Have you heard of Hofnamen? These “farm names” were surnames associated with farms, often passed down through generations. (See: Following an Ancestor with a German Hofname for more information). In this article, genealogist John Wemhof shows how you can use the records available to you – both land records and personal marriage and death records – to trace the history of your ancestor’s farm throughout the centuries. 

What is a Wemhoff?

A Wedemhove, or its contraction Wemhoff, is a Hof (farm) and, by extension, a Hofname, a surname of those who farmed the Hof. The word refers to a parcel of land given over to the support of the church. The nearest English equivalent might be “glebe” or “parsonage farm”.[1] In fact, towns in the Münster region still have streets or neighborhoods called Wedemhove or Wemhoff, usually near the parish church!

The history of one Hof Wemhoff (a farmstead) in Rödder near Dülmen can be described through the genealogy of its tenant farmers and the Eigenbehörigkeit—the form of serfdom that persisted in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster from the 13th to the 19th century.[2] Much of the population were peasants bound to the manorial estates of the bishop and local nobility. Distinguishing Eigenbehörigkeit from the medieval concept of serfdom were nuances in peasant status as defined by traditional practice, moral expectation, and ecclesiastical oversight—combining constrained personal freedom with rights of tenure and protection under the manorial system.

When was our Hof Wemhoff established?

A charter survives from 1436 that established the Hof Wemhoff – you can see the image below.[3] Herman van Buren[4], Canon of Münster Cathedral and holder of the benefice called the Obödienz^[5] of Hiddingsel, concluded an exchange of land with the parish church in Dülmen on 2 October 1436, to consolidate or improve his benefice’s holdings. The church in Dülmen received a portion of the Canon’s benefice in the town of Dülmen, called the Wedemhove or the Wemhoff Erbe—Erbe in this case meaning an inheritable farm estate. The Canon received a parcel of land, of a size requiring six bushels of oats to sow, in the Bauerschaft Rödder.[6] For the next six hundred years, Hof Wemhoff was farmed in Rödder.

What Happened Next? We Have the Documents…

The 15th-17th Centuries: 

Following its establishment, the Hof appears in Die Register der Willkommschatzung von 1498 und 1499 im Fürstbistum Münster^[7] (“Welcome Tax Register”), with Laurentius Wedemhof in Bauerschaft Rödder, Kirchspiel Dülmen.

Another document mentions a mortgage loan taken out by Johann Wemhoff on the Hof Wemhoff in 1611. The Münster Cathedral Almoner advanced 150 gold guilders on the mortgage. The interest on the loan was nine gold guilders annually.[8]

Accounts of the Obödienz of Hiddingsel record payment-in-full of the Wedemhove rents in the years 1696 through 1699.[9] By then, the currency had changed, and the monetary value had been converted to 70 Reichsthalers, with an annual payment of 3 Reichsthalers and 15 Silbergroschen (or 3 ½ Reichsthalers). 

 Side note: Did you know our word “dollar” comes from the German word thaler? Fascinating!

 This perpetual interest payment on the Hof Wemhoff continued for more than two centuries by the heirs—or, because there are no records from that time proving continuation of the lineage, the successive tenants of the Hof.

Those living at Hof Wemhoff had other manorial obligations. Hofrecht —literally meaning: “farm law”—applied to a particular farm and its tenants, based on customs, traditions and agreements specific to that farm. The principle of “because it has always been done this way” governed how tenancy was obtained or inherited, rights of widows, payments and services owed to the Obödienz and personal freedoms.

The Personal Records Begin…

Useful genealogical records begin in 1695 with the marriage of Henrich Heßelmann to Elisabeth Wemhoff in the parish church of Dülmen.[10] Henrich and Elisabeth had a daughter baptized in 1696. Death records do not exist, but it appears Elisabeth died, because in 1697 Henrich Heßelmann married Anna Kuhmann – so we hope Elisabeth was no longer there!

Eight children were born to Anna Kuhmann and baptized in Dülmen: two with the father identified as Henrich Heßelmann and six with the father named Henrich Wemhoff. Four of their children—a son and three daughters—married and had children. Analysis of the names of spouses (the daughters married sons of nearby farms), marriage witnesses, and godparents at baptisms strongly suggests that children with the surnames Heßelmann and Wemhoff were siblings.

The Farm Gets Passed Down…

Johann Henrich Wemhoff (1706–?) (son of Henrich Wemhoff and Anna Kuhmann) obtained the Hof Wemhoff in 1730.[11] Karl Franz, Baron von Wachtendonck[12], Provost of Münster Cathedral, Headmaster of the Chapter School of Osnabrück, and holder of the Obödienz of Hiddingsel, upon the humble request of Johann Henrich Wemhoff, granted him the Wemhoff Erbe. The grant was made upon payment of 15 Reichsthalers as Sterbfall^[13]—a fee due on the death of the previous tenant, his brother Bernard Wemhoff.

Gewinn, Zwangsdienst and Freibrief

A 1765 report on the conduct of the Hiddingsel Obödienz for Baron von Twickel,[14] Canon of the Cathedrals of Münster and Hildesheim and holder of the Obödienz^[15], mentions the farm. The Zeller (tenant farmer) Wemhoff had gewonne—that is, won or had taken over—the tenancy on payment of a Gewinn fee for the Wemhoff Erbe the previous winter.[16]

The report does not mention the Zeller’s given name but does list the names and ages of three siblings, matching the family of the previous tenants Johann Henrich Wemhoff and Anna Adelheidis Eißing (or Eißinck). The new tenant was their son Johann Henrich Wemhoff, with his younger brother Anton and sisters Maria and Elisabeth. The report specified that Maria, the eldest sister, had already completed her Zwangsdienst (obligatory service).[17]

Johann Henrich Wemhoff (the younger) married Gertrud Overs in 1768. From a chronological list of actions taken by the Obödienz: on 22 March 1796, a Freibrief (freedom letter)[18] for Margaretha Wemhoff, daughter of Johann Henrich and Gertrud of Wemhoff Erbe—was granted by His Excellency for 12 Reichsthalers.[19] Margaretha married shortly thereafter to a man from a different manor.

The 19th Century: Upheaval in Town

The start of the 19th century brought upheaval to Dülmen. The Kingdom of Prussia annexed Westphalia and dissolved the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in 1803. As part of the secularization, the lands around Dülmen were assigned to the von Croÿ family as compensation for territories lost through French annexation. By 1806, the area was part of the Grand Duchy of Berg, a client state of the French Empire. Later, it was partitioned from Berg into the French Empire’s Department of the Lippe, which existed until 1813.

The Treaty of Vienna of 1815 formalized Croÿ-Dülmen as a mediatized territory under Prussian sovereignty.[20] French laws had abolished feudal rule; however, Prussia replaced them with laws providing for feudal burdens and obligations to be ended by purchase. It would take decades for farmers to buy their freedom.[21]

Genannt—”Known As”

Have you seen the word “genannt” or the abbreviation “gen.” in your records? It comes up here…

Margaretha’s younger brother Anton Wemhoff, married to Gertrud Schulte Empting, inherited the Wemhoff Erbe on the death of his father in 1814[22]. They had three children before his death in 1819. His widow remarried Bernard Pöpmann, who became Pöpmann genannt (known as) Wemhoff in church and official documents.[23]

A Prussian Royal Commission settlement contract in 1844 regulated the use and ownership of the common land of the Mittwicker Mark between the Croÿ Ducal Administration, the town of Dülmen, and local farms, including Hof Wemhoff[24]. It described the location and borders of the Hof and specified that the Hof had certain rights on the commons upon payment of a fee.

A series of land registry documents reflected changing relationships between Pöpmann genannt Wemhoff and Gertrud Wemhoff née Schulte Empting, and the children of the first marriage. The first provided for the guardianship and care of the children, the second shared the tenancy, and the third transferred sole possession of the Erbe to the eldest son, Wilhelm Anton Wemhoff. Wilhelm Anton undertook ongoing obligations for the support of his siblings and stepfather and mother.[25]

Ablösungsverfahren

Ablösungsverfahren was the legal process by which tenants redeemed manorial obligations, fees, and dependencies through fixed annual monetary payments to the lord of the manor.[26] In December 1846, a Ablösungs contract was concluded between Bernard Pöpmann genannt Wemhoff and Henrich Wilhelm Anton Wemhoff, at that time co-holders of the Erbe, and Ludwig von Noël, representing Duke Alfred Franz von Croÿ-Dülmen.[27]

The contract set out the existing manorial obligations due to the Duke: from Eigenhörigkeit, the customary seigniorial rights and payments—namely Gewinn and Heimfall (reversion fee)—and a yearly cash payment of ten groschen and four pfennigs; also from Eigenhörigkeit, performance of two days’ labor; one Dülmen bushel of barley, previously due the Prince-Bishop of Münster; and an annual monetary rent of three thalers and fifteen silver groschen, originating from a loan existing since ancient times (the 1611 mortgage). The contract freed the tenants from the bounds of Eigenhörigkeit and converted these obligations and fees into one annual rent payment of 12 thalers and 6 groschen. It also provided for the tenants to redeem the rents forever with a one-time payment of twenty-five times the annual rent. The farm redeemed its feudal dues to the Duke of Croÿ by paying 220 thalers in 1851.[28] On 19 July 1856, the District Court in Coesfeld issued a decree naming Henrich Wilhelm Anton Wemhoff as the registered freehold owner of Hof Wemhoff. The decree was filed in the Mortgage Register of the Rural District of Dülmen on 13 August 1856.[29] The document confirms Henrich Wilhelm Anton Wemhoff’s legal recognition as freehold owner, following the Ablösungsverfahren that eliminated the obligations previously owed to the Croÿ-Dülmen estate.