By the 700's, most peasant farmers in western Germany had become serfs. Each serf worked on land that was owned by a powerful person or by the church. In return for their work, the serfs received protection and a share of the harvest. Generally, serfs were not free to leave the land they worked. Beginning in the 1100's, some serfs gained their freedom by escaping to towns. In the western parts of Germany, serfdom gradually died out as peasants were allowed to substitute monetary payments for labor. In eastern Germany, serfdom did not begin to develop until the 1300's. It lasted until the early 1800's.