Crafts and small trade on the Pader

Trade & Crafts

Gemeinde Neuhaus, innerörtlicher Paderverlauf mit Ringgraben, Mühlen und Färbereien, 1850er Jahre (Grundlage: Urkatasterkarte v. 1830, Flur V, Kreis Paderborn, Amt für Geoinformation, Kataster und Vermessung, Bearbeitung M. Ströhmer 2019)

With the continuous use of the Neuhaus castle complex, its surroundings gradually developed under Bishop Simon III. (officiating 1463-98), its surroundings, in which middle-class trades settled, gradually developed into the princely residence town.[1] These basic craftsmen, who supplemented the court’s self-sufficiency from within the town, probably included bakers, tailors, butchers, brewers, cobblers and blacksmiths as early as the 15th century. Until the middle of the 18th century, this basic commercial structure – perhaps with the exception of the textile industry, which was expanded in the 1660s – probably changed little in Neuhaus. Whereas in 1769 there were about 750 people of both sexes living in 119 Neuhaus households, almost 30 years later (1797) there were 1042 local inhabitants.[2] This corresponded to a considerable growth of a good 25 percent within one generation. Indirectly, this population increase is also reflected in the comparatively high number of nine local bakeries and four breweries, whose products covered the food requirements of the castle staff around 1800. Hops were grown between the Pader and Alme rivers for beer production as early as the 16th century. But the Pader water itself was probably also drawn directly from the river, as in neighbouring Paderborn,[3] for Neuhaus beer and bread. If one looks at the distribution of Neuhäus crafts on the original cadastral map (1829/30), the diversity of the Pader’s functions as a production factor is striking: on the banks of the „Wasserkunstpader“ and „Mühlenpader“ there were not only grinding and lifting mills, which directed the power of the river onto their wheels, but also dye works, bakeries, butchers and red tanneries in close succession. Their masters used the Pader water primarily to process and wash out semi-finished and finished products – or simply to dispose of their production residues. Between 1832 and 1868, numerous artisan households were concentrated in Neuhaus along the lower „Mühlenpader“ alone:

Neuhaus municipality, course of the River Pader within the municipality with ring ditch, mills and dye works, 1850s (basis: original cadastral map of 1830, Flur V, Kreis Paderborn, Amt für Geoinformation, Kataster und Vermessung, edited by M. Ströhmer 2019)
Neuhaus municipality, course of the River Pader within the municipality with ring ditch, mills and dye works, 1850s (basis: original cadastral map of 1830, Flur V, Kreis Paderborn, Amt für Geoinformation, Kataster und Vermessung, edited by M. Ströhmer 2019)

In addition to the four-course rye and barley mill at the „Paderborner Tor“, a baker (Haus Zurlage), a butcher (Haus Thombansen), a blue-dyer (Haus Münder) and, further downstream, the red tannery of Joseph Menneke worked in the neighbourhood.[4] Around 1870, the concentration of pollutants in the water was probably highest here, shortly before the Pader flows into the Lippe.

Not only within the two settlement cores, but along the entire course of the Pader, Rothe and Riembeke, small businesses integrated the flowing waters into their production processes. To produce flax fibres (linen), the stem plants were placed in the cold river to be soaked and rinsed – from the perspective of the authorities, this was a nuisance, which was forbidden in the “police regulations for the large and small Pader” (1866).[5] Willows standing on the banks were regularly pruned until the 1930s in order to sell the branches obtained as „Kribbwerk“ to professional basket weavers.[6] The Pader also served the regional fish trade. Before shipping his goods, a Paderborn trader tied a few bundles of „gebuckt“ (dried) stockfish together to water them in the strong current on a rope attached to the railing of a Pader bridge.[7]

[1] Cf. Schoppmeyer, Heinrich: Aspekte zur älteren Geschichte von Neuhaus (Studien und Quellen zur Geschichte von Stadt und Schloss Neuhaus, Bd. 2), Schloß Neuhaus 2009, p. 7-23, here p. 7f.

[2] Cf. Ortschronik of 1797, EAB Pb, AV Acta 88, fol. 56r-59r.

[3] On the use of the „calcareous Pader water“ for brewing beer in the early 17th century, cf. Detten, Wirtschaftsleben, p. 56.

[4] In detail: Original cadastre of the municipality of Neuhaus (1832): „Bäckerei“, no. 256: house, Bartholomeus Zurlage (Flur V, Parz. 85 and 89); „Kornmühle“, no. 15 , Heinrich Bodenstab (Flur V, Parz. 13); „Färberei“, No. 160: Heinrich Münder (Flur V, Parz. 14 and 15), LA Detmold, M 5 C, No. 1469/70. Mutterrolle (1867): „Metzgerei“, No. 698: Konrad Thombansen (Flur V, Parz. 90); „Kornmühle“, No. 504: Friedrich Müller (Flur V, Parz. 15); „Lohgerberei“, No. 477: Joseph and Fritz Menneke (Flur V, Parz. 26-28), LA Detmold, M 5 C, No. 5371/72. In 1877 a gold treasure was found during cleaning work in the Pader at the house of „Lohgerber Joseph Menneken“. Cf. Wurm, Neuhaus, p. 84.

[5] Vgl. § 13, LA Detmold, M1 III E, Nr. 151, p. 74.

[6] The two basket makers Hermann Josephs and Heinrich Brockhoff from Etteln are named as buyers for February 1933. Heinrich Brockhoff bought the rods from the town for 2 Reichsmark. StadtA Pb, A 4152, unfol. The motivation for the sale of willow rods can also be seen in a municipal letter dated 26 October 1935: „The sale will save wages for municipal workers.“ Ibid.

[7] Cf. Brüggemann, Conrad: Der Quellenreichtum und die Wassernot Paderborns, in: Die Warte 9/ Hft. 6 (1941), p. 47-48.

Learn more about Trade & Crafts on the Pader

Download essay

This is an excerpt from an essay by the historian Prof. Dr. Michael Ströhmer. The original title of the essay is: "Wirtschaftsregion Pader - Eine geschichtswissenschaftliche Skizze (1350-1950)". Should you have further interest in the economic history of the Pader, we recommend downloading the complete essay (PDF file).

To the contact form

Have you discovered a topic related to the Pader that has not yet been mentioned? We would be delighted if you would help us to bring "light into the darkness". So please feel free to send us your own articles about the Pader!