OBERKALBACH, HESSEN, GERMANY
Village of My Berthold and Ullrich Ancestors Includes Information for Surrounding Villages Thirty Years War 1618-1648 According to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, the religion of the prince determined the religion of his subjects. At the end of the 16th century, most of the German princes and their subjects had converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, which created problems between them and the Holy Roman Emperor, leading to a religious war. That is, it began as a religious war but developed into a political war as well. Almost all the countries of Europe became involved. |
On the side of the emperor: the Spanish, Italians, Irish, Croats, Scots, etc. On the protestant side: Swedish, Danish, French, etc. This war was fought mainly on German soil. The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 reaffirmed the Treaty of Augsburg, allowing each state within the Holy Roman Empire to decide its own religion. The only important innovation of the treaty was the recognition of Calvinism (Reformed Church).
The 30-Years-War was second only to World War II in its catastrophic destruction of Germany. Fields were devastated, whole villages and farmsteads systematically burned, churches and schools destroyed, animals slaughtered, women kidnapped and raped, men murdered. Epidemics and hunger killed tens of thousands. The 80,000 population of Augsburg was reduced to 18,000; that of Wuerttemberg from 400,000 to 48,000. Berlin only had 300 residents left at the end of the war. It is estimated that the 18 million population of Germany was reduced by two thirds to 6 million. The economic, political and intellectual consequences of this war set Germany back 200 years.
Not only were the villages required to support the armies financially, but they were also required to quarter them in their homes in the villages of county Schluechtern. The villagers were required to supply thousands of them with food, horses and also feed for their animals. The soldiers sometimes were barbaric in their behavior. In one instance alone, it was reported that in a three-day period soldiers defiled the village church. They smashed chairs and benches, destroyed books, broke windows, the clock and the baptismal font and ruined altar cloths. They also damaged the church roof and disturbed the graveyard. In the summer of 1628, the residents and farmers in the villages surrounding Schluechtern staged a revolt against the hardships caused by the quartering of soldiers. They were influential in the removal of companies of soldiers to other areas. However, new companies soon replaced them.
One innkeeper reported in 1631 that his facility was looted at least 20 times in 3 years by the soldiers of various armies coming through the area. A villager in 1633 reported that soldiers plundered his house for eight days, smashing and tearing up everything. In the parish records of Elm, a baptism is recorded of an infant born of a woman raped by a soldier as she was traveling between two villages on an errand for her employer. Because of the hardships of war, few children were conceived and few grew to adulthood. In 1634, lack of food forced people to eat mice, cats, animal cadavers and animal dung, even their own children. Food prices were inflated and unaffordable. People hid in forests and some villages were so deserted that grass grew in the streets and wolves and rabbits were living there. The plague killed so many that they could not be numbered. Children were kidnapped and many died of starvation.
In Oberkalbach, there were 70 households as the 30-Year War began in 1618 and when it ended in 1648, there were only 34 households. The village, the vicerage and the church records were burned.
A poem composed by an author long forgotten, titled “Spinnen bei Oberkalbach” (Spiders in Oberkalbach), is set in the time of this great war.
Die Spinnen bei Oberkalbach
Im grossen Krieg, wo alles auf der Flucht,
In the great war, when everyone was fleeing
Und jeder nach Verstecken sucht
And looking for a place to hide
Vor Mord, Gewalt und Raub und Brand,
From death, violence and robbery and fire,
Da war’n die dichten Dornhecken
There were dense thorn hedges
Am Schwarzenberg gut zum Verstecken.
On Black Hill which were good for hiding.
Ein Knabe wird verfolgt von Schweden,
A lad was being followed by the Swedes,
Aus Mordgier wollen sie sein Leben.
Who, bloodthirsty, wanted to take his life.
Der Bub geht ihnen grad noch aus
The boy walked straight on
In einer Heck’ am Jaegerhaus.
Into a hedge by a hunter’s house.
Schnell kommen nun die Spinnen her
Quickly the spiders came
Und ueberziehen kreuz und quer
And criss-cross covered
Das Dorngestruepp mit ihren Faeden,
The thorny undergrowth with their threads,
Nichts finden konnten mehr die Schweden.
The Swedes were unable to find him.
Die kleinen Tiere werden heut’ noch hier verehrt,
The little creatures are today still revered here,
Und niemand sie am Leben wehrt.
And no one takes their lives.
Besonders ehren unsre Alten
Especially our old people respect
Die Spinnen, die so nuetzlich walten.
The spiders who made themselves so useful.
HOME
Copyright 2000-2022 by Sue (Ursula Kaiser) Foster. Please contact me for permission to copy.
I would like to know why this information interests you :-)
The 30-Years-War was second only to World War II in its catastrophic destruction of Germany. Fields were devastated, whole villages and farmsteads systematically burned, churches and schools destroyed, animals slaughtered, women kidnapped and raped, men murdered. Epidemics and hunger killed tens of thousands. The 80,000 population of Augsburg was reduced to 18,000; that of Wuerttemberg from 400,000 to 48,000. Berlin only had 300 residents left at the end of the war. It is estimated that the 18 million population of Germany was reduced by two thirds to 6 million. The economic, political and intellectual consequences of this war set Germany back 200 years.
Not only were the villages required to support the armies financially, but they were also required to quarter them in their homes in the villages of county Schluechtern. The villagers were required to supply thousands of them with food, horses and also feed for their animals. The soldiers sometimes were barbaric in their behavior. In one instance alone, it was reported that in a three-day period soldiers defiled the village church. They smashed chairs and benches, destroyed books, broke windows, the clock and the baptismal font and ruined altar cloths. They also damaged the church roof and disturbed the graveyard. In the summer of 1628, the residents and farmers in the villages surrounding Schluechtern staged a revolt against the hardships caused by the quartering of soldiers. They were influential in the removal of companies of soldiers to other areas. However, new companies soon replaced them.
One innkeeper reported in 1631 that his facility was looted at least 20 times in 3 years by the soldiers of various armies coming through the area. A villager in 1633 reported that soldiers plundered his house for eight days, smashing and tearing up everything. In the parish records of Elm, a baptism is recorded of an infant born of a woman raped by a soldier as she was traveling between two villages on an errand for her employer. Because of the hardships of war, few children were conceived and few grew to adulthood. In 1634, lack of food forced people to eat mice, cats, animal cadavers and animal dung, even their own children. Food prices were inflated and unaffordable. People hid in forests and some villages were so deserted that grass grew in the streets and wolves and rabbits were living there. The plague killed so many that they could not be numbered. Children were kidnapped and many died of starvation.
In Oberkalbach, there were 70 households as the 30-Year War began in 1618 and when it ended in 1648, there were only 34 households. The village, the vicerage and the church records were burned.
A poem composed by an author long forgotten, titled “Spinnen bei Oberkalbach” (Spiders in Oberkalbach), is set in the time of this great war.
Die Spinnen bei Oberkalbach
Im grossen Krieg, wo alles auf der Flucht,
In the great war, when everyone was fleeing
Und jeder nach Verstecken sucht
And looking for a place to hide
Vor Mord, Gewalt und Raub und Brand,
From death, violence and robbery and fire,
Da war’n die dichten Dornhecken
There were dense thorn hedges
Am Schwarzenberg gut zum Verstecken.
On Black Hill which were good for hiding.
Ein Knabe wird verfolgt von Schweden,
A lad was being followed by the Swedes,
Aus Mordgier wollen sie sein Leben.
Who, bloodthirsty, wanted to take his life.
Der Bub geht ihnen grad noch aus
The boy walked straight on
In einer Heck’ am Jaegerhaus.
Into a hedge by a hunter’s house.
Schnell kommen nun die Spinnen her
Quickly the spiders came
Und ueberziehen kreuz und quer
And criss-cross covered
Das Dorngestruepp mit ihren Faeden,
The thorny undergrowth with their threads,
Nichts finden konnten mehr die Schweden.
The Swedes were unable to find him.
Die kleinen Tiere werden heut’ noch hier verehrt,
The little creatures are today still revered here,
Und niemand sie am Leben wehrt.
And no one takes their lives.
Besonders ehren unsre Alten
Especially our old people respect
Die Spinnen, die so nuetzlich walten.
The spiders who made themselves so useful.
HOME
Copyright 2000-2022 by Sue (Ursula Kaiser) Foster. Please contact me for permission to copy.
I would like to know why this information interests you :-)