Highway keeper

The road guards (also Wegknecht , route (s) maker , route (s) warden , Straßeneinräumer , road maintenance or barrier receiver called) was for the smooth operation and maintenance of rural roads (so-called highways charge).

description

Chaussewärter hut of the exhibition “The road servant and his route” Wolfegg farmhouse museum

The profession originated at the beginning of the 18th century and lasted until the middle of the 20th century. The duties of a highway guard the maintenance of the road surface, the majority at that time belonged from water-bound gravel and stone ceiling was, and the adjacent banquets . For this purpose, damage to the road surface had to be regularly repaired and bumps, such as those caused by the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles, had to be removed. The typical equipment of a road keeper included a two-wheeled cart, shovel and broom as well as a manure crutch.

Furthermore, he removed rubbish and mud (so-called droppings) and ensured the smooth drainage of rainwater. For this he had to regularly check the function of the side ditches and, if necessary, rework them. In addition to looking after the trees, bushes and green spaces along the road, the roadside attendant also cleared the snow from the road surface in winter or put snow signs along the road. He had to check the route allotted to him at regular intervals, which usually amounted to 1 to 1.5 hours. In many places the road attendant lived directly on the road in a road house .

With the further development of road construction and the increase in motorized traffic, the tasks in the field of road maintenance and road maintenance also changed fundamentally. In order to meet the increased demands, the profession of road attendant was created in the middle of the 20th century .

The patron saints of the road keepers are John the Baptist and Christophorus .

literature

• Pierer's Universal Lexicon . Altenburg 1857, p. 888-890 .

Web links

Commons : The Wegknecht and his route  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Illustration of a roadside attendant (PDF file; 1.75 MB), accessed on January 9, 2016.
• Internet presence of the Wegmachermuseum in Wasserburg am Inn , accessed on January 9, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List of monuments for Munich (PDF) at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, D-1-62-000-315, p. 130. Retrieved on October 14, 2017.
2. ↑ Saint Christopher. Patron saint of the street guards . In: strassenwaerter.de . Retrieved October 14, 2017.