Foreign freedom shaft
The Fremde Freiheitsschacht is a journeyman's association of building craftsmen. It was founded on May 1, 1910 in Bern by Hermann Schäfer at the helm and 22 “Vogtland” ( free-traveling ) journeyman masons. As a distinguishing mark , the foreign freedom brothers wear the “red honorability ” (tie) with a handicraft badge as a sign of belonging. Until the first congress it was still called "Stranger Pisspottschacht". This is where the nickname Schwenker comes from, actually a dirty word. To reinforce it, the spinning shaft, which consisted only of carpenters, joined the foreign freedom shaft closed in 1914.
The aim of the Foreign Freedom Shaft is to maintain the custom for building craftsmen to go hiking after their apprenticeship and to promote and spread travel among building craftsmen. Every male bricklayer, carpenter, roofer, carpenter, stonemason, concrete worker, tiler and stone setter who pledges to avoid his hometown within 50 kilometers for three years and a day, who has a journeyman's certificate, is unmarried and is a member of a trade union, has no debt and has no children, can travel in the Stranger Freedom Shaft. The shaft is represented with hostels (stalls) in all major cities such as: Flensburg, Hamburg, Marschacht, Bielefeld, Berlin, Hanover, Hagen, Bonn, Goslar, Uslar, Weimar, Dresden, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Kenzingen, Saarbrücken, Landshut, Nuremberg , Wildpoldsried; in Switzerland in Winterthur and Geneva as well as: Calgary / Canada, Kansas / USA, Buenos Aires / Argentina and Cairns / Australia.
The rift is the traditional work clothes that must be worn throughout the journey. A change of clothes, work clothes and tools are wrapped in a Charlottenburger : a square cloth measuring 80 by 80 cm. A stenz , the twisted walking stick, is also part of the equipment.
After three years of travel, the Stranger Freedom Brother can report locally. Only then can he go home again. He sees it as his duty, as a native foreigner freedom brother, to continue to campaign for the shaft, and is thus a guarantee for the continued existence of the foreign freedom shaft. If the stranger breaks off the journey or commits a serious misconduct, he is declared a “bacon hunter” and excluded from the stranger's freedom shaft.
The Fremde Freiheitsschacht is particularly characterized by its liberal stance: "Live and let live". Freedom, equality and brotherhood are lived in the freedom shaft. “We are all his brothers, we are all the same” is the maxim of every stranger freedom brother. That is why the Stranger Freedom Brothers address each other with a brotherly heart. This also leads to family ties within the shaft for the entire life of a brother of freedom, until he is buried in the gap.
In 1980, the Foreign Freedom Shaft joined the CCEG (Confederation Compagnonnages Européens), the European society's guilds , in which other shafts in Europe are also represented. Women are not hiked.