Tenant Farmers in Denmark (Fæstebønder)

Being copyholder or smallholder meant that one rented a property with land by a landowner. A landowner could be a private person, but also could be more prestigious, such as the king or university. A tenant farmer could stay in the house or on the farm and cultivate the soil. In return, the tenant farmer would pay indfæstning (money paid by the renting party upon accession or renewal of the plot of land) and landgilde and make hoveri. At least until the head depot was lifted - and it was later in 1850.

Landgilde and Hoveri
Indfæstning: the amount the tenants had to pay to begin residing on a farm or in a house. Landgilde: the annual fee paid by tenants - either with cash or in kind, such as an amount of grain or pig. Hoveri: work that tenants were required to do without pay. If a tenant could not pay taxes or not manage the farm well enough, the landowner would remove the tenant and replace him with a new tenant.

Fæstekontrakterne in duplicate
Fæstekontrakterne (sometimes called fæstebrevene) were written contracts between two parties, typically between the landlord and the tenant.

By regulation on 23 January 1719, it was decided that all fæstekontrakterne were to be made in two copies, the original for the tenants, and the copy for the landowner (called reversalfæstebrevet). The original letter typically contained information on:


 * the landowner
 * the fæstebrev
 * the location of the tenancy
 * the soil and grain quality
 * the previous tenants and any relationships to the new tenants
 * reasons for the change in tenancy
 * indication of landgilde and hoveri
 * any other conditions, including the location of tenancy

The letter should also be copied into a protokol or minutes. Two witnesses were often present to validate the contract.

In the late 1700s tenant system was reformed - among other things, it became established copyhold, which gave tenants the right to have such a son or son in law continue tenancy. Shank care system was finally abolished by Act of 30 June 1919 - but since there were hardly any tenants back.

Several kinds of clip archives
It is not only bolster the Protocols, which tells of tenants and life circumstances. In freight archives will find example also hoveriforordninger that can reveal how much the peasant had to work for the landowner. There may be diaries of the head depot, where you can see exactly had the individual peasant granted work and when. There may also be visually business or land books, which gives names of tenants and also inform on the standard in the farms and houses they lived in.