Counter sheep

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Counter in Cologne's “ Haus Töller ” - hallway side

A counter sheep ( Kölsch for "counter cabinet") is the traditional seat and workplace for the innkeeper in Cologne breweries and inns , from which business operations are monitored and controlled. The small office, which is usually integrated into the facility as a half-open wooden cubicle , is also called the confessional due to its appearance, and also called Kontorchen due to its function, and in short simply the bar . The facility still exists in some Cologne breweries, although after the introduction of electronic till and accounting systems it is only rarely used for its original purpose today.

etymology

The word Thekenschaaf is made up of the counter and “Schaaf”. The term Schaaf is the Old High German "scaf" or "Scaph" for vessel or to draw with due. The Middle High German “sheep”, the Anglo-Saxon “scap” and the English “skep” are synonymous. In the Middle Ages, the term "Schaff" developed from a container with wooden walls to a lockable cupboard. In Cologne, the use of this name for a cupboard can be traced back to the 14th century; after the 18th century then as “sheep”, like in dress sheep or wall sheep . In Aachen , only the term "counter" was used for the bay-like seat of the landlord.

origin

Ground floor of a beer tavern from the 17th century with a bar
View of the anteroom of a beer tavern from the 17th century with a bar and a bar

It is not precisely known when the first inn introduced a bar sheep. An explanation for the introduction of the "confessional" is provided by the typical floor plan of small breweries in Cologne, which was widespread from the 17th century. As in a residential building, behind the entrance door there was initially a hall or hallway that led sideways into the guest room or beer parlor, but straight ahead to the brewery and into the cellar. The corridor was not only used as a passage: It was a taproom (Kölsch: et Zappes ) for tapping beer from the keg bank and a point of contact for retail outlets:

“Here the beer is drawn from the barrel for the whole inn; here the servants of the neighbors run up in droves before dinner to fetch the lunch or evening drink; This is where the standing bottles are drunk, and this is where all guests have to pass in order to get to the bar, unless they prefer to take a seat in the vestibule (...) "

- Association of German Architects and Engineers Associations, 1888

The Schwemme was also used by guests who were not allowed to enter the dining room. In the imperial city of Cologne, for example, the executioner and his servants, the knackers , the servants of the court of violence and the city ​​soldiers were not allowed to enter an inn, but were only allowed to visit its hallway. This "class society" ended in the French period . Nonetheless, even after that, a different shift-specific use of the bar and dining room was widespread, which still provided for beer in the hallway for “certain classes”.

In inns and breweries with this floor plan, still represented in the Päffgen brewery and in the Töller house , the bar counter was built into the wall between the dining room and the bar, with a switch-like, mostly round glass closure facing the hallway as a seat for the landlord and landlady. This enabled the landlord to observe both rooms with public traffic and a good view of the beer kegs.

Thus, the endeavor to keep an eye on guests and Köbesse alike in the entire establishment should have led to the introduction of the bar table.

Appearance

“Haus Töller” counter with desk, restaurant side

Bar sheep are constructions made of dark colored wood, mostly open on one side and provided with glass windows on the other side. In its original form, the glazed sheep protrudes as a semicircular bay window from the dining room into the hallway. An opening enables conversations to the other side and also serves as a hatch. In some versions, this could be closed with a sliding window, the counter-rattle ( Rüttsche , belittling of the Cologne Rutt for "window pane"). On the outside, the confessional resembles an old bank or ticket counter - inside there is a built-in double bench with opposite seats for the landlord and landlady, in the middle a small pay desk and desk. This could have a "counter slot" for beer tokens or change, which led into the "counter box (n)" below.

From around the second half of the 19th century, other installation locations and designs increased. Rectangular floor plans, the use of chairs instead of built-in benches or the integration of a bar in a counter , such as in the brewery at the Malzmühle founded in 1858 , changed the image of the bar. In Em Golde Kappes ( Köln-Nippes ), founded in 1913, the bar was located between the counter and the kitchen until a renovation in 2009 and offered visual contact in both rooms.

Drawers and compartments have always been used to store office supplies, cash in hand, cutlery and consumables for the catering industry. Keys for doors and cupboards hang clearly on attached hooks. Central light switches or fuses have been integrated into some counters .

Externally, some confessionals stand out with their rich decorations, for example in the form of carvings or decorative Art Nouveau elements .

tasks

Beer tokens on the counter sheep; the small brands stand for a beer, the big brands for a wreath

In its traditional function, the bar sheep was the workplace of the landlord or a supervisor appointed by him, known as " Baas ". In addition to the supervision of the Köbesse , the guests and their behavior were kept in view, although some hosts were said to be particularly strict.

“Se passe op alles op un mache frequentjer, layer the Jröschelcher un Märkelcher openander” - “They take care of everything and make piles, piling groschen and marrow pieces on top of each other” is a contemporary description of the people in the confessional. In addition to managing the cash register, the little counter originally also served as quality control when the Köbesse had to pass the Schaaf with every Kölsch wreath and every dish before serving. Valuable goods such as black bread , butter , vinegar and oil , cigars and spirits were kept and given out under supervision in the bar.

The Köbesse gave their metal beer tokens here , which could be lined up in a metal corner on the table top of the Schaaf. The landlord could see at a glance how many glasses of beer had been tapped from the open keg and recognize in good time when a new one had to be struck.

The confessional was also the point of contact for guests' complaints, requests for a “cover” (credit) or to make phone calls. In addition, the seat enabled the innkeepers to have close contact with the regulars' tables located on the restaurant side :

"This so-called bar was initially shared by the regulars, who enjoyed various privileges, at their specific table (the old regular was always a kind of family member)."

- Association of German Architects and Engineers Associations, 1888

The current use of the sheep in most cases only includes partial tasks of the previous task - an electronic cash register has found its way into many restaurants , which has made manual accounting processes superfluous. Some of the confessionals are only used for decoration, some of them are used for small offices. The sale of " Pittermännchen " (draft beer) to private customers in the breweries is often handled via the counter.

Guest houses and breweries with a bar

Brewery to the Malzmühle; Combination of the counter with a counter

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mathar / Spiegel: Kölsche beer and breweries. P. 131.
  2. ↑ cf. the current Low German word " Schapp " for "closet", "box", which is also used in the seaman's language
  3. ^ Entry "Schaaf" in Adam Wrede: Neuer Kölnischer Sprachschatz , Greven Verlag, Cologne, 9th edition 1984, ISBN 3-7743-0155-7
  4. ↑ a b Karl Meisen (Ed.): Rhenish dictionary. Eighth volume, Klopp Verlag, Berlin, 1958–1964, p. 1171.
  5. ↑ Edmund Renard: Famous Art Places. Volume 78: Cologne. Verlag Seemann, Leipzig 1907, p. 180.
  6. ^ Kölsch dictionary.
  7. ↑ a b c Cologne and its buildings , commemorative publication for the eighth hiking assembly of the Association of German Architects and Engineers' Associations in Cologne from August 12 to 16, 1888, Cologne, 1888, pp. 611–612.
  8. ↑ Ernst Menden: Cologne on the Rhine a hundred years ago - moral images along with historical allusions and linguistic explanations in the reprint of the book published in 1862 under the title Cologne on the Rhine fifty years ago , Verlag Stauff & Cie., Cologne, 1913, p. 109.
  9. ^ Adam Wrede: New Cologne vocabulary. Entries "Thekerüttsche" and "Rutt".
  10. ↑ The return of gold to Nippes. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . October 5, 2009, ksta.de , accessed June 8, 2016.
  11. ^ Mathar / Spiegel, p. 135
  12. ↑ Real Cologne economy. Website of the Cologne Brewery Association , accessed on June 8, 2016.
  13. ↑ The landlord Theodor Töller, known as "Döres", who ran Haus Töller around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, is said to have not tolerated any tobacco consumption in his restaurant and was extremely careful that guests never put newspapers of different political orientations together; Heinz Magka: The Töller house - from the history of a Cologne pub. Publishing house Oberberg. Bote, Cologne, 1937, p. 9.
  14. ↑ Quoted from Adam Wrede: Neuer Kölnischer Sprachschat. "Counter" entry
  15. ^ Mathar / Spiegel, p. 133.
  16. ↑ Bernd Imgrund: House Unkelbach - A wider arc. In: 111 Cologne pubs that you have to know. Emons 2012, ISBN 978-3-89705-838-5 ; Pp. 108-109

literature

  • Lambert Macherey: Cologne pubs through the ages (1846 to 1921) . Self-published by the author, Cologne, DuMont (around 1921).
  • Detlef Rick, Janus Fröhlich: Kölsch Culture . Emons, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-89705-377-2 .
  • Rudolf Spiegel, Franz Mathar: Cologne beer and breweries . Greven, Cologne 1989, ISBN 3-7743-0248-0 .
  • Bernd Imgrund: 111 Cologne pubs that you have to know . Emons, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-89705-838-5 .

Web links

Commons : Thekenschaaf  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 2, 2009 .