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Salt boilers, miners, craftsmen - salt pots, mines, manufactories

A virtual book exhibition from the library of the Francke Foundations

The cabinet exhibition presents people in their working environment as depicted in historical copperplate engravings and woodcuts from the library of the Francke Foundations. The structural completion of the renovated and restored ensemble of the Francke Foundations, which took place this year, is based on the building activities that characterized the early years of the Glaucha Institutions. This component is just as much a part of the exhibition as the urban theme year "Halexa, boil salt!" places a special focus on the working environment of the salt people and the history of the salt works and salt mines.

1. Salt production in Halle and salt mining in Lesser Poland and Transylvania

Salt production in Halle on the Saale

The history of the city of Halle an der Saale is closely connected with salt, which was once extracted in the area of today's Hallmarkt. The salt works in the area of Hallmarkt was called the Pfännerschaftliche Saline im "Thal zu Halle". It was separated from the rest of the city and had its own jurisdiction, including the Moritz Church. Brine was extracted from four shafts of varying depths in a confined space. The workers at the shafts were called "Bornknechte" in Halle.

When salt was extracted in evaporated salt works, the brine extracted from salt wells was boiled down (simmered) in large pans and the end product thus produced was called boiled or evaporated salt. In so-called boiling houses, the heavy brew pans rested on brick hearths where the open pans were heated from below to evaporate the brine. In Halle, there was one pan per koth, as the boiling huts were called here since 1272. On average, there were 110 boiling koths.  In Halle, the master usually worked with his wife, a farmhand and some boys hired to fetch wood. The masters were called Halloren. The pans were made of lead until the 18th century, and later of iron. Firing was usually done with wood or peat, but since the second half of the 16th century, hard coal was also used in many places in Germany.

Between 1719 and 1721, on the initiative of Johann Paul Stecher (1662-1737), the Royal Prussian Saltworks were built directly on the banks of the Saale River in front of the Klaustor.

Image description

In 1557, Hieronymus Froben (1501-1563) and his brother-in-law Nikolaus Bischoff (Episcopius) (1501-1564) published the first German translation of Georg Agricola's (1494-1555) De re metallica libri XII under the title Vom Bergk-werck XII Bücher.

The twelfth book contains regulations for the extraction of salt, soda, alum, vitriol, sulfur, bitumen and glass.

The wooden section shown here presents salt wells and boiling huts with boiling operations on a salt works. It is assumed that this is the salt works in the "Thal zu Halle". In the foreground two differently equipped wells and behind them two boiling huts can be seen. At the boiling huts one recognizes the house signs. Between the wells and the boiling huts, men are carrying on their shoulders a tub attached to a pole. In their hands they hold supporting forks, on which they could set down the carrying poles during breaks.

Image description

Friedrich Hondorff (1628-1694), salt count in Halle from 1660, published a description of the Halle salt works in 1670 under the title Das Saltz-Werck zu Halle in Sachsen. In his work, he dealt with the salt springs and their ownership, salt extraction, and related offices and professions, supplemented by legal regulations. The detailed description of the salt boiling process in the 13th chapter finds its pictorial representation in the copperplate engraving shown.

The engraving shows scenes from the salt extraction and a view of the city of Halle.

In 1749, the jurist and historian Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt (1699-1768), now salt count of Halle, published an updated and expanded edition.

Detailed picture description by Christian Schwela, curator of the Halles Salinemuseum

The copperplate engraving from the Hondorff book gives an overall view of the structure and operation of the salt works in the »Thal zu Halle«. All working steps are shown, which were usual and necessary in the salt works almost unchanged since the Middle Ages up to the 18th century, in order to lift brine, to boil salt from it and to provide salt for the export. Not shown are all the organizational structures associated with the administration and management of the saltworks.

At the top, next to a city view of Halle on the left, there is a legend naming the elements of the picture, of which »2« immediately on the right represents the »City True Sign«: The donkey loaded with a sack, driven by a salt worker, walking on roses. The motto refers to the salt works in Halle: »Die Arbeit und den Nutz darin zu Hall besteht | Das Saltzwerck zeiget an der hier auf (R)rosen geth«. The motif of donkey and lad can also be found on the market church in Halle (mirrored on the side) and immortalized as a fountain monument on the Old Market. The citation in the picture deprives the other interpretation in historical legend that it is a miller's boy with donkey.

If we follow the sequence of the legend, we are led exactly along the sequence of the working steps as described by Friedrich Hondorff in his book. The 1st step consists in the extraction of the brine from the depths. The »German well« (3) in the center of the picture with its double reel (4 and 5) is presented here as an example.

Hondorff writes in this regard (in Cap. V): »… So gehen die zum Deutschen Brunne bestellte Bornknechte derer viererler seyn, nemlich Haspeler und Störtzer, Zäpffer und Träger, des SontagAbends, und zwar die Haspeler und Störtzer gegen Fünf, die Träger und Zäpffer aber umb Sieben Uhr zu dem Brunne, und verrichten ihrer Arbeit dergestalt: Daß die Haspeler derer Sechzehen seyn, vermittelst Zweyer oben über den Brunne darzu gemachten Kamp-Räder, derer iegliches mit zwo grossen Seilen beleget, und an ieden zwey mit Eisen beschlagene Eimer hangen, die Sole also herauff winden, daß wechselsweise auff ieder Seite ein voller Eimer herauff kömmet, und auff ieder Seite ein lediger wieder hinunter gehet. …«

»Kamp wheels« are part of the reel plant. Reels are comparable to winches, except that human muscle power is needed to turn or raise and lower them at that time. The ropes are twisted on the reel in such a way that each rope is equipped with a bucket at its two rope ends, so that when the bucket filled with brine is pulled up from the bottom of the well, the other empty bucket is lowered down from the top. The reels were operated by the »reelers«, 16 of whom worked simultaneously in shifts, that is: 8 men turned the reel, 8 men rested. The »Tagwerk« was 24 hours, the shifts were divided into large shift (7 to 8 hours) and small shift (3 to 4 hours), so the real working time was 10 to 12 hours per day. Below the reel mill the »Störtzer« can be seen at work. Their task was to transfer the raised brine buckets into a kind of trough, also called a »Kahn« (6). »Störtzer« comes from »umstürzen« = to pour over. Here, too, 2 men always worked in shifts while the other 2 Störtzer rested.

Hondorff states (Cap. V): »… also dann die Störtzer, derer Viere seyn, die vollen Eimer mit der herausgezogenen Sole, in einen, auff dem Brunne liegenden grossen Kahn oder Trog, umbstürtzen, und ausgiessen.«

At the end of the trough on the left - a little hidden - the »Zäpfer« (7) can be seen. Its task was to open and close the tap hole (could be translated as »drain cock«) at the bottom of the trough with a tap rod, under which the »Zober« ("Zuber" = vats) were filled to carry away the brine. Analogous to the left side of the trough, there was a tap at the right end of the trough, it is not shown in the picture.

Hondorff continues his description: »Darauff die Zäpffer, derer auch Viere seyn, durch Ausziehung zweyer, in solchen Kahne, an dem einem Ende desselben, steckenden langen höltzernen Zapffen, die Sole, in die, unter den Zapffen-Löchern stehende Zwey höltzerne Zöber, lauffen lassen, welche wann sie voll gelauffen, von denen Trägern, derer Zwey und dreyßig seyn, an einen Baume oder Zoberstangen, auff den Achseln von den Brunnen weg, vor die Saltz-Kothe getragen, und daselbst in die bey ieglichen Kothe, etwas heraus auff die Gassen gebauete Solfasse ausgegossen werden.«

The ricks filled with brine were suspended from a »tree« or »Zoberstange« (carrying rod) and carried by 2 bearers (8) each from the well in the center of the picture to the boiling houses, where the brine was transferred from the rick into a brine barrel (brine storage container) that protruded through the facade of the boiling house (12). This can be seen in the picture below on the left. Of the porters, 32 men were on duty at the same time, also working in shifts. Carrying the brine to the various boiling houses was the second important step in the salt works.

Hondorff does not forget to show and describe the other mining technology practiced in the salt works at that time. At the right edge of the picture in the center is shown a well with treadle (9) and »Radetreter« (10) instead of the reel. The pulling up of the brine by means of a treadle was usual at the other three wells in the valley of Halle, they are mentioned in the legend at (9): Gutjahr- and Meteritzbrunnen as well as Hackeborn. Not as many personnel were employed at the treadle wells as at the reel system of the German well, but there, too, it was precisely prescribed how the work was to be performed, when the shift was to be changed, and how many buckets had to be pulled.

Hondorff writes (Cap. V):

»Über den Gutjahrs-Brunne seynd keine Haspeler, sondern zwölff Radetreter, die da in einen grossen Rade, zwölff Ellen weniger vier Zoll hoch, gehen und treten, darmit sie eine daran gemachte Welle, darumm ein groß Born-Seil geleget, an welchen zweene grosse mit Eisen beschlagene Eimer hangen, umbtreiben, und also ein Eimer umb den andern in den Born gelassen und voll Sole wieder heraus gezogen wird.

Diese Radetreter theilen sich auch in Zwo Schichten, also: daß in einer ieglichen Schicht Sechse zugleich zu Borne an die Arbeit gehen, und iegliches Tagewerck in zwo grossen Sieben bis Acht Stunden und zwo kleinen Drey biß Vier Stunden wehrenden Schichten heraus bringen:

Bey ieglicher Schicht treten von den Sechs Radetretern zweene in das Rad, und einer an den Brunn, Jene winden mit ihren treten die Eimer mit der Sole aus den Brunne, dieser aber störtzet die herauff kommende Eimer mit der Sole, in den, über den Brunn gemachten Kahn, aus. An dem Kahne seynd auch keine solche eiserne Haken, wie über den Deutschen Brunne, weil die Eimer durch das Rad nicht mit solcher Gewalt, wie durch die Haspel aus den Brunnen gezogen werden. Auch ruffet der Jenige, so da störtzet, so offt ein Eimer so weit herauff ist daß er umbgestürtzet werden kann, den Radetretern zu: Halt! Die sich dann alsobald in Rade umbkehren, und mit den treten dasselbe also regiren, daß die Eimer umbgestörtzet und ausgegossen werden können. Wann nun diese Part Zwölff Eimer heraus getreten, oder wie sie reden, geholet hat, so gehen sie aus dem Rade, und der so die Zwölff Eimer ausgestörtzet, von den Brunnen weg: Hingegen treten von den übrigen Dreyen wieder Zweene in das Rad, und einer, der aus dem Rade kömt, gehet an dem brunn und holen gleicher gestalt Zwölff Eimer heraus, wie die vorigen.«

The enumeration of the further work process on the treadle wheel could be continued, but since it is not shown in the picture, we will refrain from doing so.

To the carriers there is still to note: There, too, it was precisely prescribed who had to change his position when carrying the rick, i.e. who carried the rick bar in front of the rick or after the rick.

All the workers who were engaged in lifting and distributing the brine were called "Bornknechte". Those of them who lived close to the valley could rest at home during the breaks, all others who lived further away had to rest in chambers near the wells.
In order that especially the carriers of the »drittehalben Centner« (approx. 175 kg) heavy Zober did not slip and spill brine, there were still »Stegeschäufler« who had to keep the footbridges clean, and »Spulzieher« who cleaned the drainage channels at the ways and made sure that these ditches did not overflow. The »raft master« was responsible for the coarse and solid garbage, which was brought to Saale barges with wheelbarrows. The cargo of the Saale barges was then disposed of in the countryside. These three fields of activity are not shown in the picture.

Let's continue looking at the picture: At the bottom left, a boiling koth (boiling house) can be seen from the outside (11), in front of whose facade a sol barrel is protruding, which is just being filled with a rick by 2 bearers (12). In the center of the picture on the left (next to the German well) the interior of a boiling koth can be seen (13).

For the construction and condition of these boiling houses, we follow Hondorff's description (in Cap. XII):

»Sonsten ist zu wissen, daß die Kothe Häuser seyn, von Tännen oder Fichten, die in der Erden liegende Schwellen, aber von kiefernen starcken Holtze, Leim und Stroh gebauet, und kostet iegliches Sieben biß Acht Hundert Thaler zu bauen, mit dem Solfasse, welches alleine über Achzig Thaler zu stehen kömt, in die Erde gegraben und auff einen höltzernen Rost gesetzet ist, doch das ein Theil desselben etwas über der Erde stehet, und darvon ein Stücke ausserhalb des Koths auff die Gasse gebauet, darein die Träger die Sole aus den Zöbern giessen können.

Daß aber so leicht nichts unreines in das Solfaß komme, so ist in dem auff die Gasse gebaueten Theile, ein von weiden geflochtener Korb gesetzt, wodurch die Sole darein gegossen, bey Kaltlägern aber das Loch mit einen darüber gemachten höltzernen Deckel verwahret wird. Innerhalb des Koths hat das Solfaß auch eine höltzerne Decke, worinne ein Loch mit einer Thür, dardurch mit dem Füll-Eimer die Sole heraus geschöpffet, und in die Pfanne zum Saltzsieden gegossen wird, worvon folgendes Capitel handelt:

Darmit nun die Kothe, sonderlich bey Kaltlägern, warm bleiben, das Saltz nicht feuchte werde, und die Stücken zerfallen, so seynd sie nicht nur auff allen Seiten mit Holtz wohl ausgestaket, sondern auch gar dicke mit Leim bekleibet, und beschwartet, zum theil auch mit Bretern beschlagen.

Sonderlich ist das Dach also gefertiget, daß die Sparren erst mit Latten, auch Bretern oder Strichschindeln beleget, und dann mit Leim und Stroh unter ein ander vermenget, starck bedecket.«

The boiling casks are therefore wooden half-timbered buildings that are specially protected against moisture for drying the salt by, among other things, filling and lining the walls with glue (meaning clay) and straw. The brine drum (brine storage tank) is built so that it can be filled from the outside and emptied from the inside. The term »cold storage« is a euphemism for production stoppage when, for example, the warehouses were overfilled with unsold salt. Then the boiling pans remained out of operation, it remained cold in the boiling pots.

The interior of the boiling koth (13) is essentially divided into three areas: the hearth with the boiling pan (14), the »salt place« (15) for drying the salt, often located in the attic, and the »Reißbanck« (16), supplemented by a »straw place«, the main storage place for the firewood for the hearth.

Hondorff writes about the appearance of the hearth (Cap. XII): »Ingleichen unten an der Erde der viereckigte Herd, darauff das Saltz, in einer Pfanne gesotten wird: Das hinderste Theil am Herde, ist ein Stücke Mauer, die Pitzschke oder Petsche genant, daran die Lohe aus dem Herde hinanschläget: Und hinter der Pitschke der Zaun, gleich einen Bleichwercke, von Holtze gestacket, und dichte mit vermengten Leime und Strohe geklebet.«

In Hondorff's time, wood and straw were still used to heat the pan, so there is no chimney flue to be seen on the stove. Only later was switched to coal firing.

Two »Würcker« (salt workers = salt boilers) stand at the stove. »Die Würcker seynd die jenigen Personen, welche aus der Sole in denen Kothe das Saltz sieden, werden auch zum Unterscheid ihrer Knechte, die ihnen in der Arbeit helffen, Meister genennet.«

Hondorff gives a detailed account of her work in Cap. 13, also describing the cup structure with all details, which, however, cannot be fully reproduced in the picture. Therefore, a summary is given here:

First, the boiling ladle made of sheet iron is positioned over the hearth, i.e. suspended from a wooden frame with so-called pancake hooks. To align the pan horizontally, bricks are clamped between the corners of the bottom of the pan and the tops of the hearth. The wooden frame above the ladle is constructed in such a way that it can also hold two salt baskets, into which the fresh salt from the ladle is whipped (shoveled in). Then the fire under the pan is lit and brine is poured into the pan, with interruptions there are a total of 36 to 38 filling buckets (about 4.5 zober). The brine is initially foamed with heat, to bind the impurities in the brine, cattle blood is added, which is skimmed off as foam on the brine surface. Then the fire temperature is kept so that the salt crystal formation starts. By adding »Schwenke beer«, the formation of coarse-grained salt is promoted. This is also indicated by the jug on the table in the picture. The salt is lifted out of the pan with wooden shovels and poured in layers into the two wicker salt baskets until there is no more salt in the pan, with the salt overhanging the rim of the basket. A basket overfilled in this way is called a piece of salt, and two pieces of salt form a »day's work«. Then brine is added, the filled salt baskets are taken to the »salt place« to dry, two new salt baskets are placed on the pan. The procedure is repeated with the addition of cattle blood to clean the brine and beer to grain the salt. In 24 hours, 6 days' work or 12 pieces of salt should be accomplished.

After two days of continuous operation under fire, the pan must be cleaned, because burnt hard salt prevents the brine from being heated properly. For cleaning, the pan is taken off the stove and outside in front of the boiling hearth first rinsed with cold water and then heated with a small straw fire so that the hard salt layers on the edge and bottom of the pan can be knocked off with a hammer. This can be seen in the picture under the zober beams (8), labeled in the legend as »burning out the pan« (22). If necessary, the sheet metal seams of the ladle also had to be checked for damaged areas and patched. This procedure was repeated every two days. The useful life of such a ladle was a full (that is, 6 days a week) 20 boiling weeks, after which it had to be replaced with a new ladle. The pan smith repaired the used pans and made new pans. The salt baskets could be used for 10 to 12 boiling processes, but before each new filling they had to be washed in the river Saale.

There were other helpers at the boiling pan: Besides the salt servant, who helped the boiling master with the boiling, the »Zustörerin« had to take care of the fire under the pan, and boys had to supply the wood for it.

When the salt is ready for loading after drying, the »Saltzträger« (18) brings it in a basket to the wagons (19) and carts (20) of the salt guests (17), who are mostly carters and merchants who brought other goods to Halle and take salt with them on the way back. The salt guests buy the salt directly in the boiling koth.

At the wagons or carts the salt is reloaded. Either the pieces of salt are poured directly into the wagon or they are pushed into barrels or drums, which are then loaded. This is the task of the »Läder«. The »Stöpper« (22) compacts the cargo and cushions it.

Hondorff says (Cap. XV): »Die Stöpper seynd die jenigen, welche die, mit Saltz beladene Wagen, auff der Seiten mit Stroh, oben aber mit einen zugespeilten Tuche, ingleichen mit Matten oder Decken verwahren, Haselne Ruthen darüber spannen und dieselben mit einen Stricke, den sie ein Lauff-Seil nennen, zusammen binden.«

The salt baskets are reused for boiling after they have been emptied.

This brings us to the end of the picture. In Hondorff's work we can read a wealth of further details on the structure of the salt works, its structures, the distribution of the »Thalgüter« (brine allocation), the calculation and remuneration of the salt workers, officials and employees, the regulations and penalties of the Thal-Ordnung, the scope and rights of the salt count and the Bornmeister, the share of the tasks and rights of the Pfänner at the salt works, which are not shown in the picture.

©Christian Schwela

Salt mining in Lesser Poland and Transylvania

In the second half of the 13th century, the underground rock salt deposits of Wieliczka and Bochnia were discovered in the vicinity of Krakow in Lesser Poland, after the brine wells, which had been used for salt boiling since ancient times, were exhausted here.

Around 1280 the Goryszowski shaft was sunk. Until the 18th century, mining was carried out only in the upper part of the salt seam to a depth of about 60 meters. The miners cut salt blocks of a certain size and weight from the seam. These were filled into barrels while still in the mine itself, and since the 15th century they have been brought to the surface by means of machines. In 1368, King Casimir the Great (1310-1370) issued a mining order regulating salt production and trade. The Wieliczka and Bochnia salt mines were united as Royal Salt Mines and retained this status until 1772. The administration of the salt mines was the responsibility of a salt count who had his seat in Wieliczka Castle. The number of workplaces was limited to 60 each.

Today, the Wieliczka Salt Mine houses the largest mining museum in the world. Together with the Bochnia Salt Mine and the Wieliczka Salt Count's Castle, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In Europe, salt was mined underground by the Celts as early as the Iron Age. Northwest of the city of Turda in the historical region of Transylvania, there are significant rock salt deposits, which were already used for salt extraction in Roman times. Under Habsburg rule, the construction of the salt mine, which today serves as a tourist recreational center, was begun in 1690. The Josif, Teresia and Anton shafts were in use until 1862. The original five sunk shafts served as entrances for the miners, for the ventilation of the pits and for the extraction of the salt blocks. They were the starting point for balconies connected by stairs and for the construction of horizontal roadways. The mining was carried out by means of winches driven by four-horse carriages. In the salt mines of Turda, only free laborers with annual contracts were used, which was a peculiarity in the salt industry of that time.

Information about the images

Fichtel, Johann Ehrenreich von:
Geschichte des Steinsalzes und der Steinsalzgruben im Großfürstenthum Siebenbürgen, mit einer, das Streichen des unterirrdischen Salzstockes, durch mehrere Länder andeutenden Karte, und andern Kupfern. [...] herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin.
Nürnberg: Raspe, 1780

In 1780, the Austrian mineralogist Johann Ehrenreich von Fichtel (1732-1795) published a two-volume work on the mineral history of Transylvania. Among the graphic appendices in the second volume, in which Fichtel devotes himself to the history of rock salt and rock salt mines in the Grand Duchy of Transylvania, are several plans of the Turda salt mines.

2. Mining

The diverse work in mines was initially carried out with human physical strength and the simplest of tools. Over time, mining techniques, the specific organization of work, and the economic and legal framework developed.

The geoscientific and mining science work De re metallica libri XII by the Nuremberg physician Georg Bauer, known as Agricola (1494-1555), the founder of mining and metallurgy, published in the mid-16th century was groundbreaking for mining. This work, which is distinguished by its great objectivity, is considered to be the very first textbook on the technical sciences and makes the beginnings of mechanization in mining technology very comprehensible.

The 292 woodcuts accompanying Georg Agricola's detailed work on the mines are of high informational and visual value. Partially designed by Agricola himself as sketches, the St. Joachimsthal miner and painter Basilius Wefringaus (or Blasius Weffringer) created the templates for the woodcuts, which were then made by the form cutters Hans Rudolf Manuel, called Deutsch (1525-1571), and Zacharias Specklin (1530-1576). The printing blocks made in Basel were preserved so well that they could be used for all eight editions published between 1556 and 1657.

Information about the images

Agricola, Georg:
De Re Metallica Libri XII. Quibus Officia, Instrumenta, Machinae [...].
Basel: Froben ; Basel: Episcopius, 1561

In this work, Agricola described the mechanical devices widely used in mining in the first half of the 16th century. While mine hoists were initially driven by means of a reel (winding beam with hand cranks) installed horizontally above the shaft, eventually tread drums (for people running on the inside) or tread wheels with spokes or steps (for people running on the outside), some of which were based on gear drives, were used. In 1504, the introduction of horse-drawn galleys (shaft set in motion by horses) took place in the German mining industry.

1 From 1500 onwards, the large water hoisting machine described by Agricola, known as the Bulgenkunst, was used for mine drainage, driven by an overhead sweep wheel (water wheel with two counter-rotating blading) and already embodied the principle of the modern hoisting machine. It soon found use as a shaft hoisting device as well, and could extract ore from depths of up to 550 meters.

2. illustration of a chain hoist known as Heinzenkunst for hoisting mine water. Since the endless chain bore a resemblance to a prayer chain, it was also called a paternoster chain. The presented paternoster mechanism was driven by a treadle drum. The Heinzen art, invented at the beginning of the 16th century, was introduced to mining in the Harz Mountains in 1535.

3. around 1540 the Ehrenfriedersdorfer Kunstgezeug was invented. The superimposed suction pumps were first driven by people, later by water wheels. The illustration shows an artificial tool with three "low" suction sets. The still simple suction pumps were able to overcome differences in height of eight to ten meters.

4 Weathering machines were used for mine ventilation. The illustration shows a weather machine with a whole battery of bellows, driven by human power, by treadle wheel and horse, and by horse at the göpel.

Image description

The metallurgist Christoph Andreas Schlüter (1668-1743) worked from 1724 to 1743 as a tithing officer (sovereign financial officer in mining regions and mining towns) and as head of the mining office in Goslar and was thus closely connected with the Harz metallurgy. In 1738, Schlüter published his fundamental metallurgical-historical work Gründlicher Unterricht von Hütte-Werken, consisting of a text volume and a volume of plates with copper engravings. In it, Schlüter deals with metallurgy and tasting (testing ores for their content of usable metals so that smelters could adjust the smelting process accordingly) and describes smelting works in Germany as well as in Great Britain, Scandinavia, and southeastern Europe. The frontispiece with allegorical figures shows a view of Goslar. A French-language edition appeared in Paris in 1753/54.

3. The building trade in the Francke Foundations at the beginning of the 18th century

As in the millennia before, the working person was the decisive element of craft production in the early modern period. Manual dexterity as well as individually developed knowledge and skills in handling the materials were decisive. From the late Middle Ages onwards, various guild organizations were formed, such as guilds, with the aim of providing legal protection and mutual support for individual occupational groups. The guild obligation was intended to protect privileges and exclude unwelcome competition. In addition to the craftsmen organized in guilds, there were also non-guild, itinerant wage earners. Until the late Middle Ages, there was little division of labor. Increasing differentiation and specialization took place at the occupational level. In the early modern period, a new social organization of work became necessary, especially in the manufactories, which, characterized by centralization, soon led to a unification and standardization of work processes.

The structural completion of the renovated and restored ensemble of the Francke Foundations, which took place in this year, is based on the building activities and the associated diverse trades that characterized the early years of the Glaucha Institutes. These included carpenters, roofers, lead workers and locksmiths.

Image description

Illustrated descriptions of the most diverse types of crafts and services in the early modern period can already be found in the so-called Ständebücher, such as the Abbildung Der Gemein-Nützlichen Haupt-Stände by Christoph Weigel (1654-1725) from 1698. In this work, the estates and offices of the time are presented in their "godly order" in 212 copperplate engravings. The special merit of the Nuremberg copper engraver and publisher Weigel is that he visited most of the workshops himself, made his original drawings on site and coordinated the descriptions with the master craftsmen.

Image description

Schauplatz der Künste und Handwerke is the title of the German-language edition of the Descriptions des arts et métiers published by the Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris almost simultaneously from 1761 to 1788 in 21 volumes from 1762 to 1805. This encyclopedia, with 603 fold-out copper plates, contains comprehensive descriptions of a wide range of contemporary crafts and manufacturing processes. The accompanying illustrations are exceptionally detailed and accurate. Thus, this is an incomparably informative source on 18th century crafts, manufacturing techniques, and trades related to crafts.

Image description

The lead worker's duties included casting, tile drawing, white tinning ceilings and cornices, and making panels, skylights, gable trim, pipes, gutters, eaves, faucets, fountains, water tanks, and coffins, among other things.

Image description

The locksmith, also known as a small blacksmith, produced mainly locks, keys, hinges and hinges for doors, fittings, grilles, sacrament boxes, fireplace accessories, door knockers, handles, lantern and torch holders, with great emphasis on the beauty of the forms.

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