Little is known about the living conditions and social status of the woodcutters and charcoal burners. They spent most of their time secluded in the forests and rarely came into contact with the local rural population. Only the carters, who transported the charcoal to the ironworks, were familiar to them. This spatial separation inevitably led to social isolation, which was also explicitly desired by the peasant population.
Already in the 1992 completed residents' register of Nunkirchen, Hans Peter Klauck dealt with many forest worker families who lived in the forests near the ironworks. These families repeatedly appeared in his further genealogical work. In the following period, he tried to document all forest worker and vagabond families in the Saar-Hunsrück area through research in residents' and family books as well as many church records. Through the comprehensive evaluation of the sources, the migration movements of the forest workers also became visible. Due to the large number of individuals recorded, the author limits himself in his new publication to a selection of families who were temporarily resident in the Saarwellingen, Schwarzenholz, and Reisbach areas.
The paperback booklet "Of Charcoal Burners and Woodcutters: Tracing a Non-Sedentary Population Group (also in the Forests of Saarwellingen, Schwarzenholz, and Reisbach)" by Hans Peter Klauck was published by the Cultural Office of the Municipality of Saarwellingen and comprises 47 pages. Priced at €4.80, it is available at the information desk of the Saarwellingen town hall or can be ordered by email at kultur@saarwellingen.de (shipping costs apply).
