Bauernfeind

Summary

Bauernfeind is a German surname. It originates as a byname, literally "peasants' enemy", in the late medieval period, before that a comparable Geburenhasz is on record. The form Geburnvint is found in the poem Der Renner as a generic byname of "villains". Historical spelling variants include Pawrnfeynt, Pawrveint, Gebure vient. Specific individuals with the byname are on record in the 15th century. Later, the byname was generically applied to men-at-arms or Landsknechte who chastised the peasant population in the service of a feudal lord. The name gradually developed into a surname in the course of the 16th century. As of 2013 the name had 748 entries in the German telephone directory, with the greatest concentration in Bavaria, and 398 entries for the variant Bauerfeind, with a concentration in North Rhine-Westphalia.