We will return to the 1848 Franztal Gemeindebericht shortly, but before we do, the 1830s map of Molotschna colony deserves one more close look. We learned in the previous post (here) that the map contains various details that inform our understanding of the map’s original creation and occasional updating. As we will discover in this post, the map also contains details that can clarify and enrich our understanding of Franztal in the mid-nineteenth century. We begin with a closeup of the relevant portion of the map.
The village Franztal is shown in the lower center, along the Iushanle River; its assigned land extends to the north, where it borders the land associated with the non-Mennonite village/area of Chernigov. Drawing from our work in the previous post, we can note that the village name is written in a formal script, that the village is assigned a number (40), and that the outline of the village itself appears to be as professionally executed as were Lichtfeld, Alexanderwohl, Waldheim, and other early villages. In other words, Franztal (as well as Rudnerwiede, Grossweide, and Pastwa) was on the original map.
Two additional features also deserve mention.
1. Earlier commentary on the first paragraph in the community report admitted ignorance on the exact meaning of the following sentence: “In order to have the colony established in the middle of the plot, the settlers chose a place located in the same depression where the colony Grossweide is located” (see here). The extract from the map above makes it clear that the depression extended east from Grossweide all the way across Franztal’s farmland. Therefore we can be reasonably certain that the location where the settlers originally wanted to locate the village—“in the middle of the plot”— was in that depression, probably centered between the west and east boundaries.
We should also note the label applied to the depression on the left side of the map. The first word is difficult to make out, but the second clearly reads Steppfluss, literally “steppe river.” This German word is rare; in fact, a Google search turns up only two other occurrences: one in the Elisabethal Gemeindebericht, and one in the Schardau Gemeindebericht. Apparently this was a term commonly used in Molotschna but nowhere else. By way of contrast, a search for the English equivalent steppe river returns nearly twenty thousand results.
What are we to make of the German term? The Elisabethal report refers to a “trockenen Steppfluss,” that is, a dry steppe river. The Schardau report refers both to the “Steppfluss Juschenlee” and to the “Fluss Juschanlee.” The latter term is a clear reference to the Iushanle River, which means that the former term must mean something else (note also that the first term is spelled Juschenlee with an e, not Juschanlee with an a). What exactly the word Steppfluss signifies is uncertain, but the most likely explanation is that it refers to something like a river but not a river, perhaps to a long depression that would fill with water if a nearby river overflowed its banks or, on higher ground, whenever rainwater or melting snow exceeded the capacity of the surrounding ground to absorb it. Until new evidence indicates otherwise, we should think of the Steppfluss as a depression that frequently filled with water.
This understanding also explains why Franztal’s original settlers wanted to locate the village in this depression: they thought that it boded well for finding water underground. Unfortunately for them, it did not, which led them to locate the village next to the Iushanle River. (One wonders if Grossweide successfully dug wells to serve that community’s needs.)
2. The map also show, it seems, which land was set aside to farming/gardening and which land served as pasture. Note on the map the three sections of Franztal land that show what appear to be long rows. This is presumably where the villagers raised flax, potatoes, and any other crops used for human or animal consumption. The majority of the land, it is evident, was pasture.
Although the Molotschna colony eventually became famous for producing cereal crops, especially wheat, that was not the case in the late 1830s. Recall that a record of the crops planted in Waldheim in spring 1839 listed only potatoes and flax (see here and especially here). Other crops were planted, to be sure, but they were not as central to Molotschna agriculture as were these staples. My sense is that Molotschna agriculture shifted decisively toward cereal crops in the late 1840s and early 1850s, but that remains to be confirmed or clarified by further research.
There are no doubt more insights to be gleaned from careful examination of this and other maps, but for now we will return to our analysis of the 1848 Franztal community report.
Two additional features also deserve mention.
1. Earlier commentary on the first paragraph in the community report admitted ignorance on the exact meaning of the following sentence: “In order to have the colony established in the middle of the plot, the settlers chose a place located in the same depression where the colony Grossweide is located” (see here). The extract from the map above makes it clear that the depression extended east from Grossweide all the way across Franztal’s farmland. Therefore we can be reasonably certain that the location where the settlers originally wanted to locate the village—“in the middle of the plot”— was in that depression, probably centered between the west and east boundaries.
We should also note the label applied to the depression on the left side of the map. The first word is difficult to make out, but the second clearly reads Steppfluss, literally “steppe river.” This German word is rare; in fact, a Google search turns up only two other occurrences: one in the Elisabethal Gemeindebericht, and one in the Schardau Gemeindebericht. Apparently this was a term commonly used in Molotschna but nowhere else. By way of contrast, a search for the English equivalent steppe river returns nearly twenty thousand results.
What are we to make of the German term? The Elisabethal report refers to a “trockenen Steppfluss,” that is, a dry steppe river. The Schardau report refers both to the “Steppfluss Juschenlee” and to the “Fluss Juschanlee.” The latter term is a clear reference to the Iushanle River, which means that the former term must mean something else (note also that the first term is spelled Juschenlee with an e, not Juschanlee with an a). What exactly the word Steppfluss signifies is uncertain, but the most likely explanation is that it refers to something like a river but not a river, perhaps to a long depression that would fill with water if a nearby river overflowed its banks or, on higher ground, whenever rainwater or melting snow exceeded the capacity of the surrounding ground to absorb it. Until new evidence indicates otherwise, we should think of the Steppfluss as a depression that frequently filled with water.
This understanding also explains why Franztal’s original settlers wanted to locate the village in this depression: they thought that it boded well for finding water underground. Unfortunately for them, it did not, which led them to locate the village next to the Iushanle River. (One wonders if Grossweide successfully dug wells to serve that community’s needs.)
2. The map also show, it seems, which land was set aside to farming/gardening and which land served as pasture. Note on the map the three sections of Franztal land that show what appear to be long rows. This is presumably where the villagers raised flax, potatoes, and any other crops used for human or animal consumption. The majority of the land, it is evident, was pasture.
Although the Molotschna colony eventually became famous for producing cereal crops, especially wheat, that was not the case in the late 1830s. Recall that a record of the crops planted in Waldheim in spring 1839 listed only potatoes and flax (see here and especially here). Other crops were planted, to be sure, but they were not as central to Molotschna agriculture as were these staples. My sense is that Molotschna agriculture shifted decisively toward cereal crops in the late 1840s and early 1850s, but that remains to be confirmed or clarified by further research.
There are no doubt more insights to be gleaned from careful examination of this and other maps, but for now we will return to our analysis of the 1848 Franztal community report.
No comments:
Post a Comment