This translation was sent to me by Simon Alff an English cousin, who was here to visit me with his family on the 28th of Febraury 2000. Thanks a lot !
The
original was in German and it was written by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm
Alff (original article was received on 7.10.1999 sent by
Birlenberg-Alff Agnes)
History of the Alff family and the Prüm leather industry.
The origin of the extensive Alff family (also spelt Alf) in Prüm
goes back to the 6th century A.D. It is closely connected with
the leather industry in Prüm, which is of similar age. With the
decline of Roman rule in Gaul, the liberated areas on both sides
of the Mosel came under Frankish sovereignty. This resulted in a
new division of the areas into Gaue and
Hundertschaften. The new division of the land also
corresponded to the administration of justice. Jurisdiction was
exercised by higher and lower judicial authorities. Exceptions
were the royal courts, free patrimonial courts whose rights of
possession were the prerogative of the king. The royal courts
(villa regia) had their own jurisdiction. Celto-Germanic tribes
inhabited the Trier area at that time. The newly formed
Gaue were also named after them.
The Karoesen tribe lived in the Prüm
Gau. It was integrated easily into the realm of the
Franks. The structure of the judiciary, which provided for the
involvement of lay assessors elected from the people for all
Courts of Law, was fully approved by the inhabitants of the
Gau. The Courts in the Hundertschaften
processed the most important offences concerning property and
suits relating to the liberty of persons and penal cases
(criminal matters). They were called Hundgerichte,
and also Hochgerichte and Hochding. Then
there was also a Gemeindegericht or
Zehnereigericht, which was concerned with settling
economic matters and rural police offences. The royal courts had
their own jurisdiction.
In the Karoesgau there were five royal courts :
Prüm, Alff, Awe, Selich and Gundebrett. The Law courts were held
under a mighty beech tree, the Kings Beech,
where the Law was administered in the name of the King. The Law
Courts were in Bering of the royal court of Alff. The forenamed
Courts and the Kings Beech are mentioned in a
document dating from the year 806. Only the two courts of Prüm
and Alff have developed over the centuries to larger places and
have also been of importance for the descendants of the first
owners.
The Royal Court of Alff
Its economic rise is mainly attributable to the fact that both
courts were closely associated with one another from the
beginning. The court of Prüm soon incorporated the leather
industry into its agricultural activities, and the court of Alff
(today Bleialf), which had rich mineral resources, carried out
mining of lead ores at its Bering. The Alff mining industry
developed over the centuries into one of the most important in
the spa town of Trier.
The royal court of Alff takes its name from the river Alf, and
the court of Prüm took its name from the river Prüm. The
situation of the latter in the Prüm valley and the water
conditions there were particularly favourable to the setting up
of tanneries. An essential factor which contributed to the
successful development of the leather industry was that there
were extensive tan pits in the surrounding area which supplied
the necessary tanning agents for leather processing. The fact
that the people at Alff were always connected with the Prüm
leather industry is evident from historical documents.
By the time of Charlemagne the Prüm leather industry was already
in full flower. Through an envoy, Charlemagne sent valuable gifts
to his contemporary, the great calif Harun al Raschid, which
included travelling cases made of Prüm leather, manufactured in
Prüm.
The 30 Years War and the upheavals of the last few centuries have
destroyed so much in the country around Trier. Nor was the Prüm
leather industry spared, but it always managed to recover even
from the most severe blows. The tanning family Alff, in
particular, stands out in the struggle for existence going back
over 1000 years. The industry enjoyed another period during which
it flowered at the beginning of the last century, after the
French revolution.
Many thousands of local hides and exotic hides from overseas were
processed every year. Prüm sole leather was a sought-after item
on the market, particularly as it was described by experts as the
best Rhenish leather. This is also confirmed in a report by the
Trier Government of 5th October 1836, which states :
Business still continues actively in leather manufacturing
in Prüm. Last month 145 cart loads of sole leather were sent to
the fairs at Frankfurt and Leipzig. In a report from a
later year, the Trier Chamber of Commerce also emphasises the
significance of the Prüm leather industry, which enjoyed a
considerable upturn in the first half of the last century in
particular. The leather factory belonging to the brothers Franz,
Bartholomäus and Jacob Alff is described in this report as being
especially important. The genealogical line of this Eifel tanning
family goes back to the 6th century, as already mentioned in the
introduction.
Major royal courts, such as Prüm and Alff, owned spacious
industrial buildings, and also Wohntürme (castles)
as a defence against attacks by enemies. The rulers of the land
occasionally stayed overnight at these courts. For example, the
Chronicles of the town of Merzig tell how that Kaiser Lothar
stayed in the royal court there when he visited the Trier area in
autumn 843. He also visited Prüm and Alff. Court hunts were also
held at that time in the large Schneifelwald which
lay between the two Courts. Kaiser Lothars last resting
place is in the old abbey church at Prüm. The owners of the
patrimonial royal courts (castles) called each other
noblemen. They were Gaugrafen.
Clodwig (481 - 511) is the founder of the greater Frankish
Empire. The Franks were divided into three main branches : the
Sal Franks lived in the Rhine delta, the
Ripuarians held the area from Cologne to Trier, and
the Eifel was also in their possession. South of Trier as far as
the region of Lothringen was inhabited by the
Chatten. Unification started with the Sal
Franks. Their highly gifted king, Clodwig, of the Merovingian
dynasty, pursued the aim of conquering the whole of Gaul and
uniting all Franks under one sceptre. He conquered the remaining
Roman possessions in Gaul, the area around Soisson and Paris, won
victory over the Alemanni, whose expansion was threatening the
Franks on the lower Rhine, and pushed aside all the kings of the
other Frankish tribes. So in the year 500 Prüm, too, came under
the rule of Clodwig with the empire of the Ripuarian Franks. In
the same year the patrimonial royal courts of Prüm and Alff were
founded in the newly created Karoesgau.
After the victory at Zülpich in 496 Clodwig was baptised by the
Bishop of Rheims. Many Franks followed the Kings example.
This meant that religious unity was established between the Roman
inhabitants of Gaul, who were already Christians, and the
Frankish conquerors. The Christian faith then quickly spread to
the whole Karoesgau from the royal courts, where
Christian parishes were set up with magnificent churches.
Bertrada, a princess of the Merovingian dynasty, with her son
Charibert, endowed the famous Benedictine abbey in Prüm at the
royal court of Prüm in 672. The princess, who lived in the
castle of Mürlenbach which was situated on the Kyll, was the
grandmother of the wife of the French king Pipin. King Pipin and
Charlemagne increased the abbeys wealth by rich
bestowments, and the abbeys fortunes increased still
further under Charlemagnes son Ludwig the Pious. The Abbey
of Prüm, which was under the patronage of the princes, had a
seat and a vote in the princes council. In 1576 the abbey,
which had hitherto been independent, was united with the
Archbishopric of Trier. The prince electors and archbishops of
Trier were from then on administrators of the abbey and from that
time also had a seat and a vote in the princes council.
In Bering of the royal court of Alff there were huge lead ore
deposits, which were already being exploited by the first owner.
After mining was carried out here most successfully for around
1400 years, the industry had to be laid up in 1884 because there
was no longer a market for it. At the beginning of the second
World War mining operations were temporarily taken up again. A
few years ago, when clearing a patch of woodland, the remains of
a glassworks were found, which experts believed to date from the
early Frankish period. During the excavations, as well as cinders
and glass shards, a well preserved glass ladle was found bearing
the image of the Virgin Mary.
From the Alff family history The surnames Alf and Alff occur in
the area around Trier, most frequently the name Alff, the origin
of which goes back to a royal domain Alff, which enjoyed special
freedoms even in the early Middle Ages. The court of Alff, with
three other courts, formed an immediate district with its own
jurisdiction. In the middle of this district there was a mighty
beech tree, where from time to time Court proceedings were held,
presided over by an Earl, where adjudications were pronounced in
the name of the King. In the area of the royal domain of
Alff are the famous lead ore deposits, which, however, were not
exploited until the late Middle Ages. The settlement which arose
later near the lead mines was called Bleialff (today Bleialf).
The four courts of Alff, Selerich, Awe and Gundebrett were the
only ones in the Eifel where Law was administered in the name of
the King. In the year 1806 a Buoche (beech tree) was
designated as the boundary of the Prüm forest, which is called
Boicht in 1304, Bescheit in 1581 and
Beechent in 1601, and turns out to be the village of
BucHet near Bleialf, which today lies so idyllically
on the edge of the Schneifelwald. This Court
Beech is referred to in later historical collections of
judicial sentences as the Kings Beech. The
relevant passage reads : At the same place 4 Courts are
divided - Alff, Awe (today Awo), Selerich and Gundebrett, and 3
Bistump (bishoprics) : Trier, Coelin and Kendigh
(Luettich).
A castle formerly stood near the Kings Beech.
The following legend is recounted of this castle : Once upon a
time the Lord of the castle was riding to Christmas mass in
Bleialf during a severe snowstorm. He lost his way and wandered
about for a long time in the darkness of the night. When he had
already lost all hope of rescue, he suddenly heard, from afar,
the Christmas bells ringing, showing him the way to Bleialf. In
gratitude for being saved in his hour of need, the Lord of the
castle set up an endowment for the parish church at Bleialf, so
that, every year, the bells are to ring for an hour before the
start of mass at Christmas. Descendants of the inhabitants of the
court of Alff are said to have been the first to introduce the
leather industry in Prüm in the early Middle Ages. Prüm has
always been famous for its sophisticated leather industry, and
its products, as the best Rhenish sole leather, are still
prominent at market (Leipzig fair). The name Alff has been a
conspicuous name throughout the centuries.