Publication |
2010
Abstract
In the 18th century, farmers tried to build up family property, so that it could be subsequently handed over from generation to generation. Even in a critical situation, when they were not able to pass the farm over to their offspring, a sentimental attachment to one’s family as well as respect for parental assets made them seek their successor within the extended family, so that the landholding would not end up „in the hands of a stranger“.
By contrast, in the 19th century farmers started to behave much more pragmatically. What became important was not what brought benefit to the stem-family but what was beneficial for the farmer’s own nuclear family.