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

The subject of the treatise are the forests (woods) and their economy on _iče and Fraj_tanj 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 _iče 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 Fraj_tanj 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.

In der Abhandlung werden die Wälder zweier Herrschaften _iče (Seitz) und Fraj_tanj (Freistein) und ihre Bewirtschaftung in dem erwähnten Zeitraum behandelt. Beide wurden durch die Innerösterreichische Staatsgüteradministration in Gradec (Graz) verwaltet. Die erste Herrschaft lag im Hügelland um den Markt Konjice (Gonobitz), die zweite aber hauptsächlich in der Ebene um die Ortschaften Zgornja in Spodnja Polskava (Ober- und Unter Pulsgau), nicht weit voneinander entfernt. Die Wälder beider Herrschaften wurden im großen Umfang mit Servitutsrechten zugunsten eigener Untertanen und Untertanen fremder Herrschaften belastet. Bei der ersten machte sich die Verwaltung Gedanken um in den Wäldern Separation durchzuführen, die eine bessere Bewirtschaftung der Wälder gewährleisten sollte, obwohl die Separation erst nach einigen Jahrzehnten durchgeführt wurde. Bei der zweiten Herrschaft wurde die Separation noch nicht in Betracht gezogen.