THE GRAFSCHAFT AND THE GRAFSCHAFTER

 This is an article which was written by Dr. Harry Jellema in 1923. It was at one time translated from the Dutch into German, and now from German into English. It originally appeared in the September 1923 Wachter, which at that time was the Dutch counterpart of today's Banner, the magazine of the Christian Reformed Church.

Dr. Jellema was the embodiment of a real Grafschafter himself: unpretentious, direct, tolerant, and genuine, he was one of them, spoke their language and was received by his kinsmen with unrestrained enthusiasm. When he Grafschafter say, about all the wars they had to go through: "jeder orlag beginnt in het Hart van de menschen" (war begins in the heart of the people) it would echo in the heart of this great teacher of philosophy from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His maternal grandparents were Harm Hindrik Dobben from Hohenkorben and Janna Hinken from Osterwald. He visited the county of Bentheim in 1922 and repeatedly between 1966 and 1970, after his wife, the former Francis Peters had passed away.

In 1922 Dr. Jellema did some graduate studies at the University of Berlin. What follows is an account of some of the experiences he and his young wife encountered in October, 1922 during a visit to his relatives in the county of Bentheim which is between Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Jellema:

At eight a.m. the Overland Train (D Zug) left from the Central Station in Amsterdam headed for Berlin. Soon we were through the city and had entered the open country. To us Americans, the distances seemed short and soon we caught a glimpse on the heather fields of which we have so often read. The last station in The Netherlands is Oldenzaal, the first one in Germany is Bentheim. From the hill the old castle of Bentheim greets us!

The county of Bentheim is situated on the Dutch border. Much of the countryside is covered with heather fields. From this area hail many of our Reformed people and their pastors.

When you hear the surnames in the county of Bentheim you might think that you were in one of the Dutch-American settlements on Lake Michigan! Yes, indeed, here you find many things, untouched by progress and time. This is the way it must have been around 1850, when the first emigrants came to Michigan. Traditions and costume are so similar on either side of the ocean!

Would you like to know what a homestead in the county of Bentheim is all about?

It is all there! Amidst a forest of oak trees and much shrubbery, there lays protected on a low spot, a big read brick house. Around it like in a courtyard lay the haybarn, the backhouse, and the sheepbarn. The house has a straw roof. When you enter the barn-like part of the house you come into a dark area which is used as a threshing floor. On either side of this floor are cattle, tied to stanchions. At the end of this dark hall is a door that leads to the living quarters of the family. Here we enter a larger room that has a brick or stone floor. The focal point of the entire room is a large fireplace, which gets fed with peat and wood. The fireplace takes in an area of about six square feet, the smoke is taken up a tremendous hood which is stocked full with smoked bacon, ham, and sausages. Above the fire is a kettle-hal, a saw-like adjustable holder of pots and kettles. On the back of this big fireplace are two iron wall plates and above those Dutch Delft tiles with Biblical scenes and verses on them, both from the old and new testaments. The iron plates have the initials of the farm owners and some dates on them. The room has a beamed ceiling and between the beams are hooks which have bags of dried apples, meat, and other winter provisions hanging on them. Above the ceiling, for insulation as well as purposes of storage, are hay and rye sheaves of which some get threshed every morning on the threshing floor in the barn end of the house. On both sides of the big room are windows, and one window on the wall that divides the house and the barn end. In the evening a lantern is hung in this window, thereby sparsely lighting both rooms. Next to the fireplace are two doors: one leads into the basement and the other into other rooms (chests or upper room) in which the family linens and clothes are stored. When opened, the other doors in this room reveal closet beds.

 . In one corner of the great room is a grandfather clock. Farther on the wall are rims with Delft plates, and needlepoint pictures which the girls have made during their sewing lessons. Everything is very plain, almost primitive, but very homey. The Grafschafter are people with long traditions, yet each has their own personality. Perhaps just for this reason.

The host has his place in a wooden easy chair near the fire and smokes a very long pipe. At once we were offered chairs near him, which were upholstered with feather pillows from the dowry of the housewife. Footwarmers were brought for the ladies. Then the housewife offers food and drink and lots of it. The host passes the can of tobacco to the men and as the winter sun set, the warmth of the hearth becomes especially warm.

The farmers in the county of Bentheim know what goes on in the world. One need not limit conversation to agriculture and livestock prices. One can speak of everything, especially themes of politics and theology. In their conversation they show a logical mind and sharp judgement. Their church service is a true reflection of their theology and their dogma has often become a part and expression of their personalities. Are there no shadows in the lives of these "Grafschappers"? Oh yes, to name a few.

At first I could hardly comprehend it! Many of them have a tendency towards covetousness. All things must serve to protect, to improve, and enlarge the farm. (Man lives for the farm, not the farm for the man!) There is also a certain amount of petty bourgeois nosiness, especially about what goes on in their neighbor's house. This is not uncommon in rural areas, but I found this to be especially true in the Netherlands and in the county of Bentheim!

I should also mention the parental arranged marriages! The bigger the farm, the fuller the livestock barn, the better a daughter is married off. Nobody talks about love! It is not mentioned at all, that a young wife often for years has to work very hard under the auspice of her mother-in-law. There is not always harmony in the home through such an arrangement. Those who live under these circumstances, don't resent the situation. But to a stranger it makes a strange impression and one wonders how this practice can be reconciled with their religious beliefs.

 At the present, there is a great change in the county of Bentheim. People who used to walk now u_e bicycles. Straw roofs are being replaced with tile roofs. The big fireplaces are replaced by wood and coal stoves. The brick and Bentheimer sandstones which for centuries were floor material for the living quarters are done away with and used in the yards. In its place a seamless cement floor is popular, sometimes painted red. The wallbed have to be replaced with bedrooms by order of the government. Sometimes part of the big room is divided into bedrooms.

The costumes of the people are not worn all that much anymore. Nor does the husband always take on the wife's name if she inherits the property as it used to be in former times. The Grafschafter and the Grafschaft are not all that isolated anymore. In the schools, the children learn only German. The church services in Dutch occur less and less. The young people who went to war are not that traditional anymore. The First World War of 1914 - 1918 has shown this little place in the corner of Germany that the world has changed. In many homes I saw next to the needlepoint pictures of the girls a picture of the son and under it inscribed "He died for Kaiser and Homeland".

But in spite of its weaknesses and changes, the county of Bentheim and its people are a place and people which fills your soul with a longing for a return. The splendid hospitality which I as a stranger experienced will always be fondly remembered.