Cross sack

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Farmer with cross sack, returning home from the fair. Drawing by Wilibald von Schulenburg

A cross sack is a kind of rucksack, consisting of canvas closed at both ends.

Historical meaning

A "historical cross bag " consists of a long fabric bag with a central opening. When carrying, one half of the sack hangs in front of the chest, the other half on the back, or on both sides of a carrier. This distributes the weight of the load evenly.

Advantages (on a human carrier):

  • The wearer does not have to create an opposing force with his arm , as when simply carrying a sack over his shoulder .
  • The weight distribution allows the wearer to walk upright. This is even an advantage over a "normal" backpack.
  • Both arms can move freely.
  • This means that longer stretches can be made without getting tired.
  • The wearer has access to at least a part of the contents of the sack hanging in front even while walking.

The transverse sack can be made very easily by sewing two fabric sacks together on one side at the openings. Hence the term “sack” in the name. If the bags are also sewn together at one corner or tied with a tape, they are also well secured against slipping. The connection point of the sacks lies on one shoulder of the wearer, while the lower connection is then on the opposite side approximately at the height of the hip. Another way of making it is from a large, rectangular piece of fabric, which is first sewn together with two opposite sides to form a tube. A piece remains open in the middle of the seam, which enables later access. Then the ends of this tube are sewn shut. With pack animals (e.g. donkeys ), the sack is placed across the back so that one side hangs down on the left and the other on the right and the load is well distributed.

Today the cross sack has largely lost its importance as a carrying aid. The term is still sometimes used for backpacks .

additional

  • In Kiel- Kronsburg , a street also bears the name Quersack , which, however, is derived from an old field name (Quers = hand mill, also Quern).
  • The cross sack. A fable by Jean de La Fontaine

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Christoph Adelung: The cross sack . In: Grammatical-critical dictionary of the high German dialect . tape 3 : M-Scr , Sp. 895 ( lexika.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  2. ↑ beni.hallinger.org
  3. ↑ Quirne Dictionary Network - Rhenish Dictionary.
  4. ↑ Hans-G. Hilscher, Dietrich Bleihöfer: Quersack . In: Kiel Street Lexicon. Continued since 2005 by the Office for Building Regulations, Surveying and Geoinformation of the State Capital Kiel, as of February 2017 ( kiel.de ).
  5. ^ Jean de La Fontaine: The cross sack. In: Fables by Jean de La Fontaine ( projekt-gutenberg.org ).