Municipal fishing and fish farming

Agriculture & Fishery

The construction of communal fish ponds and dams („piscinas et fossata“) is documented for the year 1297. For a long time, however, these waters remained the property of the bishop, which often led to disputes between the citizens and their city ruler.[1] Probably built directly on the Pader – whether inside or outside the city fortifications remains unclear – one pond can be located near a „Steinerne Brücke“ (stone bridge; „pontem lapidium“).[2] As early as 1311, the bishop confirmed the city’s ownership of a total of six fish ponds, which, however, were probably scattered around Paderborn. Since 1500, seven town ponds have been known by name, but unfortunately they can no longer be clearly located in the „Feldmark“ (parish land).[3] It was only on the basis of more recent field designations, made in the 1830s, that at least two former Pader ponds can be delimited in the terrain. In 1832, the royal Prussian domain property included two meadows, which refer to ponds that had been drained in the meantime: the „Stadtteich an der Pader“ („City pond on the Pader“) (Flur VI, Parcel 20, approx. 10 acres) and to the north of it the meadow „Postteich“ („Post pond“) (Flur VI, Parcel 21, approx. 18 acres).[4] The „Stadtteich an der Pader“, which was located directly west of the branching of the „Kleine Pader“ („Small Pader“) from the „Mühlenpader“ („Mill Pader“), is presumably the „Statts Teich“ (Town pond), which is mentioned as such in a Neuhaus property register as early as the 18th century.[5]

References and bibliography

[1] Cf. BALZER, Untersuchungen, p. 709.

[2] The fuzzy term “Steinerne Brücke” or “stone bridge” is used for several Paderborn bridges in the written tradition of the Paderborn fieldmark. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the “pons lapideus” is also referred to as “Schafbrücke”, and in the new survey of the “Fürstengärten” of 1743, again simply as “Steinbrücke”. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the term “island bridge” is also found, which led the Fürstenweg east past the spa and baths. What is meant in all cases is the massive, two-arched structure that led today’s Fürstenweg in a north-south direction across the Pader. Cf. BALZER, Manfred: Zum Verhältnis von Stadtlandwehr und Stadtgebiet. Das Beispiel Paderborn, in: WZ 163 (2013), pp. 183-220, here pp. 204f., notes 93-98. A drawing of the “Stone Bridge” can be found, among others, in a veduta next to the “Water Gate” of the Pader, made by Johann Conrad Schlaun in 1719. A simple side profile of this bridge, which no longer exists today, is also attached to Paderborn’s application for the construction of a water intake at the “Inselbrücke” (island bridge) from June 1931. Cf. StadtA Pb, A 5551, unfol.

[3] Mentioned in the episcopal feudal deeds are the “Niendik”, “Borgdik”, “Galgenmolendik”, Tegeldik”, “Middeldik”, “Blankendik” and “Overstadesdik”. Cited in BALZER, Untersuchungen, p. 710.

[4] LA Detmold, M 5 C, No. 1469, “Tarif der steuerbaren Reinerträgen der Gemeinde Neuhaus,” lfd. No. 42 and 43.

[5] Cf. EAB Pb, AV Acta 88, “Aufmessungen […] des Stadts Teich”, fol. 32r.

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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).

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