During the day on the Reeperbahn (Rope track) - historical and extinct professions in the German Digital Library

Of ropes, railways and amusement miles

Many occupations have disappeared from our everyday lives over time. However, as in the case of the wire-puller, job titles have often been preserved in one way or another. So, also with the rope maker:

The professional image is probably not immediately familiar to everyone, but certainly, the street that owes its name to this guild: Ropemaker- until their task from the first half of the 19th century onwards was increasingly taken over by rope tapping machines – crafted ropes.

For this, they needed long, straight lanes in which they could stretch and beat their ropes. These so-called rope tracks were up to 400 metres long and thus as long as the longest ropes produced. After they were no longer needed, they were converted into streets - including the most famous of all Rope tracks: the world-famous entertainment mile in Hamburg.

Former occupation names as present-day surnames

Some extinct occupations can still be found as surnames in the middle of our society today: Wagner (Wainwright) and Köhler (Charcoal burner), for example, are among the most extinct occupations in their craft function but have remained as common surnames until today.

Wainwrights manufactured (and partly still do) wagons, wheels and agricultural equipment from wood. Especially in the 19th century, with the advent of the railway, their skills were in great demand. However, the skills and experience of wainwrights were still in demand in the railway and automotive industries well into the 20th century. As a surname, "Wagner" now ranks 7th in the list of the most common surnames in Germany.

The profession of charcoal burner is also largely extinct today, but the surname is all the more common - after all, Köhler - "charcoal burner"- is in 35th place in the list of the most common surnames in Germany. Charcoal making, i.e. the production of charcoal, is considered one of the oldest handicraft techniques of mankind, even though it is not an official training occupation in Germany.

Charcoal burning experienced its first heyday in the Middle Ages, when the first charcoal kilns were developed. From the 18th century, however, it increasingly lost its importance due to the increased use of hard coal. Even today, there are still a few charcoal burners; there are said to be around 400 to 600 of them, most of whom produce charcoal as a sideline. Where charcoal is still produced, despite the great environmental damage, it is nowadays almost exclusively done industrially. Nevertheless, in 2014, the charcoal burner trade was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage in Germany by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany due to its historical and cultural significance.

"In this sense: 'Good light -!'" The occupation of the lantern lighter

A historical profession that today evokes more romantic and fairytale associations is that of the lantern lighter. The idea that people roamed the country's cities every evening to light the street lamps by hand is almost touching at first glance.

This romantic impression is certainly reinforced by the lantern lighter in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince": the man lives on the fifth planet that the little prince visits, lights a lantern there every evening and puts it out again every morning. Due to the ever-faster rotation of the small planet, it is incessantly busy.

Kurt Tucholsky, however, puts us on the right track when he speaks of the "heavy office" that this occupational group performs in his gloss "The Lantern Lighters". For even if Tucholsky's ironic undertone can hardly be overlooked, providing the right street lighting at night in wind and weather must be considered a supreme physical feat.

On the one hand, the activity was financed by the city coffers, but in some cities the pub landlords also had to contribute to the costs with levies per drink sold. The profession has been considered extinct since the 1960s at the latest: since then, there have been no gas or oil lanterns in use that require manual operation.

Extinct but not forgotten

Even though increasingly sophisticated technology, more and more machines and robots are replacing the old, mostly manual professions, they remain a significant part of the cultural history and identity of cities, regions and countries.

St. Anne's Church in Annaberg, which would not exist without the economic boom triggered by silver mining in the 15th century, dedicates parts of its famous altar to the workers: The Annaberg Mining Altar, donated by the miners' union around 1521 and designed by Hans Hesse, shows mining, its work processes and workers in detail: Coiler servants, tunnellers, poachers and many other extinct professions can be found here and are thus kept alive for the future.