Page 190 - Upland Families, Elites and Communities

Margareth Lanzinger

Felizitas Clammerin to move to another house in Innichen, the Geisser-
haus, which also belonged to the family. There she was to be granted the
right for life to the ‘Kraut- und Holz-freye Hörberg nebst einem Antheil
Garten,’ that is, the right of residence and the free supply of cabbage and
wood,as well as the useof partof the garden.In addition,she wasto re-
ceive the full annual interest on her assets, 18 pounds of flax and ‘half a
Viennese measure of fresh milk daily’ as well as ‘the necessary house and
kitchen equipment in return for future restitution.’ The necessary house-
holdgoodswerealsotobemadeavailabletoher, aswerethelivingquarters
and the garden, but only for her use, not as property, as the phrase ‘future
restitution’ indicates. In the meantime, the son was to make the rooms in
the Geisserhaus ‘habitable,’ that is, renovate them. According to the sec-
ond option, the widowed mother would continue to live in the son’s house
after the first year and would be entitled to the ‘necessary food, drink and
clothing’ as long as both parties agreed. In this case, the son would only
have to pay her 50 gulden of the 120 gulden in annual interest. The oth-
er two clauses of the contract were unusual: she reiterated that the son
was not to demand ‘work’ or ‘management of the inn’ from her, and she
insisted on ‘a daily breakfast to be prepared by herself.’ Thirdly, she con-
sidered moving away from Innichen – most probably back to her place of
origin. In this case, the rights of use – the lifetime’s supply of cabbage and
wood, the supply of flax and the daily milk – would cease. As compensa-
tion, she demanded 20 gulden in addition to the 120 gulden in interest. In
the parish register of her marriage, which took place on 10 July 1743, it is
recorded that her father Franziskus Clammer was an innkeeper in Firholz
and that her mother came from Feldthurns in the Eisack Valley. There is
a village near Feldthurns on the Brenner road called Fürholz. This place
name exists several times. Based on the geographical location of the moth-
er, it seems plausible that Fürholz on the Brenner road is meant (tbi, 632,
1582–1760).¹³ The next step would be to look for the marriage contract.
Marriage contracts were usually drawn up at the bride’s place of origin.
Such sophisticated provisions in an intergenerational contract were rare.
They can be placed in a wealthy social milieu and show that women were
able to act very self-confidently and self-determinedly against the back-
ground of a wealthy endowment from their family of origin. The contract
shows that Maria Felizitas Clammerin was in a relatively strong position:
her capital gave her bargaining power. She left her son a fortune of 3,000

¹³ The parish registers of South Tyrol can be consulted online: https://www.kirchenbücher-
südtirol.findbuch.net/.
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