[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Land questions for Volhynia

[William Remus]

My people arrived in Faustindorf Volhynia in 1833. At that time their contractual arrangement was that they had to clear the land (and the nearby river bed) to make way for growing flax. The contract was with the local nobility.  They had free land use for up to 5 years to develop the land and thereafter an annual rent. The land was and still is very sandy and suitable for flax and not much else. (They were clothmakers) as were many in the 1833 migration.

By 1855, they found this unsatisfactory and purchased land in Doliwa later Romansdorf in the next parish, Kiev parish. This was an expansion of an existing village (Doliwa) and so did require land clearing in a forested region. This was good black soil land and was not adjacent to a river. They did diversified ag and not just flax. The eldest son retained the Romansdorf land but younger descendants of those that moved contracted the purchase of additional land in nearby areas. Such sister villages included Grunwald, Malin, and Ludwigsdorf. 

These purchases were individual purchases but the individuals were all related so all purchases were linked. It was like most of Faustindorf moved to Romansdorf. So they moved like a village. The villages above were street villages (dorfstrasse) with the homes close to each other on the road and the fields some distance from the village. The farming land was laid out in strips so it could be plowed with only a few turn arounds of the heavy Prussian plow.  The school/chapel was at the center of Romansdorf as was a common area for grazing animals. 

The houses were made of logs that were weatherproofed with mud or clay. The roofs were thatched so could catch fire and burn the house down. The house was half for people and half for the animals. The one room for people was a combination living room, kitchen, and bedroom.  It was desirable to have the stoves outside to avoid house fires. Such houses are still in use in Romansdorf. 

When they left in 1892, they were able to sell the land to other Germans. They used that money to buy tickets to North America and also to buy some land in North America.

regards Bill

family names from Volhynia include Hofffmann, Lehmann, Spitzer, Radke, Remus, Will, Minge, & Krassin

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William Remus 
Emeritus Professor of Information Technology Management
2404 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA 96822
Telephone: 808-956-7608 office   808-737-5470 home
Bill's homepage http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/
Bill's genealogy http://remus.shidler.hawaii.edu/genes/
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