Walking stick
A walking stick is a utensil for a walk . In contrast to the walking stick , the focus of the walking stick is not the utility value, but the look.
In medical rehabilitation , products similar to walking sticks are referred to as hand sticks or walking sticks , as opposed to forearm crutches and armpit supports.
Appearance
The walking stick in the narrower sense has a knob at the top, and a hand strap underneath can be pulled across a hole in the stick. At the bottom it has a metal tip. Later, kinking and rounded handles appear that swing well in the hand. The rarer ladies' sticks are more delicate and often decorated with ornaments. The natural curve of krummholz was replaced early on by wood bending technology by means of superheated steam , which was also developed industrially after 1850 ( Michael Thonet ).
handling
The - mostly male - stroller swung the cane to the rhythm of walking. The hand only gripped the handle loosely, held it a little after swiveling upwards before swiveling downwards, or slowed down the downswing a little, otherwise the stick would have swung asynchronously to the ground too early, then pushed it in or on the floor and pulled him back with the swing of his arm, which he then followed up and forward. The arms were swung in exactly the same way as without a stick. Great experts could swing the stick without touching the ground. This handling is rarely observed.
The swinging manipulation can be understood as a typically male, space-demanding display behavior . A distinctive sequence of movements results when the stick is placed on the ground only every second step of the opposite foot and only briefly.
A walking stick extends the possibilities of expression through gestures and can also serve as a balancing object or a gripping aid .
History and use
antiquity
The first sticks were probably nothing more than broken branches. Since then, the use, symbolism and shape of the cane have evolved. For example, walking sticks are repeatedly found among ancient Egyptian grave goods . Walking sticks, it seems, were often associated with professions such as merchant , shepherd or priest among the ancient Egyptians . Even the pharaoh had a special staff. The value of the stick among the Egyptians survived from life even into death, as the finds from King Tut show. More than 100 sticks were found in his grave, believed to be to aid and protect him in the afterlife .
middle Ages
Medieval travelers would rarely have wandered the streets without the protection of their canes. In addition to helping with difficult and mountainous terrain and crossing trenches, the walking stick also served as a weapon for defense against highwaymen and dogs. Traditional journeyman journeyman still lead such a honeysuckle, for example, through the honeysuckle that wraps around it as it grows . It is also called stenz . These companions were indispensable as weapons and tools, as well as support and devices for smuggling money and other valuable items.
Baroque
The role of the stick as a symbol of social status increased sharply during the 17th and 18th centuries, when kings and aristocrats introduced the “accessories” adorned with precious jewels and precious metals into society. The desire to underline one's own status by means of small but fine details led to the expansion of creativity in this area as well. So it is not surprising that portraits of kings and aristocrats often adorn walking sticks made of gold or silver , which are also set with precious stones.
Age of industrialization
In the 19th and early 20th centuries , the walking stick also caught on among the middle class. Noble gentlemen from the nobility and bourgeoisie were seldom seen in public without a walking stick in their hand; women mostly used an umbrella as an alternative. During this time, the cane was discovered by the nobles and wealthy citizens as a weapon for self-defense, as it was practically always carried with you (see also Canne (martial arts) ). The industrial revolution, which found its way into Europe in the middle of the 19th century, increased the popularity of the stick enormously, since, thanks to machine manufacturing methods, the price of a walking stick was now affordable even for ordinary people. Sticks were no longer primarily used as walking aids, at most as supports to ensure a straight posture. The main purpose was to underline the visual appearance of the walker, for this purpose the stick, like hat and gloves, was usually chosen to match the clothes. In order to emphasize the social and economic status, more expensive walking sticks were often made of noble materials, for example with a silver handle or knob, sometimes with an artistically carved handle, for example in the shape of an animal's head. During the first trips to places of interest, the places visited were documented as colorful picture plaques with small stick nails on the walking sticks.
At this time “inventive spirits” began to give the stick more and more additional functions. The functional or system stick was born. More than 1500 patents for the most curious part Stock variants were registered, including for example, were inventions such as the bicycle Stock where a kind trundle Not bicycle was mounted, or better known inventions such as the umbrella, the so-called sword-stick or even the floor gun .
While most of the decorative sticks were made in England and France , Carl Fabergé in Russia and the Tiffanystudios in the USA produced some of the most excellent and expensive sticks in the world, which are not missing from any major collection today.
20th century
After the First World War, the cane began to be devalued. In his films, Charlie Chaplin only used the thin, sagging walking stick as a caricature of an accessory of bourgeois society. After the Second World War , the walking stick was mostly only used as a fun tool, often equipped with a bicycle bell and bottle holder and used, for example, on Father's Day trips.
In the meantime, the walking stick is predominantly seen in Germany as an old-fashioned accessory that can be dispensed with for a normal walk, and that also exposes the wearer to the suspicion of having a walking disability. As a result, sticks are now almost exclusively used as an aid for walking. Their appearance is therefore functionally different. Its grip is anatomically adapted to the grasping hand and forms a right angle to the stick . He is also called Fritz Griff , after Friedrich II. (Friedrich the Great) or Der Alte Fritz . The tip of the stick is provided with a rubber (crutch capsule) that prevents slipping. It is no longer a walking stick, but rather a crutch , i.e. a walking aid . The sticks generally no longer receive the attention of the aesthetic beauty that was originally given special attention in their manufacture. Nonetheless, the walking stick has enjoyed an extraordinary resurgence in popularity, especially among collectors who are intrigued by the history, craftsmanship, and hidden gems that can be found in them.
The Lindewerra stick maker museum was founded in Germany in 1980 .
21st century
In industrialized countries, sticks are increasingly used in the form of Nordic Walking sticks as endurance sports equipment. Used in pairs or alternately, they serve to push off the floor and, above all, have the task of incorporating the arm muscles into the movement. These sticks have a hand strap on the handle, a hard metal tip at the end and a rubber cap with a profiled roll-off arch.
The term comes from cross-country skiing, Nordic skiing, in which the sticks can also be used synchronously, as is also the case with inline skating .
Special features in use
The sticks of the respective epoch allow many conclusions about the living conditions and customs of the time. For example, many ladies of the 18th and 19th centuries carried a "vinaigrette" stick to protect themselves from a variety of ailments. Throughout history, vinegar has become famous for its medicinal qualities. A sponge soaked in the healing liquid was placed in a small container with holes on the handle of the stick. If a woman's corset, which was too tightly laced , made her swoon or she encountered someone with a dreaded disease , “universally applicable medicine” was always ready in her vinaigrette. In a similar fashion, many ladies soaked a sponge with perfume to protect themselves from the unpleasant smells that were encountered in unsanitary public places.
During the civil unrest in France in the 19th century, sticks were often banned in public places or during public gatherings because they often concealed deadly weapons such as blades, points and rifles (see also Canne de Combat ). Troublemakers used sticks with hidden razors, for example, to discreetly sabotage police horses in crowded gatherings by cutting their ankles. When the police looked for the culprit, the gun was already hidden again in its innocent-looking camouflage and the perpetrator was able to pull away with impunity. Sticks were even used to demonstrate allegiance. Such a stick had z. B. an ivory handle carved with some motif . But if a light hit him, he cast a shadow that showed Napoleon's profile and identified the bearer as a follower of the disempowered emperor. Various sticks also marked members of organizations.
Ziegenhainer
In the 19th century, the Ziegenhainer sticks, or Ziegenhainer for short , were very popular in Germany , especially among students. The "real Ziegenhainers" were made of the hard wood of the cornel cherry and had three functions: walking stick, hiking stick and intercepting stick in student duels. They got their name from the student "beer village" Ziegenhain southeast of Jena , where the first sticks were made at the end of the 18th century. At first they were worn by students from Jena, but then came into fashion everywhere. Cheaper versions were made from hawthorn. A more elaborate type of goat grove was the twisted stick. Of course, the twisting growth is created by the clematis, which winds around a young branch of the Cornelian cherry. But you could also help the twist with a strong wire. Later the gnarled growth was imitated on the lathe.
Types of walking sticks
There are generally three types of walking sticks: decorative sticks, folk art sticks, and system sticks.
Decorative sticks
Decorative sticks were primarily there to show off their wearer even more. Unlike their system stick counterparts, their function was in most cases purely aesthetic. The variety of materials and shapes of these decorative sticks was limited only by the imagination of the artisans who made them. Very popular materials were ivory, gold, silver, porcelain , jewels, enamel, and even glass .
Folk art sticks
Unlike their aforementioned counterparts, folk art sticks were more intended to draw attention to their maker. These sticks were decorated less with gold and precious stones than with elaborate carvings. Even if they actually had a different purpose, some are probably the most beautiful sticks in the world.
System sticks or equipment sticks
These are possibly the most fascinating and most collected walking sticks. This category consists of sticks with a dual or hidden purpose, such as a blade, whiskey bottle and glass, or a walking stick carried by doctors that contains scalpels and syringes. Musical instruments, fishing rods, telescopes, sewing kits and corkscrews have also come down to us. More than 1500 patents for tool sticks were applied for during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Walking stick instruments
In the 18th and 19th centuries, walking stick instruments in particular appeared in German-speaking countries. The stick clarinet, stick recorder, stick flute and stick violin are documented.
literature
- Hans Nebel, Dieter W. Banzhaf: The stick as a student dedication article . Einst und Jetzt , Vol. 60 (2015) pp. 27–40.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ REHADAT. List of resources of the GKV according to § 139 SGB V. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 16, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 13, 2008 (database of aids; hand and walking sticks are listed in sub-group 01, forearm crutches in sub-group 02, armpit supports in sub-group 03): "Product group 10, application location 50, sub-group 01" Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Stock violin (Inv.-No. 4528). Museum for Musical Instruments of the University of Leipzig , accessed on April 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Sewing table piano and walking stick instruments. Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin , accessed on April 15, 2015 (stick clarinet (cat.no.2906), stick recorder (cat.no.2827), stick flute (cat.no.4839), stick violin (cat.no.4697 )).
