The forests of the estates Žiče and Frajštanj and their economy in the period between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century

Abstract

The subject of the treatise are the forests (woods) and their economy on Žiče and Frajštanj estates in the Lower Styria, which were the property of the Styrian Religion Fund, in the period between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. The first estate possessed 2365 and the second 1423 yokes of forests. The distribution of the tree species and the state of the forest stands, which were with some exceptions generally bad, are described. Detailed use of the forests, that were shared on one side between the bondmen, in the form of servitude rights (rights for felling the trees for firewood and building material, rights for the pasture of livestock and swines separately, and the rights to rake up the strewing) and on the other side the rights of the estate owners, are discussed. In that time the forests were to a great extent included in the husbandry of the bondsmen farms. The estates did not have the power to reduce the servitude rights, which were in force for ages. To small extent they attempted to regulate them, but with little success. The servitude rights were a great obstacle for good administration of the forests. The estate Žiče tryed to solve this problem through the cession (separation) of their forests parts to the bondsmen, which should denounce to their servitude rights on the remaining estate forests. But during the period in question the intention was not realized. These problems are extensively discussed in archival sources. On the estate Frajštanj the cession (separation) of the forests to bondsmen, for their denouncing to the servitude rights, has not been a topic yet. On both estates there  no traces can be observed about contemporary forest managing and the incomes from their forests were negligible.