of rural settlements provide only little information about the social structure of the rural communities, however, there is always room for interpretation. The conclusion can be drawn that the uniform bog or marsh villages arranged in a straight line with strips of farmland  extending behind each house (Hufensiedlung)  had a socially balanced population structure. The situation in the so-called grown settlements with its manifold house- and farm-types has to be seen in a different light as the various building-types clearly mirror the social situation of the rural inhabitants. However, there are big regional differences in Central Europe with regard to the social situation of the people and a sweeping statement here seems inappropriate.

As far as the form of houses and farms [8] is concerned, some basic criteria exist to differentiate one from another. These are: the size, the shape of the buildings, the locations, if various functions can take place in just one building or are spread over various buildings, the number of floors, the number of buildings, more specifically, the question whether a farmstead consists of only one building (Einheitshof) or has several. In the case of an Einheitshof, living and working space are united under one roof.

Noticeable in this context are the great regional differences of the structural form. In the South of Germany a solitary farm is often called Ernhaus. A typical example here is the so-called 'Schauinslandhaus' [9] which can be seen in the open-air museum at Gutach. It is most common in the Black Forest area and the foothills of the Alps. Living and working space are situated diagonally [10] to the ridge of the building. The opposite phenomenon occurs in the North of Germany where the various rooms are situated in longitudinal direction [11] to the ridge (Niederdeutsches Hallenhaus [12], Gulfhaus [13], Haubarg [14]). In the case of the Mehrbauhof the buildings are separated by their various functions with stables and working quarters on the one hand and the living space on the other. Mehrbauhöfe in the North [15] and in the South [16] of Germany also have noticeable architectural differences. Additionally, regularly and irregularly shaped farmsteads (Streuhof, Haufenhof) can be distinguished from each other. The most common Central European farm-type is the regular, planned, Franconian or Central European farmstead which is built as Zweiseit-, Dreiseit- [17] and also as Vierseithof [18]. The farm is in most cases fenced off towards the street by a gate.

Summing up, it can be said that the rural settlements are a characteristic element of the human landscape in Germany. Many traditional features were lost in the course of the deep structural changes over the last century which strongly affected all rural areas. Today's rural people have only very little in common with the agrarian population of the past. The settlement's functions are much more diverse today. Today's rural settlements provide housing for a non-agrarian society, trade and industries have moved in and some rural settlements have been turned into health resorts and the like. This transformation process has also sharpened our knowledge of the cultural value of these historic sites. Many communities make every possible effort to prevent their traditional assets from falling apart and preserve them for coming generations by joining a so-called “village-restoration-programme“ [19].

[1] http://www.bml.de/englisch/daten-und-fakten-2000-english/frkap01.htm
[2] http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SUD/hist/Kapitel_02.htm (28.08.2003)
[3] http://www.deutscher-orden.at/d/geschichte.htm (28.08.2003)
[4] http://www.scaryplace.com/plaguemap1.jpg (28.08.2003)
[5] http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/verlag/diss/ott/foto16.htm
[6] http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorf
[7] http://www.uni-marburg.de/herder-institut/bilder/anger2.jpg
[8] http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.h/h728865.htm
[9] http://www.vogtsbauernhof.org/pages/rundgang/schauins.html
[10] http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.data.image.h/h728865c.jpg
[11] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/objekte/bilder/awick_1_gross.jpg
[12] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/objekte/bilder/awick_3_gross.jpg
[13] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/objekte/bilder/awick_1_gross.jpg (28.08.2003)
[14] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/objekte/bilder/awick_3_gross.jpg (28.08.2003)
[15] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/exkurse/gulfhaus.php (28.08.2003)
[16] http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.data.image.h/h728865d.jpg
[17] http://www.museumsdorf.de/dorf/rundgang/fotos/hof_haake.jpg (28.08.2003)
[18] http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.data.image.h/h728865a.jpg
[19] http://www.dorfderzukunft.de/

Bibliography

Acknowledgements:
We want to thank Rainer Moese for translating this text. Everybody who did it once knows the difficulties and the great effort of time.