Free bank

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Building of the former open-air bank in Naustadt
The building of the former open-air bank on Waagplatz in Fürth

The Freibank was a facility for the sale of inferior but not harmful meat , which was classified as "conditionally suitable" in the meat inspection . Free bank meat came from the slaughter of animals that were not actually intended for slaughter, that is, the z. B. were killed by accidents, emergency slaughter, etc. The prices here were consistently lower than in the other sales outlets. The utilization of older animals was possible, but not the rule, rather more younger animals were processed that had had an accident or whose veterinary treatment was no longer economically viable. The veterinary examinations for meat that was sold in the open bank were, however, considerably more thorough than in all normal slaughtering. This made it possible to purchase meat of excellent quality at a minimal price in the open bank.

history

The establishment of separate sales of inferior meat goes back to the Middle Ages. Initially only finnish meat (with tapeworm fins ) was offered on the so-called Finnbank outdoors. At that time, Finnbank had nothing to do with the Freibank.

The term free bank was coined in the late Middle Ages and describes the sale of meat products by non-guild and non-local butchers (non-guild free master or free bank butcher) approved by a Bavarian state ordinance in 1553. To counteract the guild monopoly of the guild butchers in the 15th and 16th centuries, they offered their goods under the sentence . Their sales tables (outdoor benches) had to be at least three steps away from the guild butchers' guild benches.

After the fall of the guild monopoly and the entry into force of the trade regulations of 1862, the term was carried over to all special sales. The large slaughterhouses that emerged towards the end of the 19th century were also mostly given a free bank, which was often located in a special building that was easily accessible for buyers.

The open bank served, especially in a time of scarcity, to utilize as many animal products as possible. Since the 1970s, there has been an increasing oversupply of meat, which is sold at relatively low prices. The Freibank had thus lost its economic basis.

The free bank was also set up in the GDR . Until the 1960s, open-bank meat was often bought for human consumption for economic reasons, as it was cheaper and also represented an alternative in the event of supply bottlenecks in the trade. When the meat supply stabilized in the 1970s and 1980s, open-bank meat was mainly bought as the cheapest dog and cat food, as commercially produced food was not offered in stores at market prices. In contrast to meat for human consumption, including open-bank meat, the prices of which were subsidized by the state as a social policy measure, the prices for finished feed had to cover production costs.

One of the last large open banks in the Federal Republic of Germany was the VESTIA Konserven und Fleischwarenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, based in Gelsenkirchen. In the course of the industrialization of animal production and falling producer and consumer prices, there was ultimately no longer any market for open-bank meat. Vestia therefore gave up in 1995.

present

The term free bank has actually been out of date since 1996, as the Federal Association of German Banks asked politicians to ban the term. Today the legislature speaks of special delivery points for meat from isolated slaughterhouses . These are legally prescribed slaughterhouses for sick slaughter. One speaks of sick slaughter when the animal is to be slaughtered due to severe physiological and functional disorders. Slaughtering such animals in normal slaughterhouses is not permitted. The meat may not be sold through normal butchers. The meat may only be offered in special sales facilities, which are usually connected to the isolated slaughterhouse. The meat is inferior but still suitable for human consumption. If there is no regional demand, the meat is disposed of or used as animal feed . For the manufacturers of ready-made feed, the so-called open-bank meat is not of interest because of the incalculable and insufficient availability and the rejection of many consumers.

Web links

Wiktionary: Freibank  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. R. v. Easter day: manual of meat inspection. 5th edition. Stuttgart 1904.
  2. ^ Cindy Krüger: The history of the food hygiene institute of the veterinary medical faculty of the University of Leipzig. Diss. Med.vet., Leipzig 2007 ( DNB 984566430/34 ).
  3. So z. B. at the Schlachthof Trier , today the European Art Academy, where the open-air bank building built in 1903 has been preserved with the original lettering: Jens Fachbach u. A. (Ed.): Architectural guide Trier. Petersberg 2015, pp. 173-174.