Editing Poaching (section)

=== Continental Europe ===
[[File: Das Ende des Wildschuetzen.jpg|thumb|End of the poacher, illustration based on a painting by August Dieffenbacher, 1894]]
[[File: Schliersee JennerweinGrab.jpg|thumb|Grave of a poacher in Schliersee, quoting the first stanza of the Jennerwein song. Now and then, poached game is being placed on the grave to commemorate 'Girgl'.]]
[[File:Marterl Riederstein.jpg|thumb|[[Wayside shrine|Marterl]] at the Riederstein, near [[Baumgartenschneid]], Tegernsee. The remains of a poacher, who had never returned from a hunting expedition in 1861, were found at the site in 1897.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bergundtotschlag.wordpress.com/tag/leonhard-pottinger/ |title=Leonhard Pöttinger {{!}} Berg und Totschlag (Poettinger – mountain and murder) |last=Bauer |first=D. |date=2013 |website=bergundtotschlag.wordpress.com|access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref>]]
Austria and Germany refer to poaching not as theft but as intrusion into third-party hunting rights.<ref name=Girtler1998>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlZPi7LkeH4C |title=Wilderer: Rebellen in den Bergen |last=Girtler |first=R. |date=1998 |publisher=Böhlau Verlag |location=Wien |isbn=9783205988236 |language=de}}</ref> While [[ancient Germanic law]] allowed any free man, including peasants, to hunt, especially on [[common land]], [[Roman law]] restricted hunting to the rulers. In [[medieval Europe]] rulers of feudal territories from the king downward tried to enforce exclusive rights of the nobility to hunt and fish on the lands that they ruled. Poaching was deemed a serious crime punishable by imprisonment, but enforcement was comparably weak until the 16th century. Peasants were still allowed to continue small game hunting, but the right of the nobility to hunt was restricted in the 16th century and transferred to land ownership. The low quality of guns made it necessary to approach the game as close as {{convert|30|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. Poachers in the [[Salzburg]] region were typically unmarried men around 30 years of age and usually alone on their illegal trade.<ref name=BSZ2014>{{Cite news |url=http://www.bayerische-staatszeitung.de/staatszeitung/unser-bayern/detailansicht-unser-bayern/artikel/rebellen-der-berge.html |title=Rebellen der Berge |trans-title=Rebels of the mountains |date=2014 |newspaper=Bayerische Staatszeitung |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref>

The development of modern hunting rights is closely connected to the comparatively modern idea of exclusive private ownership of land. In the 17th and the 18th centuries, the restrictions on hunting and shooting rights on private property were enforced by gamekeepers and foresters. They denied shared usage of forests, such as [[resin worker|resin collection]] and [[wood pasture]] and the peasants right to hunt and fish. However, by end of the 18th century, comparably-easy access to rifles increasingly allowed peasants and servants to poach.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IT16_DDq4gC |title=Allmende und Allmendaufhebung: vergleichende Studien zum Spätmittelalter bis Zu den Agrarreformen des 18./19. Jahrhunderts |last=Zückert |first=H. |date=2003 |publisher=Lucius & Lucius |isbn=9783828202269 |language=de}}</ref> Hunting was used in the 18th century as a theatrical{{clarify|date=December 2021}} demonstration of the aristocratic rule of the land and also had a strong impact on land use patterns.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sehepunkte.de/2004/02/3754.html |title=Sehepunkte – Rezension von: Ebersberg oder das Ende der Wildnis – Ausgabe 4 (2004), Nr. 2, review of Rainer Beck: Ebersberg oder das Ende der Wildnis (Ebersberg and the end of wilderness), 2003 |website=www.sehepunkte.de |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref> Poaching not only interfered with property rights but also clashed symbolically with the power of the nobility. Between 1830 and 1848, poaching and poaching-related deaths increased in [[Bavaria]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/index.php5?title=Wilderei&pdf=true#d.29_Zunahme_der_Wilderei_ab_1830 |title=Wilderei – Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, poaching entry in the Bavarian historical encyclopedia |last=Freitag |first=W. |date=2013 |website=www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de |access-date=2016-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914153235/https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/index.php5?title=Wilderei&pdf=true#d.29_Zunahme_der_Wilderei_ab_1830 |archive-date=14 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[German revolutions of 1848–49]] were interpreted as a general permission for poaching in Bavaria. The reform of the hunting law in 1849 restricted legal hunting to rich landowners and middle classes who could pay hunting fees, which led to disappointment among the general public, who continued to view poachers favourably.{{dubious|date=December 2021}}<ref name=":1" /> Some of the frontier regions, where smuggling was important, showed especially strong resistance to that development. In 1849, the Bavarian military forces were asked to occupy a number of municipalities on the frontier with Austria. Both in Wallgau (now part of [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]]) and in Lackenhäuser, in the Bavarian forest, each household had to feed and accommodate one soldier for a month as part of a military mission to quell the disturbance. The people of Lackenhäuser had several skirmishes with Austrian foresters and military that started due to poached deer. The well-armed people set against the representatives of the state were known as ''bold poachers'' (''kecke Wilderer'').<ref name=Krauss1997/>
Some poachers and their violent deaths, like [[Matthias Klostermayr]] (1736–1771), [[Georg Jennerwein]] (1848–1877) and [[Pius Walder]]&nbsp;(1952–1982) gained notoriety and have had a strong cultural impact, which has persisted until today.<ref name=BSZ2014 /> Poaching was used as a dare. It had a certain erotic connotation, as in [[Franz Schubert]]'s Hunter's love song, (1828, [[Schubert Thematic Catalogue]]&nbsp;909). The lyrics of [[Franz von Schober]] connected unlimited hunting with the pursuit of love. Further poaching related legends and stories ranged from the 1821 opera [[Freischütz]] to [[Wolfgang Franz von Kobell]]'s 1871 story about the Brandner Kasper, a [[Tegernsee]] locksmith and poacher who struck a special deal with the [[Personifications of death|Grim Reaper]].<sup>[[Wolfgang Franz von Kobell#cite note-5|[5]]]</sup>

While poachers had strong local support until the early 20th century, Walder's case showed a significant change in attitudes. Urban citizens still had some sympathy for the [[hillbilly]] rebel, but the local community were much supportive.<ref name=Girtler1998/>