Old Occupational Titles
Old occupational and social titles held by our ancestors
Anyone researching their ancestors in old records will keep running into oddly worded occupational or social titles.
I actually have it fairly easy here — our ancestors were mostly farmers, tenant farmers, wheelwrights or bakers: occupations that are still easy to picture today, or whose meaning is easy enough to grasp. You'll find an explanation of our ancestors' occupations further down this page.
Researchers have a harder time with terms like Dingschreiber, Pilleator, Antiquarius, Pfarrmeier, or, say, Filzer, when trying to describe their ancestors' occupations. An Antiquarius was a dealer who traded in old books, a Pfarrmeier worked a parish priest's land, and a Filzer was a hatmaker.
A
Auer — watchmaker
Aufspieler — minstrel, musician
B
Backmann — baker
Bärschneider — pig castrator
Bartzwicker — barber
Bender — cooper
Biener — beekeeper
Breitmacher — linen weaver
C
Calculator — auditor
Cheser — cheese merchant
Clusor — blacksmith
Colorator — dyer
D
Daler — day labourer
Deckner — maker of covers/blankets
Dingschreiber — court clerk
E
Einleger — cooper
Erbrichter — village headman
Executor — bailiff
F
Fahrensmann — seafarer
Formdreher — button maker
G
Gelbgießer — brass founder
Gerber — tanner
Gestellmacher — wainwright
H
Hüttmann — mining official
I
Infector — dyer
Institutor — teacher
K
Käsebäcker — cheese maker
Kandelgießer — jug/can maker
L
Lector — teacher
Leinert — weaver/cloth maker
M
Mensator — carpenter
N
Nadler — made needles and wire goods
Nothändler — peddler/hawker
O
Opperknecht — day labourer
P
Papiermacher — papermaker
Pedell — assistant, beadle
Pilleator — hatmaker
Pistor — baker
Proctor — lawyer
R
Rotgießer — cast household goods from copper and pewter
S
Schandknecht — executioner's assistant
Scharfrichter — executioner
Occupations and Social Titles of Our Ancestors
Altsitzer
An "Altsitzer" was the term for a farmer after he had handed his farm over to his son — a common form of old-age provision in agriculture at the time.
Stellmacher (Wheelwright)
A Stellmacher made wagon wheels and wooden farm equipment, and also handled their repair. In the past, people often built their own carts themselves, leaving only the trickiest part — the frame ("Gestell," from Middle High German "Stelle") — to the trained craftsman known as the "Stellmacher." That's where both the occupational term and the surname come from. (Source: 1)
In other regions of Germany, people in this occupation were called Wagner, Radmaker, or also Wagenmaker.
(Source: 1)
Bauer – Halbbauer – Kossät (Farmer – Half-Farmer – Cottager)
A "Bauer" (farmer) worked his own land and was thus primarily engaged in agriculture. In our records, though, we also find the terms Halbbauer, Hüfner, and Kossät.
The various terms for a farmer referred to the size of the estate he owned. A Halbbauer ("half-farmer") was a farmer who owned only half the usual amount of land, while a Kossät ("cottager") owned even less. To make ends meet, Halbbauern and Kossäten presumably had to take on further work besides farming.
The size of a plot of land was measured in "Hufen." A Hufe is a historical unit of area denoting the size of a farmstead, though the exact size of a Hufe varied from region to region. Farmers were also referred to as Hüfner/Hufner or Halbhufner.
Schweizer / Schweitzer
The Swiss (inhabitants of Switzerland) were once credited with an exceptional skill in handling dairy cattle. As a result, the term "Schweizer" also came to be used for the occupation of cowherd, even when the person in question wasn't actually from Switzerland. A "Schweizer" was a cowherd who possessed precisely these "special" abilities — he looked after the herd, tended, fed and milked the cows, and cleaned the stalls.(Source: 2)
Sources
1. Atlas-Namenskunde, K. Kunze, dtv, 4th edition, 2003
2. Occupation "Schweizer" — Wikipedia.de
"Only those who know where they come from also know where they're going."
(Source unknown)