A number of months ago when we visited the museum in Mettingen not far from Osnabrück, we had the wonderful opportunity to see the restoration of the inside of a Heuerhaus that would have been simular to what many of our ancestors lived in, in North Deutschland. While we were there, we also observed a number of models made up in period dress doing their professions in the house.
When we observed
the manequins, we did not take pictures as we felt they just were to pretty. We
had intended to try to find pictures to use to demonstrate this work they were
doing as we had found an number of our direct ancestors given as the profession
of "Spinnet" in the 1772 Steuer (Tax) records for households in the
villages and farms that made up the Kirchspeil Menslage. We never found any
acceptable ones, and so what, they ladies were pretty then for sure as well, so
we have some taken we hope you will enjoy. In fact "Spinnet" was the
most often listed profession for a lady who was also listed as a vidua (widow).
"Reference given Herausgegeben von Gemeinde und Heitatverein Menslage 1990
ISBN 3-923664-06-0" The actual count is nearly 100 women listed as such,
but this only listed heads of households as we would now call them, so this was
most likely a very often profession for most women when they were not doing the
other duties associated with raising children and keeping house. The spinning of
yarn and making of cloth also represented an excellant way to obtain some cash
money for the household. The yarn and cloth could be sold to Holland Walkers who
actually did walk to Holland and with as much as they could carry on their backs
and sold it along the way and in the towns. It would be a mistake to think they
only went to Holland as they actually may have walked to the East as well as far
as Russia with their wares. Some of these men, we were told became very rich,
and many used their riches to help build schools and hospitals in their home
Gemeinde.
Here is a view
of a restoration of inside a Heuerhaus with the lady sitting in the backgroud
behind the farm wagon. Directly to the rear you call see a fireplace that was
used to cook on, as well as heat of course for the inside of the house. The
fireplace did NOT have chimney as we know them today, but the smoke rather came
out the front under the red border of cloth and up through the loft above where
the hay would have been stored. Under the red curtian is often shown with
sausages hanging, so of course they would cure there as well as keep from
spoilage. We asked why they would have no chimney, and were told that in
addition to the curing of meat, I guess like a smoke house like our grandparents
had here in America, it was also beneficial, as it keep out the bugs as well as
the rodents. This was very important as you may recall, as rodents were carriers
of some very awful deseases in that caused widespread deaths thoughout Europe
from time to time. The wagon inside may have been used for both wood for the
fire as well as the flax used for the spinning. While it was not shown, I think
it would have also been possible that in some areas "PEAT" would have
been burned, and maybe later even coal in these open fireplaces. The front room
with the fireplace was the living and working area, and the area directly behind
was used for sleeping.
This is what
the actual sleeping area may have looked like inside the Heuerhaus. It was for
sure that no one child had a bed to themselves, and it may have been normal they
all shared the same bed. While not shown in this picture, the area behind the
sleeping area was used to keep the cow and maybe a pig or two and a few chickens
maybe as well maybe. While it is hard to see in this picture, the bed to the
right is quite a lot shorter, and would have been used for the babies or
youngest children. They did of course also have tiny bassinets for the new
babies which seemed to come most often every other year, or as some folks say,
as soon after the last one was weaned. In some areas they seemed to have more
children than in others, and in the area that we have researched by Menslage it
seemed most often to limit the family to no more than 5 or 6 children and often
less, while down nearer Osnabrück we often will find a family with more. Guess
they had birth control mastered better up in the North? We only say this as we
find this to be the case in the area around Bremervörde as well which is north
and east of Bremen.
Another
profession that was practiced was "Schumaker" or maker of wooden
shoes. You may have thought that only the people in the Netherlands (Holland)
used wooden shoes, but this was for sure not the case, as they were common
thoughout all of northern Europe. We have been told that often some straw was
added to the inside to help keep the feet warm. Many people had a special pair
for Church use, that was especially painted with biblical pictures and used only
on special occasions. The picture is a little dark, but hopefully you can make
out a few shoes completed and in progress. We might add, some of our relatives
in northern Germany still have a pair they use on occasion in the garden.
Over the next few months, we will be adding to this story with more pictures that we hope will be of interest. Return to main page