Trattenbach museum village

Info center at the museum village

The Museumsdorf Trattenbach is a 1.5 kilometer long open-air museum in Trattenbach in Upper Austria . In the museum complex, Taschenfeitel are made in traditional craftsmanship in original workshops along the Trattenbach. The machines required for production are still operated with water power today .

The museum village was conceived in 1998 as part of the Upper Austrian Provincial Exhibition 1998 Land der Hämmer - Heimat Eisenwurzen and has since been maintained by the Kulturverein Heimatpflege Ternberg - Trattenbach . On November 22, 2002, the museum village was awarded the Austrian Museum Seal of Approval and extended to 2024 on October 8, 2019. The museum village is the central element to illustrate the traditional production of the pocket knife, which was awarded the title of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2015.

history

Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel

Information board of the Eisenstrasse adventure trail in Trattenbach

The production of wrought iron knives began in Trattenbach over 500 years ago. Bartholomäus Löschenkohl, who came from Alsace , began making simple jackknives. Shear knives made of high quality sharpened steel were already made in the Middle Ages . Later, with this valuable steel and pocket knives , the Taschenfeitel, generated with lathed handles maple and beech wood were prepared and decorated with grooves or notches.

The inexpensive and at the same time high-quality pocket knife became particularly popular in the 16th century. In the heyday of Feitel production, 17 workshops along the Trattenbach were busy making knives. The knives use the water power of the Trattenbach, which is characterized by a steep slope in the valley , for their forge hammers , whetstones and turning machines . The water was channeled from one house to another. In the middle of the 18th century, around 3 million pocket knives were made each year. The industrialization in the 19th century also affected the knife production in Trattenbach and migration occurred. The descendants of the newcomers continued the small craft businesses and workshops, and they consistently rejected the publishing industry. Small technical innovations and an international expansion of exports to China , India and Africa were allowed, however, so that all Trattenbach family businesses from the 19th century to the 20th century survived.

With the outbreak of the Great Depression in the 1930s, however , the business model declined. While there were initially 16 companies, in 1931 there were only 11 companies left in Trattenbach. After the Second World War only 6 companies were counted and around the year 2000 there was only one Feitel manufacturer in Trattenbach, the Löschkohl family, who produced the knives for the public - accessible as part of a visit to the Trattenbach museum village. Today, in addition to the Löschenkohl family, the Hack Stainless company manufactures pocket cutlery, cutlery, kitchen and commercial knives and hunting knives.

The museum village was opened in 1998 on the occasion of the state exhibition Land der Hämmer - Heimat Eisenwurzen in order to illustrate the industrial history of the production of the Taschenfeitels and the social history of the Trattenbacher Tal . The visitor can retrace the traditional manufacture of pocket knives at various original stations. Numerous information boards at historical locations complement the information offered in the valley. On November 22nd, 2002 the museum village was awarded the Austrian Museum Seal of Approval.

The cultural association Heimatpflege Ternberg Trattenbach maintains the museum village Trattenbach and endeavored to have the manufacture of the pocket knife recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The Trattenbach museum village is the central element of teaching the old craft techniques for making knives. On September 23, 2015, the manufacture of the pocket watch was awarded as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

construction

The museum village, which extends about 1.5 km along the Trattenbach, is divided into nine stations. At numerous points along the way, information boards on the Eisenstrasse adventure trail in Trattenbach provide information about the life of the Feitel makers and the history of the respective buildings. The Feitelmacher workshops to be visited are located in the original buildings.

station	description	image
Info center location	The guided tours through the museum valley begin in the info center. In addition to a small exhibition about the development of the Taschenfeitel, the information center also houses the museum shop, in which, in addition to printed matter, various products and souvenirs from the Löschenkohl and Hack Stainless companies that were made in Trattenbach can be purchased. In May 2014, a 900-year-old hornbeam tree trunk was exhibited in front of the information center . The regional legend of the Jungfrau von Ebenboden is linked to the overgrown shape of the tree trunk .	more pictures
Löschenkohl factory location	In the Löschenkohl factory, one of the last feitel makers in Trattenbach shows visitors how the Trattenbach pocket feitel is made. Bartholomäus Löschenkohl immigrated to Trattenbach from Alsace over 500 years ago and began manufacturing a folding knife with a steel blade and a turned wooden handle. The Löschenkohl manufactory is one of the oldest knife workshops in Trattenbach. It was not until 1954 that the water wheels were replaced by a Francis turbine to drive the machines. While 34 work steps were required to manufacture a Trattenbacher Feitel in the 16th century, there are only 18 today. While the blades were forged by hand in the past, the blades are now punched out of sharpened steel.	more pictures
Museum in the Wegscheid location	In the museum in the Wegscheid old exhibits, photographs, historical documents and historical machines are exhibited, which show the everyday life of the Trattenbacher Feitel. The museum in Wegscheid, built in 1998 as part of the state exhibition Land der Hämmer - Heimat Eisenwurzen , is located in a workshop with a forge and grinding shop built by Antonia and Mathäus Hack in 1895. In the folklore and local history museum, the social history of the knife families in Trattenbach is illustrated in particular using the biographical examples of the fates of individual families.	more pictures
Grinding shop at the König location	The grinding shop on the König (also grinding shop for the Kini ; Messerhammer Brandstätter) has existed since the 17th century. The grinding shop included a small farm that provided the knife family with the necessary food. The tail hammer , grindstone and bellows belonging to the system were driven by two overshot water wheels until 1960. Today the process of making the blades is demonstrated to visitors in the grinding shop. In a second room, the wet grinding of the blades is demonstrated. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the blades were sharpened lying down, which led to significant health problems and high mortality rates among knife sharpeners . In spite of the heavy physical and unpopular work in Trattenbach, the profession of blade grinder was highly regarded and relatively well paid.	more pictures
Wood turning at the Erlach location	In 1998 a demonstration workshop was set up in the turnery at Erlach, in which the manufacture of the handle (handle) of the pocket knife is demonstrated. The building originally served as a grinding shop in the 17th century, which was later supplemented by a turnery. Two families lived on the upper floor and in the attic, their children and wives in the “floor” who put together (“turned on”) the pockets. Today there is a visitor workshop here. On the ground floor, the blanks for the Feitel handles were cut, turned, polished and prepared for the blade holder from logs of maple or beech wood. Until the 19th century, the turners of the individual factories were left with the design of the handles. Only the stain with black paint and the polishing of the handles were prescribed. The pocket knife has been standardized since the beginning of the 19th century, but in the 1920s there were still 45 different pocket knobs that differed in both size and shape of the handle and the blade.	more pictures
Drah Hütt'n location	The so-called "Drah-Hüttn" (Drahüttn = regional name for turnery) was originally the wood store and farm building of the nearby turnery on Erlach. In addition to the water play area, the Drah-Hütt'n offers simple, regionally typical gastronomy, such as snacks.	more pictures
Water play area at the Bach location	The station serves as an experiment site for children as well as a playground. The topic of using hydropower is to be conveyed in an interactive and playful way. The water playground has water wheels, weirs, floodlights and pumps, among other things.
Knife and cutlery production at Hack Stainless site	The Hack Stainless plant produces knives and cutlery. The company carries out every step of the manufacturing process itself. The Hack family of knives was mentioned in a document as early as the 15th century. Up until the 1960s, the manufactory only produced pocket flutes. At the beginning of the 1960s, the company building and the hydropower plant, which is now completely overhauled, was renewed. In the 1970s, the company reacted to the changing sales situation and expanded the range of products: In addition to traditional pocket cutlery, cutlery, kitchen and commercial knives, hunting knives and knickers with stag horn handles have also been manufactured since then. The best-known product is the so-called pipe knife, a universal dining and snack knife with wooden and melamine handles.	more pictures
Rameis hammer and chapel location	The Rameishammer blacksmith's workshop was established in 1878 by the Rameis family. The hammer was driven by an overshot water wheel. In the building, which is not accessible to the public, essential parts of its original equipment, including the double-tailed hammer, the transmissions and the forge, have been preserved to this day.	more pictures

Web links

Commons : Museumsdorf Trattenbach  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Valley of the Feitelmacher
• Trattenbach Museum

literature

• Eva Kreissl : Trattenbach Museum Village - In the valley of the Feitelmacher . Ennsthaler, Steyr 1998, ISBN 3-85068-547-0 .
• A dashing companion , In: Maria Walcher & Edith A. Weinlich: A legacy for everyone - 103 traditions from Austria . Folio, Vienna-Bozen 2018, ISBN 978-3-85256-767-9 , p. 44f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Trattenbach Museum Village , accessed on September 29, 2019.
2. ↑ museumsguetesiegel.at. Retrieved October 20, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Austrian UNESCO Commission: Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel production. Retrieved October 20, 2019 . 
4. ↑ A whole valley under the sign of a small knife. Retrieved October 20, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Impressive story , accessed September 29, 2019.
6. ↑ Application form Trattenbacher Taschenfeitel as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Kulturverein Heimatpflege Ternberg Trattenbach, 2015, accessed on October 20, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Volker Derschmidt: Trattenbach Museum Village: in the valley of the Feitelmacher: booklet through museums and workshops . Ennsthaler, Steyr 1998, ISBN 3-85068-547-0 .
8. ^ Museum in der Wegscheid , accessed on September 29, 2019.

Coordinates: 47 ° 55 '38.3 "  N , 14 ° 21' 5.8"  E