Divorce boy

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The separator explains the different ores to the separator boy

In former times in ore mining the apprentices who worked in the preparation of the mine were referred to as sheath boy or klaube boy , in the Upper Harz also Poch boy . The divorce boys worked in the divorce room .

job

The parting boy's job was to separate the ore from the dead rock. This activity was called Reinscheiden. Under the guidance of old miners or disabled miners who worked as mercy wages on the Scheidebank, the divorce boys first learned to distinguish the valuable ore from the deaf rock. They were supervised by the Scheidehutmann , the Scheidemeister or the Scheidsteiger . After the knockers had smashed the large chunks ( walls ) on the heap and roughly separated them into ore, pounding tunnels and dead rock, the ore was placed on the separating bench, where the separating boys further crushed the ore pieces with the cutting hammer and separated them according to ore types into so-called mountain baskets . This work was done while standing. Poch tunnels were rocks in which the ore was finely distributed. These were further processed in the stamping mill . Owned the mine no stamp mill, was that for the subsequent smelting important rap made by the older, stronger boys vagina. These boys were then referred to as rap boys.

working conditions

The working conditions were very stressful. The workplaces were very dusty, extremely loud and the boys often had to do their work while sitting on the floor of the separating room. This working posture was very arduous and tiring, which over time led to negligence at work. The tools the divorce boys used in their work were relatively heavy; for example, the sheath hammer weighed over three pounds. In addition, was that in some mines the vaginal also hired house was done. At work, they forcibly inhaled the ore dust in the air as well as other dusts and sulphurous vapors, which led to the fact that vagina boys were usually in poor health as soon as they were fit for the pit.

hierarchy

The divorce boy was at the bottom of the mining hierarchy. From the age of 6 to 7 he was already working as a kid boy. This work was the easiest mining activity and could be done by the smaller boys who did not yet have that much strength. After he graduated from school, he was put on as a neat divorce boy. Depending on his physical strength and suitability, he was either assigned to the rash boy to crush the throbbing ducts, or to the separating bench for cleansing. If he was strong enough, he was employed at around 15 years of age, in some mountain areas as early as 14 years, for the actual mining work as a miner boy . Depending on skill and suitability, he then became a forerunner and after a certain time then a tusker . After that, it was also possible to climb to the Steiger or even the Obersteiger. Johann Eduard Heuchler mentions the order: vagina boy (up to the age of 14), ripper (up to the age of 17), pit boy, etc.

Working hours and wages

So that the required concentration at work does not decrease too much, the shift time of the vagina boys should not exceed eight hours. The actual shift time looked different , depending on the mountain area . While the seven- to eight-year-old divorce boys worked around five hours a day, the ordinary divorce boys worked up to twelve hours - that was 1.5 shifts - on the divorce bench. The shift started between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., depending on the mountain area. From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. it was touch-up hour , after which the divorce boys had to work until 4 p.m. The wages were also different in the respective mountain areas. For their work, the divorced boys received a weekly wage of five to twelve groschen, depending on their skill and performance, and more was paid at peak times. However, this wage was only a small additional income for a family of miners. In the middle of the 17th century you could buy just one kilogram of butter or bacon for a divorce boy's monthly wage. According to Heuchler , the shift in the royal Saxon ore mining of the 19th century lasted eight hours for the older and less for the school-age divorce boys, the earnings were 3 to 4  new penny per shift.

Social aspects

Since the wages of a hunter were often not enough to support the family, many boys had to do their work on the divider at the age of eight. Whatever the weather, they had to go to the mine in the mornings with thin clothes and mostly barefoot. The food during the break consisted of bread and clear water that they drew from a stream. They were often beaten with a whip by their parents at work and at home. If they had made a mistake at work, they were punished by the chopper with a collar or a bird's bolt. Many children skipped school in the afternoon after their work in order to have a little free time.

The following verse illustrates how the divorce boys thought of the various types of ore:

“Work makes life sweet,
today it's shaad mr Kupperkies.
Work makes life sour,
tomorrow shaad Mr. Puchgangknauer "

- quoted from Siegfried Sieber

literature

  • Caspar MB Schroll: Contributions to the art and economy of processing ore. Mayr'sche Buchhandlung, Salzburg 1812

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Carl von Scheuchenstuel : IDIOTICON of the Austrian mountain and hut language. kk court bookseller Wilhelm Braumüller, Vienna 1856.
  2. ↑ a b c d Carl Bogel: Germania, Vaterländisches Lesebuch for the more mature youth. Published by Johann Ambrosius Barth, Leipzig 1847, p. 209.
  3. ↑ a b c P. Ritter von Rittinger: Textbook of the processing customer. Verlag von Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1867, p. 13
  4. ↑ Memories of Freiberg's mining. at JG Engelhardt, Freiberg 1839, p. 49.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Carl Langheld: The conditions of the miners in the Saxon shelf mining. Verlag von JG Engelhardt, Freiberg 1855, pp. 25-38.
  6. ↑ a b Moritz Ferdinand Gaetzschmann: The preparation. First volume, published by Arthur Felix, Leipzig 1864, p. 87.
  7. ↑ a b c d Eduard Heuchler, Hanns Freydank (Hrsg.): Des Bergmanns curriculum vitae . 2nd revised edition with an afterword by Hanns Freydank, Verlag Glückauf, Essen 1940, p. 16 ff.
  8. ^ JG Krünitz: Oeconomischen Encyclopädie (1773-1858) Online (last accessed on January 26, 2015).
  9. ↑ a b Christian Ernst Stifft: Attempt to provide instructions on how to process ores. bey Johann Christian Krieger, Marburg and Cassel 1818, p. 57.
  10. ↑ a b c Johan Christian Knoetzschker: From the condemnation of wrongdoers to mining. Gottfried Martini, Leipzig 1795, pp. 63-69.
  11. ↑ a b c d e Berthold Sigismund: Life pictures from the Saxon Ore Mountains. Carl B. Lork's publishing house, Leipzig 1859, p. 58.
  12. ^ Heinrich Veith: German mountain dictionary with evidence. Published by Wilhelm Gottlieb Korn, Breslau 1871, p. 282.
  13. ↑ miner or miner, also miners, miners and miners . In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon 1894–1896, Volume 2, p. 775 ..
  14. ↑ a b Johann Christoph Stößel (Hrsg.): Mining dictionary. Chemnitz 1778.
  15. ^ Carl Hartmann: Vademecum for the practical miner and smelter. First volume Bergwerksbetrieb, published by Richard Neumeister, Leipzig 1859, pp. 314–316.
  16. ↑ Chronicle of Wildemann, chap. V: Wildemann among Duke Heinrich's successors ( memento from June 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on January 16, 2016).
  17. ↑ Contemporary witnesses (last accessed on January 26, 2015)
  18. ↑ Johann Georg Krünitz: Economic and technological encyclopedia, or general system of state, town, house and agriculture, in alphabetical order. One and thirtieth part, by Joachim Pauli, Berlin 1784.
  19. ↑ Everyday life in the early modern Harz mining region ( Memento from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF).
  20. ^ Siegfried Sieber: On the history of mining in the Ore Mountains . Wilhelm Knapp, Halle (Saale) 1954, p. 113.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Due to the high levels of dust, the young miners soon developed a severe cough, which was known as consumptive whooping cough. This inevitably led them to die around the age of 40. (Source: Johan Christian Knoetzschker: From condemning the wrongdoers to mining. )
  2. ↑ The bird bolt was a whip that was used to chastise the scabbard boys. The whip consisted of several straps, with knots tied in each strap. (Source: The instructing Bergmann. Robert Friese publishing house, Leipzig 1850.)