Stem families in Rural Northwestern Germany? Family systems, intergenerational relations and family contracts

Fertig Christine

Abstract

The article investigates intergenerational social relations, distributionof power and mutual rights and obligations within rural families innineteenth-century Westphalia. Following Frédéric Le Play andWilhelm Heinrich Riehl, historiography assumes the predominance of astem family system in northwestern Germany. However, the definitionof ‘stem family' is still not well determined to date. In particular, thequestion of paternal authority pertains to the core concept of stemfamilies, but has received rather little attention in historical research.The article argues that there are good reasons to question theadequacy of the notion of ‘stem family' for northwestern Germany.Using farm and house transfer contracts as qualitative sources, thestrong position of farm heirs will be demonstrated. These contractssettled relationships between family members after intergenerationaltransition, especially for different types of family composition. Ageingparents were confronted with children having alternative optionsto make a living and had to make far-reaching concessions if theywanted a child to stay and work or respectively care for them. Evenparents who still wanted to manage the farm on their own gave upthe property rights in order to keep a son or a daughter as labour forceand care-taker on the farm. This points to considerable bargainingpower of adult children, and strongly diminished parental authorityeven in multiple households.