Rafters
The raftsman is a profession that has now died out in Europe and was practiced in wooded areas in many countries around the world. The task was to drive felled tree trunks or parts of trees either as a raft on rivers ( rafting ) or individually on streams or via raft ditches ( Trift ) or artificial wood flooding systems in a controlled manner to the board mills , charcoal burners , glass factories , shipyards or lumber yards .
Job titles in German-speaking countries
In some parts of the country, the rafting profession was not a traditional craft profession with a fixed occupation. In these areas there was no division into master, journeyman and apprentice, as was otherwise customary. The job titles in the archives vary between raftsman, raft servant, raft master and timber merchant, but they cannot be clearly distinguished from one another. The main difference was between the raftsmen who rafted or had their own wood rafted and those who were in wage labor.
This was different for B. in the area of Danube , Inn , Isar and Loisach , where rafters were organized as craftsmen in guilds and master rafters existed.
The craft of the raftsman
The raftsmen mostly stood in the water when tying the wood. The so-called "crimped boots", which reached to their stomach, protected them from the wet. The binding of the logs with willow rods required a great deal of knowledge and skill so that the raft would not break apart when driving through sharp bends and when passing bridges and weirs.
The raftsman's universal tool was the raft hook. If wood became wedged while drifting, "bridges" or "wood islands" formed and led to wood jams, these had to be broken up again by the raftsmen using the hook. The "bursting open" or "pinching open" was very dangerous and required a lot of courage and skill.
Bavaria
The raftsman was separated from his family from March to November. He rafted on rivers or worked in a wooden harbor while his wife, children, the elderly and the sick stayed in the village. In winter the raftsman worked in the forest and produced the tools for building rafts, such as B. Wieden , clamping wedges and rods. "The life of a raftsman depends on a river," says an old raftsman's saying.
Palatinate
The Trift was largely not possible in the Palatinate Forest in summer (due to lack of water) or even prohibited (since meadows could be damaged and water mills impaired). Since the stream water was often not sufficient even in times of high water levels, Klausen had to be created in order to be able to generate “surge water” as required.
See also
literature
- Helga Lauterbach: About raft masters and rafting customs. History and religious customs of the Isar and Loisach raftsmen. Erich Wewel Verlag, Munich 1992
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.flossfahrt.de/geschichte.htm
- ^ Helmut Seebach: Old crafts and trades in the Palatinate - Palatinate Forest. Annweiler-Qeichhambach, 1994, p. 162 ff.
Web links
- Rafting Museum Unterrodach
- The raftsman from Wolfratshausen Documentary from the BR series The last of his booth?