The word meier had different meanings in different places. The former
Principality of Lippe-Detmold is where my research centers, although my
ancestors were found also in nearby Westfalen. A1951 plebiscite placed
Lippe
in Westfalen. I found this explanation and quoted it in my book. From
other
sources, it is clear to me that breeding cattle, in some regions, was one
of
the pursuits that entitled a farmer to the designation "meier".
Formatting is lost when I paste the segment into this plain-text E-mail:
Excursus addressing Halbmeier and the Lippe Meier laws:
Late in 2005, a query to the Internet mailing list Lippe Forum brought
information from historian Wolfgang Bechtel, who explained the terminology
used in Lippe for classifying its citizens. Halbmeier was a farmer who was
responsible for sixteen to twenty-four hectares of land. Perhaps a big
half-farmer's land comprised closer to twenty-four than sixteen hectares.
Stefan Baumeier, G. Ulrich Großmann and Wolf-Dieter Könenkamp compiled a
Guide to the Westphalian Open Air Museum in Detmold, a museum of rural
history and culture. The Guide was published by order of the
Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (Regional Federation of Westphalia
Lippe), and I have the English version. While in some regions there may
have
been a provision in the contract for breeding cattle, this was not so in
Lippe. The Guide explains the Meier Laws as they apply to Lippe better
than
I could begin to do it:
"Until well into the 19th century most country dwellers in the German
Reich
did not own the land they farmed. It belonged to the nobility or to the
Church and was leased to the peasants in return for taxes and services,
which were often very oppressive. One of the legal provisions was the so
called 'Meier-Law' (Leasehold form common in Northern Germany). Such
leasing
arrangements had legal status, and although there were of course regional
variations, farms were always handed on from father to son. In Lippe,
farmers who entered into such a contract were known as 'Meier"' and they
constituted the most im****tant section of the farming community."
A number of our ancestors added the 'meier' designation to their names,
while many others used 'Meyer' with a place name, e.g. 'Meyer zu Sieker'.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Taber" <ryan.taber@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
To: <gen-de@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Sent: 30 March, 2008 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: GEN-DE Obermeier
> Meier is a (somewhat) old-fa****oned word for farmer. This name
> usually refers to fairly wealthy landowner, rather than a poor peasant
> farmer. I'm not quite sure what to do with the Ober- prefix, but I've
> often wondered if it wasn't just a "flavor" word added by tenant
> farmers to show respect.
>
> This is the best I can do. I've often wondered about the meaning
> myself, as I also have Obermeier relatives.
>
> Ryan
>
> On Mar 30, 2008, at 8:46 AM, Robert Rothenbuhler wrote:
>
>> Hi List,
>> Trying to find out what my ancestors' surname of Obermeier
>> means. I know Ober is German for above, head, or upper. It also
>> means garcon or waiter/servant. What about meier? And when you
>> put them together, what is the meaning?
>>
>> Any comments would be appreciated.
>>
>> thanks,
>> robert
>>
>> -------------------------------
>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
>> GEN-DE-request@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and
>> the body of the message
>
>
> -------------------------------
> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
> GEN-DE-request@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
quotes
> in the subject and the body of the message
>
|
