House Garden 
the“town house” 
of the lord could 
be easily singled 
out by its size and 
pretentiousness 
from the quaint 
houses of the 
hamlet. T h i s 
plutocratic state 
of things was, 
however, soon 
destined to pass. 
Frequent wars 
impoverished the 
nobles and di¬ 
vided their lands. 
The progress ot 
the times and re¬ 
forms of govern¬ 
ment wore away 
the feudal system 
and bereaved the 
lords of t h em¬ 
power. The 
traffic of the com¬ 
mon folk grow¬ 
ing, and travelers 
on the highroads 
increasing in 
numbers, the 
nobles turned 
to the flow of 
strangers for a 
means of liveli¬ 
hood. For a time 
they gathered 
tolls for the use 
of their roads and 
received some 
revenue from a 
primitive postal 
service they main¬ 
tained. Ffospi- 
tality began to be 
charged for, and 
the inn-hosts 
prolonged, the 
local leadership 
of the Tyrol’s 
noble blood. 
The first tew 
buildings ot the 
village were 
clustered near a 
stream whose filt¬ 
ering courses 
THE PLATZ OF KLAUSEN 
AN INN AT WEISSENKIRCHEN 
A MILL AT KLAUSEN 
217 
