Carpenter saying
As Zimmermann sayings , verdicts or ring speeches one calls solemn speeches on the occasion of completion of a house building.
Like the laying of the foundation stone of a building , the completion of the shell is also celebrated by a solemn act, which is usually linked to the erection of the wooden roof scaffolding and is therefore popularly called the topping-out ceremony of the house.
During this judging , the highest ridge of the roof is decorated with green decorations, be it in the form of a crown or a green tree decorated with colored ribbons or with wreaths; the site manager , the carpenter or the mason foreman gives a solemn speech for the consecration of the house; this is also known as a wreath speech . On this occasion, everyone involved in the construction is given a festive meal.
In the case of public and especially church buildings, documents , coins and memorials of all kinds are also included in the tower button , just as in the foundation stone . The custom is reminiscent of the decoration of the roof ridge or the gable with protective emblems, be it the crossed horse heads in German and Wendish countries, which were considered epidemic repellent, the thunder broom in the Vierlanden as a ban on the weather , the rooster on the weather vane as a symbol of vigilance, the a horseshoe nailed to the gable or threshold as a means of protection.
The meaning of all these measures, the protection of the house and its residents from lightning, fire, epidemic and other dangers, is summarized in the carpenter's saying, often condensed from above, in a short, pithy form into a blessing for the new house and all of its residents together.
Examples
“The ceremony has struck, the trained hand rest.
After hard, busy days, the Richtbaum proudly greets the country.
And everyone is proud and happy today who is involved in building.
They were brave craftsmen who trusted their art.
So I wish
the new house the best of luck as best I can, as strong as a carpenter, with proudly lifted eyes.
We ask God, who keeps us so faithfully at all times in danger,
to protect the building here from misery and damage of all kinds. "
“Now I happily take the glass in hand,
filled with champagne to the brim,
and with the fiery juice of the vines
everyone wants to give the honors,
as is due according to old custom,
when such a building is built.
The client's first glass:
happiness should be in this house!
Unity never flee from it!
Death rarely comes.
The stork should be a regular here.
A triple high for the client and his wife next to them!
they should live. up, up, up!
And cheers to the bricklayers and carpenters,
through whose strength the building was built.
They should live high, high, high, high!
Then I want to end my saying, long live the builders!
May my drink be dedicated to this house, it will stand forever! "
“With all due respect,
ladies and gentlemen!
Now the building has risen here,
Not huge, but not small either,
The work may praise its master,
The builders should be praised.
According to the old custom, I
'll pick up my glass and I 'll raise my voice for you.
Because everyone bites the grass once, so
let them all live today!
Who often got sweat on his forehead
Who wore stone and mortar without complaint,
Who moved brick stones,
Who dragged beams,
hammered tenons, Who shoveled and sawed, Moved
for hours
on the construction site with flex and excavator ,
that is our praise!
It is usually the custom
to drink to the client
and his wife on
such a happy day , no question about it.
Alone - there is no master who would be
the boss at the Aschergraben.
But that shouldn't bother us at all:
We drink to the GbR!
Good luck and salvation and God's blessing
To the forest hotel that thrives here,
Where housekeeping will soon be moving,
Where carpenters are still working today!
So may Almighty God protect the
house and those who live in it: From
illness, fire and water
shortage, May he always spare them all.
When hiking, skiing and in the house:
Where our guests are happy,
bad luck and bad luck stay away in the
Waldhotel am Aschergraben!
The glass shatters in the ground,
this house is consecrated at the hour "
literature
- Carpenter's sayings and wreaths (8th edition, Weimar 1887)