Page 08 - 150 Jahre Metzgerei Distel (1986)

Translated from Ludwig Distel's German.

150 Years of the Distel Butchery court and the prison, building slowly began in the area of the Bertholdstrasse and the ring roads too. A steep rise in population, from 3,621 in 1834 to just under 6,000 in 1880, could only help the newly founded butcher's shop. Johann and his wife Theresia ran the new business prudently and were soon able to build up a satisfied circle of customers in Villingen and the surrounding area. This also made it possible for them to move to a better trading position. The present house, Niedere Strasse 34, was able to be acquired by Johann Distel on 9 August 1858. [facsimile of a page from a business ledger, German Kurrent script, March-April 1880. The heading is only partly legible. Columns: date, number of items, description of goods, price "at 60"/"at 64"/"at 68", amount in marks and pfennigs. At the foot:] Total 520 76 72.90 [...] 12.90 Grand total 533.16 24 April 80, received on account 400.- 133.16 [shop sign:] DISTEL

Interesting facts

The railway is the hidden actor. Villingen got its line in 1869. Meat travelling to Schaffhausen, Winterthur and Zurich - forty to eighty miles - is only possible by rail, and it is the single change that turned a market-town butcher into a regional supplier.
Why old ledgers matter. A business ledger records what actually happened rather than what was remembered: who bought, how much, how often. For most family firms it is the only surviving evidence of scale.