Bomber

Bomätscher on a relief below the Albertbrücke in Dresden, created by Edmund Moeller , 1938

Bomätscher , also Pomätscher , is the Saxon name for ship pulling or towing , a difficult but also respected work before the advent of steam shipping . This type of locomotion of ships by human power is also known as towing and is mainly used upstream. At that time, so-called bomber or towpaths were located along navigable waters . On the Elbe there were communities that made a living from the work of men as bomber, such as Lorenzkirch , Merschwitz , Parey and Loschwitz (now in Dresden ).

Bombers have been known since the Middle Ages; the profession was pushed back from the middle of the 19th century with the advent of chain and steam shipping and became meaningless within a few years. Today, grain is only harvested from the tradition (mainly at folk festivals ).

etymology

Treideln on the Elbe near Laubegast , around 1800

It is very likely that the word got from Bohemian ship pullers down the Elbe to Saxony. Bomätsche (r) means something like helper, supporter, after the Czech pomáhač ; bomätschen after the Czech pomáhat as much as help. A Sorbian origin ( pomhać - to help) would also be possible .

The bombers from Lorenzkirch

The bombers on the Treidelsteg.

Until 1871 the Lorenzkirch Bomätscher had work, then they were displaced by steam-powered chain ships. The task of the bombers was to pull the Elbe barges upstream against the river. "Lorentzkirch has twenty small houses, [...] and they live off days of work, and pull ships as helpers that lead to Dreßden Getreyde, Holtz, Saltz and Torgauisch Bier." ( Pastor Georg Heinrich Sappuhn, 1716 )

On the edge of the Elbe there were paved bomber paths on which the bombers went about their work. They gathered at meeting points, for example on the Nixstein, there hung their belts on the fence and came to pull in the order in which they were hung. The heaviest Elbe barges were pulled by two different lengths of pulling lines by about forty bombs who trudged along the bombing path with wide apron-like straps that ran down the armpit to their hips and chained to their ship's line with their cane on which they supported themselves. In addition to pulling, the furthest bomber had the task of lifting the pulling line with a wooden fork over the stone blocks, willows, ship mills and other obstacles.

The previous king set the tone for their rhythmic singing while they were working. The bombing song rang out in long tones

Heio hobe, to an'n Knobe,
that one can see how he draws

or in a longer version

Hey hey, hey hey!
Little ship sail gently and protect us from a wet, cool bath!
Hey hey, hey hey!
Little ship swim, our voice shall be the marching trumpet!

The bombing song indicates that pulling the ship was life-threatening. Often strong currents drove the ship backwards or sideways towards the middle of the river. The ship then dragged the bombers with it into the Elbe.

Web links

Commons : Treideln - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Historical message from the Lorentzkirch parish in the Inspection Hayn Anno 1716 , page 21b (Lorenzkirch parish archive). This text version differs from the original that Otto Eduard Schmidt found shortly after 1900 in Lorenzkirch. The original was lost in Lorenzkirch and was replaced by a copy of the duplicate in the Grossenhain superintendent .
^ Otto Eduard Schmidt : Electoral Saxon forays . Third volume: From the old Mark Meißen , third edition, Dresden 1924, pages 165–167.

[1] Historical message from the Lorentzkirch parish in the Inspection Hayn Anno 1716 , page 21b (Lorenzkirch parish archive). This text version differs from the original that Otto Eduard Schmidt found shortly after 1900 in Lorenzkirch. The original was lost in Lorenzkirch and was replaced by a copy of the duplicate in the Grossenhain superintendent .

[2] Otto Eduard Schmidt : Electoral Saxon forays . Third volume: From the old Mark Meißen , third edition, Dresden 1924, pages 165–167.