120 years of rural life in pictures
Created: 04/22/2022, 19:00
By: Markus Schwarzkugler
Heavy field work with cattle: Anna Stampfl and Thomas Kleidorfer from Zustorf did not know any different in 1935.
© Archive Lahr/Kriegmair
A new, more than 300-page illustrated book is dedicated to agriculture through the ages, namely in Wartenberg, Berglern and Langenpreising.
Some of the photos are almost 120 years old.
Langenpreising/Berglern/Wartenberg – When Helmut Lahr gets into storytelling, he doesn't stop that quickly.
No wonder, the man has been researching local history for decades and has published numerous books.
Born in Langenpreising, who has lived in Garching for a long time, of course he also knows this one episode, which he calls "The Bet".
"It's legendary in Langenpreising.
It was told to me by my father when I was a child,” says the 66-year-old.
At the center of the story: the Simmerl, "a modest man who became a celebrity".
The story takes place around 1960. “Back then, like every year, the threshing machine was in action at the Hofer z'Hof.
The operating team also included the extremely strong Simmerl from Wartenberg,” says Lahr.
While working, Simmerl sees a sack with a quintal of wheat.
How far could he carry it? he is asked.
"With oamoi obsetzn to Wartenberg," says Simmerl.
"If I can do it, then it's mine!" The bet stands, and the Simmerl carries the quintal to the then Wartenberg town sign, drops it off there and then carries the sack up the long, steep stairs of the north settlement to his house.
Bet won.
Large contingent of tractors and people: This photo was taken in 1958. At that time, a vehicle blessing took place in Wartenberg, which attracted many people.
© Archive Lahr/Kriegmair
There are countless anecdotes like these somewhere behind the many illustrations that Lahr lets speak for themselves in his new book.
The more than 320-page thick book is now the fourth collaboration with the Langenpreisinger veteran and community chronicler Sepp Kriegmair (84), for which the two have plundered their private archives again.
"Peasant life in old and new pictures" is the name of the work, which concentrates roughly on the communities of Berglern, Langenpreising and Wartenberg.
It is now available from Kriegmair.
The two local researchers bequeathed one copy to the Wartenberg media center.
At the spinning wheel: Helmut Lahr's grandmother Maria Schäffler (1874-1955), the "Kuglerin" at Langenpreising.
© Lahr
“We devote ourselves to rural life then and now.
The older ones among us can still remember the time when the draft animals were harnessed and not the tractor.
When the meadows and fields were still mowed with a scythe and loaded onto the handcart with a fork,” says Lahr.
Who can't remember?
He finds enough pictures in the book that show the sweaty work of yesteryear.
The oldest photos are almost 120 years old and date from 1904. Many farms that still exist today are also shown, and many people are named.
“We have installed numerous relatives and friends of ours.
We think and hope that the majority of readers will also discover part of their family history in the book," says Lahr,
Even an expert on old tools: local chronicler Sepp Kriegmair.
© Kriegmair
Finally, he unpacks a little anecdote for us.
It's about a farmer's first test drive with his tractor, sometime in the 1950s.
"In Lern, people still tell the story today," says Lahr.
In any case, that farmer tried to stop the Buldog, who was not yet so familiar to him, with a "Brrrrr" - "in Bavaria this has actually been handed down for centuries as a stop command for draft animals.
It's hard to imagine that the tractor was already responding to voice commands back then," says Lahr with a smile.
The book "Peasant Life in Old and New Pictures" is now available in an edition of 75 from Sepp Kriegmair at Prisostraße 9 in Langenpreising, Tel. (0 87 62) 26 74. Price per piece: 35 euros.
