Traditions and recent trends of German research on the history of rural commons

A survey

Abstract

While commons of the past are widely studied in western Europe, German historiography has not developed a distinct research focus on this important topic. Therefore, it is challenging to give a review as relevant observations cannot be found in surveys dealing with this particular issue, but instead in a greater number of studies on various subjects. The article starts with a summary of insights into the old-established research on rural communities, which has been deployed in plenty of regional studies and source-editions. This branch of historiography offers a sophisticated picture of norms and customs governing the commons of single villages and the so-called Marken that stretched over wider areas. More recently research has been done on rural conflicts between (or within) the peasantry, the nobility and the emerging territorial states. Some current findings of regional and local studies are presented, which include delineations of such struggles. These publications are of particular interest since they focus on the agency of commoners from different strata of rural society. Finally, specific results of the histories of rural environment, landscapes and forests are recapitulated. On the one
hand they emphasise the disputes arising with the emergence of administrations regulating woods, waters, agriculture and rural industries. On the other hand they are concerned with markets for forestal and agricultural goods and their impact on common property regimes.