The 12 apostles of Radebeul

Many a reader will be puzzled by this headline, as most Radebeul residents are probably unaware of when and where there were supposed to have been twelve apostles in Radebeul.

The owners of the farms "Am Kreis" belonged to the old parish. They were therefore the owners of the common land. Those who were only "householders" and owned little or no land had no or only minor "privileges and rights" for many centuries. This was laid down in the village regulations, the Rügen.

The causes of this unequal treatment can be traced back to the origins of Radebeul. Originally, eight farmers (later this number grew to twelve farms) settled here during the colonisation period, who were lured here by a "locator" from their old homeland (Franconia, Thuringia and Lower Saxony) by various rights and benefits in order to settle and cultivate this area. These rights were thus securitised by the landlord by means of the Rügen and were tied to the respective farm.

The existence of the old privileges led to a very peculiar constellation when, in 1838, the new Rural Municipal Code was passed and the "political" municipality of Radebeul came into being, thus ushering in the beginnings of local self-government.

A municipal council was elected and chaired by the elected municipal council. Previously, there had been village magistrates and bailiffs, who always came from the centre of the old community. As a rule, the village judge was the farmer who had the largest farm, i.e. the one with the most land (a hoof). This was certainly the case in the early days of the village. The judges could be elected or appointed by the landlord. A hereditary transfer of the office of village judge was less common in our area.

These 12 old parish farmers were nicknamed "the 12 apostles". And although their special status had been null and void since 1839 (when the Landgemeindeordnung of 1838 came into force), the Radebeul municipal council reached a settlement with the old community on 17 March 1843. This stipulated that the so-called "Creis" and the Elbwiese should continue to belong to the old municipality. Of course, the taxes also had to be paid by the owners. In addition, the municipal council levied a special interest of two Reichstalers, which was to be paid into the municipal treasury by the old municipality.

It is no longer possible to determine when the 12 "Altgemeindler", who elected a board of directors with an unlimited term of office from among themselves, began to go by the nickname "Apostel". After the settlement, they called themselves by this name, organised their communal property and wrote down the stipulations they had made.

The "Creis" was actually garden land with stone pillars and a board fence, which the old community had to maintain with unpaid labour. However, the building materials they supplied were paid for. The pump well, which was located on the "Creis", also had to be maintained by the old municipality.

The annual settlements took place once a year from the end of November to mid-December in an unspecified order at the members' homes. This "settlement" was a celebration from the very beginning. The farmer who was responsible for organising the "Festival" received a light allowance of 2 Neugroschen and 5 Pfennigs. This is a small indication that even back then, house lighting was associated with not inconsiderable costs. No expense was spared on food and drink, as the wives were also invited to this celebration. In some years, the expenses for this feast even caused a deficit in the accounts, with roast pork, Wellfleisch and sauerkraut, carp and roast veal. After 1875, however, there was often only butter, bread and cheese, followed by coffee with rusks and stollen as afternoon refreshments. The main thing, of course, was the wine, which was either obtained from a neighbour (old parishioner) or from outside the district. Every new "apostle" had to spend his first pint, usually half a bucket of wine.

In addition to this festive annual reckoning, every opportunity for a drink was always taken, especially when the apostles came together for joint work. The repair of the "creeper bed", which usually took place on the morning and afternoon of the day of reckoning, had to be toasted with beer and "brandy" - the latter explained by the cold season.

However, these old rights became less and less popular over time. In May 1897, part of a plot of land belonging to the old community was expropriated as it was needed for the four-track extension of the railway. The old community received financial compensation for this.

After the year 1904 brought a severe drought and even the district well ran dry, the old municipality applied for the district land to be transferred to the political municipality of Radebeul free of charge in exchange for the demolition of the fire station.

However, everything remained the same for the time being due to the equal balance of votes. But as early as 1909, when the previous board finally resigned from office, the decision was approved by all the apostles to hand over the district land to the municipality of Radebeul, to level the gardens and to remove the fire station. After all kinds of detours and obstacles, the district was redesigned and solemnly inaugurated on 16 December 1911 with a speech by an apostle.

It was not until 1914 that the complete transfer of ownership of the district grounds from the old parish to the political parish took place. However, this change of ownership was not formalised in writing until 12 August 1920. Even then, the mills of bureaucracy grinded very slowly and it was difficult to part with traditional rights. It was not until 1945 that the apostolic economy began to dissolve completely. The parish land was leased out in three parts (also to non-members). If an old congregation property passed into other hands, the new purchaser showed little interest in buying into the Apostles' community with the traditional purchase price.

P. S.: Even more details on the history of the 12 Apostles can be found in an elaboration by Hellmuth Sparbert from 1964 in the Radebeul town archives. This work is based on sources (minutes and accounts book of the Apostle congregation 1843 - 1960), which are unfortunately not available in the Radebeul town archives, but which concern important aspects of the town's history. Perhaps this book still exists? This book would be a valuable object for an exhibition on the occasion of Radebeul's 650th anniversary.

Annette Karnatz

Town Archivist