The “Patscheidhof” (old farm) in the vally of
Langtaufers (South Tyrol, Italy)
There are multiple Patscheid farms, including one in the
Langtaufer valley (which is being discussed here), one in
Paznaun (information is currently unknown), and one in
Signat near Bolzano (located in South Tyrol, Italy) on the
Riten. Although no longer owned by the Patscheider family,
the name has been preserved as the farm name. For a long
time, this farm was a great family-run restaurant with South
Tyrolean specialties, but is currently closed.
Here only the farm in the vally of Langtaufers is
referred to and discussed:
It's important to note that the original form of the
Patscheidhof no longer exists, as it was rebuilt around the
turn of the century (ca. 1906). Although owned by the Thöni
family today, it still displays the name “Patscheidhof” on
the front.
The Patscheiders, whose ancestry can be traced back to
Claus Patscheidt (born 1497), have spread not only
throughout Tyrol but also across half of Europe, as well as
on other continents. The Patscheidhof is home to the first
documented Patscheider.
In earlier times, a farm such as this was nearly a small
settlement comprised of multiple dwellings and farm
buildings. It was managed by several families, with usually
3 to 4 generations living on one farm.
If we assume that the average number of children at that
time was around 5 per marriage, we can estimate that such a
farm was home to about 50 to 100 people.
The Patscheidhof in the valley of Langtaufers is a sister
farm of the Gschwellhof, separated only by a stream
(s'Gschwell). The two farms have a close connection, and it
was not uncommon for inhabitants to move from one farm to
the other.
Dissertation from Engelbert Waldner:
The main source of my knowledge is a dissertation by
Engelbert Waldner from 1950, in which the Patscheidhof
is examined in more detail.
For this page, I have copied the relevant passages of
the dissertation, a copy of which is available to me. I
have only adapted the spelling of general words to
today's conditions and corrected obvious typing errors.
I have translated the text to english. The wording has
been taken from the original german text. In order to
clearly distinguish the monetary values from the dates,
I have added thousand points and a decimal point to the
monetary values. The currency is guilder, the
abbreviation for guilder is given as "fl".
Beginning Excerpt from: "a contribution to the
historical regional studies of South Tyrol" Dissertation
for obtaining the philosophical doctorate at the
Leopold-Franzens-University of Innsbruck. Submitted in
January 1950 by Engelbert Waldner:
C. Settlement history -> 3. farm genealogies
-> Patscheidhof
Patscheid, the original farm of the widespread clan
of Patscheider, comprises two stately houses and is situated
at 1803m above sea level.
The Patscheidhof is probably already listed in 1317
in the account of the Haupold Passeier among the properties
of the sovereign, but it is not the one in Langtaufers, but
the farm of the same name in Paznaun. In 1450 this farm is
again listed among those of the sovereign, but this time it
is explicitly mentioned that it was located in Paznaun.
The Patscheidhof in Langtaufers is mentioned for the
first time in 1448 among the former Starkenberg estates. The
interest for this farm at that time was 28 Schot cheese and
4 Schot lard, the same interest is also stated in the Urbar
of the year 1466. In 1522 it appears under the title
"Starckenberger Zins".
In this year 1522 Hans von Patschayd is mentioned as
the owner of the farm, it is probably the father of Claus
Patscheider, who was the owner of the farm until 1564. In
this year the father gave the whole Patscheidhof to his
three children Paul, Florian Patscheider and Hans Wadeller
for his wife Anna Patscheiderin which the parents reserved
the usufruct from a part of the farm until their death. In
the following period, however, there is only talk of Paul
Patscheider, presumably he acquired his siblings share of
the farm, so that a division was avoided. This Paul
Patscheid died in 1584 and left three sons named Veith,
Thoman and Pauli, as well as two daughters, Ursula and
Barbara. After the death of Pauli, half of the farm must
have been sold, because in 1598 Sigmund Stecher owned half
of the farm at Patscheid, while the other half was owned by
the eldest son of Pauli, Veith Patscheider. We will then
find the second oldest at the "Gschwellhof", as the first
representative of his clan on this farm. In 1635 Christian
Stecher, the son of Sigmund, died childless.
In 1636 Simon Stecher, a brother of Christian, and
Fliri (Florian) Patscheider appear as owners of the
Patscheidhof.
1649 were Florian Wadeller and Florian Patscheider.
In 1649 Wadeller exchanged his half farm to Hanns
Lenntsch.
In 1670 Fliri Patscheider died and left three
children, Christian, Florian and Katherina.
Hanns Lenntsch kept his half of the farm until 1683,
when he exchanged it with Thoman Joss. Four years later the
owner changed again, Gregori Plangger acquired the Joss farm
half for 1,540 fl. From this half of the farm four days of
meadow had been sold in 1674.
In 1710 Pauli Patscheider sold Josef Folie a farm
share in Patscheid, as he had acquired it from Gregori
Plangger.
This was the only line I could follow up to here.
But while already here the clans changed frequently - in a
little more than hundred years 7 different family names - so
I face a confusing jumble of sales, divisions and exchange
contracts, which make a coherent representation impossible
regarding the other farm shares since the second half of the
17th century.
In the course of the 17th and 18th centuries,
several dwarf estates developed, which then often passed
from hand to hand as rolling estates in rapid succession.
This seems strange to us, when on the neighboring
Gschwellhof, in contrast to this, we will find a certain
clear line in the sequence of ownership. I will now list
individual changes of ownership, and from the indicated
purchase sum one will be able to deduce the size of the
estate:
1637: Veith Patscheider's heirs sell their joint
property to Hans Patscheider, innkeeper at Tschamppen in
Reschen, for 540 fl.
1676: Christian Patscheider leaves his brother
Florian from a farm 1/3 dwelling, barn, stable, a field and
a piece of land for 376, - fl. 1682 Florian Patscheider
sells this to Jakob Mayr.
1684 Georg Follie sells to his brother-in-law Veith
Patscheider as much meadow as one can mow in 4 days as early
meadow for 463,- fl.
In 1699 Thoman Folie sold Hanns Patscheider at the
Gschwellhof as much meadow as one can mow in 3 days for
339,- fl.
1703: Christian Stecher sells to Christian Theni,
master tailor, half a dwelling, barn and stable, half of 1
Muth, 3 Mezen seed field and as much meadow as one can mow
in 2 days for 292, - fl.
1705: Christian Baumgartner's children sell to
Christian Theni 1/4 dwelling, barn and stable, a piece of
field and meadow for 175,- fl.
1710: Katharina Bedrossin leaves a "Gietl zu
Patscheid" to Thoman Patscheider for 520,- fl.
1710: Johannes Blass exchanges his estate at
Patscheid with that of Jakob Franck at Pedross.
1725: Thoman Patscheider sells his "Gistl" to the
"fürnemben" Christian Follie, a court-ordered servant, at
the Grubhof for 431,- fl.
1728: Thoman Patscheider sells to Clemens Pämgarter
from his still owning "Haimbetly" the half for 530,- fl.
1728: Maria Mallsauerin sells the property to her
son Anthoni for 745,- fl.
1739: Christian Fritz sells Johannes Danäll a
"Gietl" at Patscheid for 382,- fl.
If one now considers that around 1700 an average
farm in the valley cost about 1,200 to 1,500 fl., one can
get an idea of the size of these dwarf estates.
A good overview of the ownership situation can be
found in the main and stock register from 1740. At that time
there were 4 dwellings in Patscheid.
The property of the Patscheidhof is shared by the
following people:
Christian Follie Jr: 1/2 dwelling, about a quarter
of the goods.
Anthoni Franck: 1/2 house and not quite a quarter of
the farm estates.
Johannes Tanall: 1 dwelling and 5 days meadow.
Thoman Patscheider's widow: 1/2 dwelling and 2 days
mown meadow.
Nikolaus Warger: 1/2 dwelling and a little garden.
Maria Patscheiderin: 1/2 house, as much meadow as
you can mow in a day, 1 easure of grain Acker.
Johannes Pämgartner: 1 days mown meadow, 1 measure
of grain field.
Clement Pämgartner: 1/2 dwelling, 2 days mown
meadow, 1 measure of grain field.
Gabriel Patscheider, Michael Eller and Florian Eller
each own 2 days mown meadow.
Michael Eller and Hans Patscheiders children
together a field.
In the next centuries we can observe a somewhat
retrograde movement, I suppose that between 1740 and
1775 a fire catastrophe incinerated the whole hamlet,
because in 1775 there were only 2 houses to Patscheid
compared to 4 in 1740.
In 1775 a large part of the farm was in the hands
of the:
Gabriel Follie: a whole dwelling, 3/4 yoke field, 13
days mowing early and 5 days mowing late meadow.
Florian Patscheider: 1/3 dwelling, 1/8 yoke field
and 4 days mown meadow.
Christian Theni: 1/3 dwelling, 1/8 yoke field and 4
days mown meadow.
Michael Baumgartner: 1/3 dwelling, 1/8 yoke Acker
und 4 days mown meadow.
Jakob Warger: 1/6 dwelling alone.
In 1809 Gabriel Follie's property passed to his son
Martin, who had taken it over from his father in 1778.
In 1876 Johann Eller sells his farm estate at
Patscheid to Josef Theni, farmer's son at Gschwell.
In 1894 Johann Folie left his farm at Patscheid to
his son Otto for 3400 fl.
Today (1950) two, respectively three well-situated
farmers share the whole Patscheidhof.
We can still find the Folie there today. We saw the
first representative of this clan on the Patscheidhof in
Josef Folie in 1710.
Today (1950) Gabriel Folie, the son of Isidor, owns
the whole dwelling No. 60 alone, 56a 36m field and 3 ha
96a 91m meadow. The two cousins Johann and Josef Theni
share the other dwelling. The estates are merged because
Joseph is childless. Josef owns besides the half house
22a 41m arable land, 1ha 96a meadow and Johann 30a 4m
arable land and 3 ha 32a 96m meadow.
End Excerpt from: "a contribution to the
historical regional studies of South Tyrol" Dissertation
for the attainment of the philosophical doctorate at the
Leopold-Franzens-University of Innsbruck. Submitted in
January 1950 by Engelbert Waldner.
