In the center of Jablonca, Hungary, in 1869, there was an inn. What is perplexing is that it only had two sleeping rooms, a living room and a pantry, plus an outbuilding with a cellar and two cows in the yard. Not your typical Red Roof Inn! Samuel Scheiefer, and his assistant, and the Schiefer family all lived at the inn as well according to the 1869 Hungarian census. I can not imagine where the guests slept! A little research (and reading an 19th century historical novel by Miklós Bánffy) revealed that an inn was merely a place of rest between travels. A horse and wagon is tied up, given water and hay; the rider refuels himself in their house and has a glass of beer and maybe some goulash. If he is tired, he laid his weary head down on the table for a snooze. If the weather is inclement, guests slept on the floor and benches.
The inn was a significant place in the villager's life. The "korcsmarosok" usually was leased out by the landlord of the village and usually sold the landlord's wine or brew, which was legally or illegally produced. Next to the inn, there was usually a general store. The courtyard and farm buildings served as storage space for the fodder. The duties of the innkeeper also included money lending and settling local village credit transactions. If he was savvy enough, the innkeeper was also able to lease a farm and move up in economic and social status.
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