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Innkeepers in Württemberg

David Stumpp

Sources from the early 19th century refer to David Stumpp as "Burger, Metzger, Ochsenwirth" (Citizen, Butcher, Proprietor of the Oxen Inn) in the village of Köngen.

Inns were a social center in every community, and the innkeeper was a highly respected member of the community. Inns often have names such as "the Crown," "the Stag," "the Lion,"—in this case, "the Ox." The townspeople were required to patronize the inn and buy certain amounts of alcoholic beverages on social occasions, such as family events and Kirmes (fairs). Conversely, certain members of the community, notably the pastor and teacher, were often forbidden to frequent the inn.

David Stumpp was born in the nearby village of Unterensingen and may have taken over the inn around the time of his marriage to Rahel Klein in 1801, while continuing to live in Unterensingen where their children were born. He was Ochsenwirth in Köngen in 1822 when their daughter, Anna Barbara Stumpp, married Gottfried Knoos. David is listed as #2031 (p. 236) in the Ortssippenbuch Köngen, an index to the church Family Registers.

David's son-in-law, Gottfried Knoos, had taken over as Ochsenwirth by 1840, a year after David's death. Gottfried remained Ochsenwirth in Köngen until 1856 when he moved his family to Oberndorf where he was Rosenwirth (Innkeeper at the Rose Inn) until his death in 1863. A few years later, his daughter, Christiane Caroline Knoos, emigrated, eventually settling in Page County, Iowa.

Amazingly, the Oxen Inn still survives in Köngen as Gasthous Ochsen.

 

Gottfried Knoos

COMING SOON

 

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