Sturgeon (craft)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The sturgeon is an expression for the work of a craftsman in the customer's house. Craftsmen who did this were called Störgeher or Störr; for longer work they also lived for a few days in the village or with the client. The term is still u. a. Common in Upper Austria , for example for the delivery of bread and baked goods by young bakers. The Störschneider is still known today in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel. In German-speaking Switzerland too, terms such as sturgeon cook and sturgeon butcher for cooks or butchers who cook or butcher at the customer's place of residence are still used today .

Word origin

The word sturgeon, sometimes also written ster (to reflect the rounding ) , is first attested in a Swiss legal source from the 15th century. It is likely to interfere with a verbal noun that is interpreted in two different ways:

  • The German dictionary explains the context as "'disruption of the guild'; a craftsman who took on such work violated the craft regulations, he bothered them ”.
  • The Swiss Idioticon takes the Alemannic sub- meaning of sturgeon , disturbance ', meaning' period of time, while; Tour, Mal 'as a starting point, whereby the meaning of the craftsman's sturgeon (according to Idiotikon ,' a craftsman's work outside the house during a certain period of time (or until completion); meaning sturgeon III 2 ) from an original meaning "with interruptions, not continuous, but in individual sections of limited duration work ”assumed.

The wandering craftsman

Specialized blacksmiths such as coppersmiths (boiler and pan smiths ), tailors , shoemakers , carpenters , white seamstresses , joiners , butchers , tinkers , knife grinders , painters , well diggers and craftsmen of similar outpatient trades and less respected activities that use their tools went on such journeys could lead.

An unpleasant side effect for the craftsmen was that they often could not hope for immediate payment for their services, but had to visit the farms again after the harvest time to claim their outstanding craftsmen's wages: Only then did the farmers have money for the craftsman services. The general day of settlements, also with the servants, was Candlemas , February 2nd.

When a few craftsmen broke through this sturgeon system in order to set up their own shops, this sometimes led to conflicts with the rich and powerful farmers. Sometimes they didn't like having to go to a shop for craftsmen services and pay for the services straight away.

The Störgeher, once called Större in the southern German area, are now almost extinct. Until the 1950s , sturgeon cutters and cobblers worked in the homes of citizens and farmers. Today, wandering scissors grinders still occasionally try their hand at this trade , who have always had poor acceptance among the people: the swear word " scissors grinder " for a good-for-nothing exists to this day in the Swabian dialect.

Occasionally the sturgeon is experiencing a kind of "renaissance" in Switzerland; together with the active for some time Störmetzgern we know now - in part as a fad - the Störköche . The example of sturgeon educators (social pedagogues) is known from Zurich, who work “on sturgeon” in the event of conflicts or family bottlenecks.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ High volume and written down (PDF) p. 94.
  2. ^ So in Peter Rosegger's story Eine leathererne Ster .
  3. ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon , Volume XI, Sp. 1255 , where the Lucerne Trade Regulations from 1471 and the Zurich Council and Judge Book from 1484 are cited.
  4. ↑ sturgeon , f . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 19 : Stob – Strollen - (X, 3rd division). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1957, Sp. 361 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ). Schweizerisches Idiotikon Volume XI Sp. 1250 Stör III ; For the latter see especially the meanings 1b and 2 (Col. 1252) and the note (Col. 1258).