Hans Heinrich Häberling was born 29 November 1625 to Heinrich Håberling 1592 - 1662 and Anna Schmid (see Heinrich's birth record below) on 14 October 1688. FamilySearch has 10 children for Heinrich Sr and Anna. The 1647 census says he was a Watchmaster.
A Wachtmeister means master of the village guard or local policeman. Often they were referred to as Landjäger in the country villages. The Wachtmeister was in charge of the local prison, every bezirk (district) had such a jail. Small villages put the prisoners in the house of the fire brigade (Feuerwehrhäuschen, Note: in German nouns are capitalized).
The Nachtwächter played a vital role. Back when fire constituted a permanent threat to villages built of wood, he was an essential part of a network of watchmen, who patrolled the streets. From his perch, the watchman was tasked with sounding the alarm at the first whiff of smoke. Sometimes he used the church tower as a lookout. (The Local.ch)
There were also the Nachtwächter or night guard, who had to observe the closing hours of restaurants and where important to alarm fires. They normally would also call the hour, every hour with a little song: "Liebe Leute lasst Euch sagen, es hat zwei geschlagen." (Dear people let it be known that the church watch shows 2 o'clock).
The Canton Landjäge (police) usually wore a saber on the left hand side, some type of pistol and a big moustache to generate more respect. One of their duties was to prevent foreign beggars and other vagabonds from entering the town or village. They chased them out of the city limits. Often the best trick was to give them a voucher for a meal with the condition that they had to leave by evening at which time they went to the next town. The word Landjäge also means pork sausage. So the joke goes like this: What happens if you throw a stone in the window of the police office? A Landjäger comes out. Rudolf may well have been involved in keeping strangers out of Ottenbach. He certainly had a more simple uniform and carried a pistol
In the 1647 Census Heinrich is a 21 year old child along with his siblings. His religious progress is being reported on the right side of the document. See this link for more information on how the Church Census' worked.
On 6 October 1650 Heinrich and Veronica got married. A search was made for the date but the records are spotty and it was not located. In 1682 Hans and Veronica are living in Ottenbach with their son Hans Heinrich and Han's wife Catharina Gut. They are all in the same household. Heinrich and Veronica died within 3 weeks 2 days of each other.
Häberling is a common name in Ottenbach even in the 1500s..
Documents related to Heinrich Häberling:
|Hans Heinrich Häberling birth 29 Nov 1625 film 8014328 page 115|
born to Heinirch Häberling and Anna Schmid.
|Heinrich Haberling and Anna Hufschmidt in the 1647 Census film 8126305 page 733|
The word after Heinirch Häberling is Watchmaster which is a profession.
For more on this go to Rudolf Sidler b 1742. He was a Watchmaster too.
|Heinrich Häberling and Veronica Gutt in the 1682 Church Census film 8126301 page 738|
|Hans Heinrich Häberling death 14 October 1688 film 8014328 page 382|