Document 11: Draft purchase deed for this Krückeberg, No. 18, in Berenbusch, concerning a building site for house construction and garden

Overview

What this document is

This document is a draft purchase record issued by the Rentkammer (government land authority) for Jobst Heinrich Krückeberg, No. 18 (Berenbusch). At this stage of the process, it serves as the effective legal deed for his holding, even though a more formal document (the Kaufbrief or Meyerbrief) was still to follow. In the document itself this is described as being issued statt Kaufbriefs (“in place of a purchase deed”).

What it records (the essential facts)

What was acquired: a plot of land intended for building a house and keeping a garden, located in the Baumer Forst.
Approval: the Rentkammer had already approved that this land could be assigned and sold to Krückeberg.
Price: the land was priced at 6 Mariengroschen per square rod, based on an official valuation.
Survey: the plot was measured by the sworn surveyor Stille in Bückeburg.
Size: 102 square rods plus 51 square feet.
Payment: the full purchase price—17 Reichsthaler and 3 Mariengroschen—had already been paid into the government treasury.

What this document actually gives him

1. What “ownership (Eigenthum)” means here

The document states that Krückeberg receives Eigenthum (“ownership”), but this does not mean modern, unrestricted ownership as people understand it today.

What this ownership includes:

a secure, lifelong right to the holding (house plot and garden),
the right to pass the holding on to his heirs,
and legal protection against arbitrary removal or competing claims.

This ownership also includes permanent conditions:

the holding remains under government authority (the Rentkammer),
it carries ongoing annual obligations (payments and duties tied to the land),
and selling or mortgaging the holding requires official approval.

These obligations are not exceptions to ownership; they are part of what ownership means in this system.

2. What the protection clause means

The document promises that Krückeberg and his heirs are to be “protected at all times and against everyone.”

In practical terms, this means:

no one else may lawfully claim the land,
his rights are recognized and enforceable,
and the holding is legally secure.

This protection does not remove the holding from government oversight or from its attached obligations.

3. What obligations come with the holding

The land carries regular annual dues (called Prästanden), which are inseparably tied to the holding.

These payments are mandatory.
Although the detailed list of dues is crossed out in this draft, the duty to pay them remains in force.
Meeting these obligations is required to keep the holding in good standing.

Failure to meet these obligations could ultimately put the holding at risk.

4. Why this is different from modern land ownership

Today, buying land usually means owning it outright. Here, ownership works differently:

Krückeberg may live on the land,
build and maintain a house,
pass it on to his heirs,
and enjoy strong legal protection,

but only within a system of ongoing duties and government supervision.

This arrangement was normal at the time but has no direct modern equivalent.

How this document fits into the larger process

This document represents the point at which:

permission had been granted,
the land had been measured,
the price had been paid,

and ownership of the holding was formally recognized.

A later document (the Meyerbrief) would normally spell out the long-term rules and obligations in more detail, but this draft already establishes Krückeberg’s secure and heritable right to the holding.

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Transliteration and Translation

Transliteration

Concept Kaufbriefs Namens der R[ent]Kammer für den Jobst Heinrich Krückeberg
No 18. in Berenbusch über einen Platz zum Hausbau und Garten im Baumer Först.

Expd: Schwarze

Nachdem auf Ansuchen des Jobst Heinrich Krückeberg No. 18. in Berenbusch
von Fürstlicher Rentkammer bewilligt worden, daß dem selben ein Platz
Behuf Hausbau und Garten im Bauner Forste dergestalt käuflich überlaßen
werden solle, daß derselbe dafür den durch Sachverständige Exped: Schwarze
taxirten Werth die Quadrat Ruthe mit 6. mg zu bezahlen habe, und hierauf
solcher zu 102 Quadrat Ruthen 51 Quadrat Fuß groß beeÿdigten Landmessen
durch den beeydigten Landmessen Stille in Bückeburg vermessen, auch das
bestimmte Kaufgeld nach obigen Ansätze mit Siebenzehn Rthlr 3 mg an
Fürstliche Kammer-Casse erleget worden, wobeÿ gedachter Krückeberg
verpflichtet ist, den von diesem Platze angesetzten jährlichen Kamera
Prästanden als:

[8 lines struck through]

zugehöriger Zeitrichtig abzutragen und zu entrichten; So wird dem obge-
nannten Neubauer Krückberg No 18. zu Berenbusch und dessen Erben, das
Eigenthum dieses von ihm erkauften Platzes hiemit übergeben, und die
Versicherung ertheilet, daß Er und seine Erben bey dessen Besitz jeden
Zeit und gegen Jedermann geschützt werden sollen Dessen zur Urkund ist
dieses statt Kaufbriefsunter bey gedruckten Fürstln Kammer Siegel und
gewöhnlicher Unterchrift ausgefertiget worden.

Bückeburg 10 Jan: 1810.

Fürstl. Schaumbl. Liple zur Rentkammer v. d. u. R.

?? Danckwertz  MKaass
Sandesbur Wint

Translation

Draft purchase deed issued in the name of the Rent Chamber
for Jobst Heinrich Krückeberg,
No. 18 at Berenbusch,
concerning a plot of land for the construction of a house
and a garden in the Baumer Forest.

Dispatched by Schwarze.

Whereas, upon the application of Jobst Heinrich Krückeberg,
No. 18 at Berenbusch, the Princely Rent Chamber has approved
that a plot of land for the purpose of building a house and
establishing a garden in the Baumer Forest shall be conveyed
to him by purchase, on the condition that he pay the value
assessed by the appointed experts, at the rate of six
Mariengroschen per square rod; and whereas the said plot,
measuring 102 square rods and 51 square feet, has been
surveyed by the sworn land surveyor Stille at Bückeburg; and
whereas the determined purchase price, calculated according
to the above rates, amounting to seventeen Reichsthaler and
three Mariengroschen, has been paid into the Princely Chamber
Treasury; and whereas the said Krückeberg is obligated to
pay the annual cameral dues assessed for this plot in due
time and in proper manner;

the aforementioned new settler Krückeberg, No. 18 at
Berenbusch, and his heirs are hereby granted ownership of
this plot purchased by him, and assurance is given that he
and his heirs shall be protected in their possession thereof
at all times and against all persons.

In witness whereof, this instrument, in lieu of a formal
purchase deed, has been executed under the printed seal of
the Princely Chamber and with the customary signatures.

Bückeburg, 10 January 1810.

Princely Schaumburg-Lippe
Rent Chamber,
by order.

von Danckwertz     M. Kaas
Sandesbur. Windt