Lippe Brick-Makers: Seasonal Migrant Worker Records from Lippe-Detmold

Lippe brick-makers project data documents individuals from Lippe-Detmold undertaking seasonal migratory labor. The dataset, created by Jan Lucassen, includes information on workers' origins, destinations, employment, and personal details. It was last updated on June 1, 2026.

Use Cases

• [Analyze migration patterns] based on the 'Wohin' (suspected workplace) and 'Land' (country/province) fields
• [Study social stratification] based on the 'Colon' (landowner status) and 'Kötter' (peasant/resident status) columns
• [Examine labor group composition] based on the 'Grösse' (group size) and 'Gruppe' (group number) data
• [Trace archival provenance] based on the 'Signatur', 'Folio', and 'page_scan_url' columns linking to original documents

Strengths

• Data is available in both tabular and linked data (RDF n-triples) formats, enabling different analysis methods
• Includes direct links to digitized archival scans via the 'page_scan_url' column for source verification
• Contains detailed personal and occupational attributes such as 'Alter' (age), 'Arbeit' (job), and 'Betragen' (behavior remark)

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download

Provenance

Source

Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen (Lippe archive, fond L77A)

Collection Method

Transcribed from archival passport lists and brick messenger lists.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-01 06:10:22; freshness should be verified

Geography

Lippe-Detmold region (Germany) and migrant worker destinations.