On the history of the Hessian State Domain Frankenhausen

Recent research has shown that already in the 9th century Corvey estates to the extent of four hectares were recorded in Frankenhausen. That it was not just a small hamlet is shown by the fact that the village had a church and a cemetery. In 1336 at the latest, the village of Frankenhausen was referred to as "Wüstung". Nevertheless, parts of the parish continued to be used. Since the middle of the 17th century, the district has been in the possession of the landgraves as an estate and has been continuously farmed by tenants as an agricultural estate ever since. At the beginning of the 19th century, arable farming was the main focus of the farm, ahead of sheep and dairy farming. After 1870, the number of dairy cows was increased considerably, so that the herd for supplying the nearby city of Kassel with milk and fresh products soon grew to 100 animals. Around the same time, the start of sugar beet cultivation represented a milestone in the transformation of production conditions. The intensification through beet and potato cultivation led to an increased demand for labor, so that by the end of the century the domain provided a permanent place to live and work for 30 people in addition to about 40 seasonal workers.

the farm gained additional importance as a training farm in agriculture and home economics. Until the mid-1970s, when the preferential milk production and the sheep and sow breeding were abandoned, the domain was a lively and versatile agricultural enterprise, which was closely intertwined with the life of the region through its marketing structures. From that time on, the farm was managed as a livestock-less intensive farm by 3 workers, focusing on cereal seed production and sugar beet cultivation, and was one of the top farms in the region in terms of yield. Most recently, winter wheat, winter barley, winter rye, sugar beets and occasionally oats were cultivated, with peak yields of over 100 dt/ha for winter wheat, for example. With the impoverishment of the crop rotation and the specialization of the farm, not only were structural elements and near-natural land taking reduced, but also the social, economic and communicative links with the surroundings of the domain decreased continuously; the farm was no longer accessible to the public. In this condition, the domain was taken over by the University of Kassel in July 1998.

In the research project on the economic and social history of Frankenhausen of the Department of Agricultural History (Prof. Troßbach, Department 11) and the Department of History (Prof. Wunder, Department 5), the history was intensively researched under many different questions.