Since the time of the Order hunting was reserved for the nobility and strictly regulated. Although wild animals did a lot of damage, the farmers were not allowed to hunt them. They were, nevertheless, obliged to support their landlord in hunting, which led to widespread poaching. After 1848 hunting rights were estate-bound and aristocratic and middle-class landowners were only allowed to hunt on their own land.
The traditional green hunting clothes and hunting horn signals used to be important for hunting success. Other traditions, such as the presentation of hunting trophies, were used to highlight their hunting privilege.
Due to modern firearms technology, hunting risks were reduced and the recreational value increased. Today, hunting is practised in all social circles.
Illustrations:
1.) Hall in Neudeck manor house in the Rosenberg (today Susz) district with hunting trophies and a painting of Paul von Hindenburg, before 1945. Photo: Picture Archive East Prussia
2.) Hunting in Moritzburg/Saxony 1718.
Oil painting by an unknown artist owned by the Dresden State Art Collections. The so-called "encompassed hunt", in which the previously rounded up game, here red deer and wild boars, were driven through gaps between rags into an encompassed area directly in front of the booth of the select hunting party. Such unsportsmanlike hunting practices were a leisure activity popular with the aristocracy in Central Europe from the end of the 16th to the 19th century.