reaper
The reaper ( mower ) is a harvest helper who mows the grain by hand . Especially when it comes to haymaking , the reaper is also called a mower .
Profession of tailor
In the past, the grain was harvested with a sickle or with a scythe ; this involved a lot of manual work. In some places the reaper was a seasonal migrant worker who wandered from farmer to farmer with his main tool, the scythe, in the summer, benefiting from the different ripening of the grain fields and varieties.
In Mecklenburg the pre-cutter was responsible for the organization. A pasch reaper was made up of a man and a woman who worked together. The woman was also responsible for preparing food, washing and making minor repairs to the work clothes.
African slaves were also called reapers, including when they were used on Cuban sugar cane plantations.
The job of the tailor, like all " traveling " professions, was always associated with a relative fascination; on the other hand, the tailors were socially at a very low level as " vagabonds ".
In the course of the mechanization of agriculture , the work of the reaper has been replaced by mowing machines and has almost died out as a line of business in many countries.
Today this profession still has a certain importance in countries where rice cultivation cannot be done mechanically and there are several harvests per year, such as on the Indian subcontinent. Occasionally reapers can also be found in the South African grasslands . The main use of clippings is for roofing traditional buildings.
Reaper barracks
In the second half of the 19th century the number of migrant workers rose sharply in the German Empire . So-called Saxon migrants moved as seasonal workers from areas east of the Elbe to the west, for example to the Magdeburg Börde , where, among other things , they helped with the cultivation of sugar beet ; they were also known as reapers. To accommodate these seasonal workers, barracks-like mass shelters, the reapers barracks , were built. These reaper barracks are still preserved in many places and are protected as a monument .
Reaper death
In a figurative sense, the reaper also means the grim reaper .
The saying, "Come in, if it's not Schneider 's" may have its etymological origin in the primordial saying: "Herin, wan the reaper nit is!" This alludes to the many places frequent representation of death as a Grim Reaper, which even in the folk song " Grim Reaper " sounds.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Richard Ehrenberg - Agricultural work and small property - The breach of contract by agricultural workers Volume 1 p. 27 Rostock 1907
- ^ PECO Institute eV (Ed.): History of the agricultural workers' movement - housing conditions - an expression of social position . 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
- ↑ Federal executive committee of the industrial union building-environment (ed.): Seasonal worker housing - solutions for migrant workers in agriculture . (PDF), 2005, pp. 4–5. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
- ^ Förderwerk Land- und Forstwirtschaft Sachsen-Anhalt eV (Ed.): Searching for traces of migrant work in agriculture in the Magdeburg Börde and the surrounding area . (PDF), October 2006. Retrieved March 6, 2016.