Spessart Roots - A History of the People of a German Forest
The earliest modern villages in the Spessart woods were established around the 12th century. They were established for workers to assist the nobility: assist in major hunts and to provide labor for the mining and glassmaking industries. Living and working conditions were often brutal.
Deer in Forest
This is an excerpt from the chapter on the forest and its first settlements in Spessart Roots.
The earliest villages were for housing workers to assist the hunters.
...Fences built around the farmlands were usually enough to keep wild boar out, but not deer. After a day’s work, the farmer and his family often had to build giant bonfires, beating drums and shooting firearms to chase the animals out. The overlords forbade villagers from harming the wild game in any way. During growing seasons, farmers were busy day and night trying to save enough food to feed their families. Some village dwellers turned to poaching. But as we shall see, penalties if caught could be severe.
One poacher becomes a folk hero.
In the face of severe penalties, Johann Adam Hasenstab, born in 1716, dared to become a full-time poacher. He became a folk-hero whose legend residents of the Spessart celebrate to this day. To evade capture while carrying game from the forest, Hasenstab partnered with a farmer who would later fetch the carcasses where Hasenstab had concealed them and load them in his wagon, hiding them under produce. Hasenstab repaid the farmer by sharing the meat.
He sold the game he caught to innkeepers, farmers, and even to parish priests. Like other residents, a village priest did not have a local or legal source for buying meat.
The officials were extremely anxious to catch Hasenstab and subsequently, he often found himself in lethal danger.
...Fences built around the farmlands were usually enough to keep wild boar out, but not deer. After a day’s work, the farmer and his family often had to build giant bonfires, beating drums and shooting firearms to chase the animals out. The overlords forbade villagers from harming the wild game in any way. During growing seasons, farmers were busy day and night trying to save enough food to feed their families. Some village dwellers turned to poaching. But as we shall see, penalties if caught could be severe.
One poacher becomes a folk hero.
In the face of severe penalties, Johann Adam Hasenstab, born in 1716, dared to become a full-time poacher. He became a folk-hero whose legend residents of the Spessart celebrate to this day. To evade capture while carrying game from the forest, Hasenstab partnered with a farmer who would later fetch the carcasses where Hasenstab had concealed them and load them in his wagon, hiding them under produce. Hasenstab repaid the farmer by sharing the meat.
He sold the game he caught to innkeepers, farmers, and even to parish priests. Like other residents, a village priest did not have a local or legal source for buying meat.
The officials were extremely anxious to catch Hasenstab and subsequently, he often found himself in lethal danger.