RE: FW Nomadic workers
Good morning, Mike, In 1990 and in 1991, I had the pleasure of meeting the head of the artist blacksmiths in what was then the USSR. He had an almost mystical rapport with his craft, and viewed the metaphor of beating raw iron into beautiful and useful objects as an apt metaphor for the transformation and reconstruction of Russia that was then underway with Gorbachev. I visited his home a few times; as you can imagine, it was quite a place. Lawry -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mike Spencer Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 1:41 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: FW Nomadic workers Between the death of Samuel Yellin and the beginning of the revival in the early 70s, art blacksmithing languished in North America, kept alive mostly by a few of the people who had worked with Yellin. It was chiefly in Germany that the craft continued to flourish and to enjoy wide appreciation. Although contemporary Kunstschmiede -- artist blacksmiths -- may attend Hochschule, apprenticeship has remained the normal entry to the craft. Having finished his Lehrzeit, the journeyman -- Wandergeselle -- regarded traveling from shop to shop as an important, even necessary component of his training. By working in, or at least briefly visiting, many shops the young smith became acquainted with techniques and tooling, styles and design approaches in much wider variety that would be available at the one shop where he apprenticed. A curious part of this tradition was this: The wandering smith had no regular income and depended on the work, short or long term, that he was offered at the shops he visited. If there was no paid work available, he was still welcomed, fed and put up for a night or two. In token payment for this hospitality, he was hired to make a nail which was then driven into the stump that supported the anvil. Although I haven't seen it myself, it's reported that there are old shops in Germany, some of them very old, that have anvil stumps solidly armor plated with many hundreds of plain and ornamental nail-heads made by many generations of journeyman smiths. (I've used the male pronoun above. The president of the Artist Blacksmiths' Association of North America was for years a woman smith and I believe that the present president of a similar organization in Germany is a woman, but acceptance of women in the craft is, with a few exceptions, a relatively recent innovation. Nailmaking, probably the most tedious drudgery in the blacksmithing domain, was often done by women in England a couple of hundred years ago, presumably because the stronger of them were regarded as equal to repetitive drudgery if not to more intellectually demanding tasks such as making horseshoes and wagon tires, let alone ornamental ironwork.) - Mike --- Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
FW Nomadic workers
www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la%2D20087mar19 March 19 2002 COLUMN ONE Workers Born to Wander CRAFTSMEN IN GERMANY FOLLOW A CENTURIES-OLD TRADITION BY GOING ON THE ROAD TO FIND JOBS. WITH UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH, THEIR NUMBERS ARE RISING. By CAROL J. WILLIAMS TIMES STAFF WRITER NEU FAHRLAND, Germany -- With a fresh paycheck in his pocket and his few worldly goods bundled up with his tools, roofer Rene Schroeder is hitting the road again, halfway through his journey along a path blazed during the Middle Ages. Unable to find permanent employment, Schroeder has joined a society of wandering craftsmen bound by strict codes and traditions that oblige him to remain itinerant for at least three years and one day. The ranks of the wandergesellen--skilled carpenters, cabinetmakers and bricklayers--have grown in these times of high joblessness and a nationwide construction slowdown after the frantic first decade of reunification, when much of eastern Germany had to be rebuilt. Now, with more than 4 million Germans out of work, artisans such as Schroeder are selling their skills on the street as did legions of their forebears. I thought I wanted a regular job after trade school, but there aren't any to be had now in the eastern states, says Schroeder, 20, who left his parents, brothers and girlfriend behind in Magdeburg, capital of the impoverished Saxony-Anhalt state. But it's been rewarding being on the road. Wanderers bring fresh air to a construction project, and we don't feel the stress of everyday life that builds up when you have a home and a family. The wandergesellen, who now number about 500, usually travel alone, meeting up with fellow wanderers from more than 30 guilds covering crafts such as bricklaying and roofing. Settled veterans of the walz, as the period of itinerancy is known, administer the private society of journeymen and set the rules. In exchange for their willingness to travel, the wanderers get access to short-term jobs and gain experience working for a respected organization. Clad in uniforms designed for 19th century shipwrights, wanderers in this suburb of Potsdam seem to have arrived via time travel. There are no cell phones chirping in their pockets or laptop computers in their crudely bound satchels; only the tools, such as hammers and chisels, that have changed little through the ages. They are craftsmen who do not use power tools. A few bows toward modernity have been made in recent years as the number of lone artisans has grown along with Germany's new economic troubles. Qualified women are admitted to the guilds, and odd jobs for the journeymen can be called in to a computerized administrative center in Cologne. But women are still excluded from the network of hostels maintained by former wanderers for those still on the road, frustrating female guild members' efforts to participate in the walz by making them pay for their accommodations. Many graduates of the walz run their own construction companies or workshops, providing a word-of-mouth network about short-term jobs that might interest the young peregrinators. Road Passed Through Russia, Japan, Canada It's easier to get work as a wanderer because general contractors want access to our skills but not necessarily to keep us on their permanent payroll, says Guido Brauer. The 33-year-old carpenter recently completed four years on the road that took him around the world, through Russia, Japan and Canada. He's now working for a construction firm in Berlin. The first year of the walz must be spent in German-speaking territory, which includes Austria, Switzerland and the Alsace-Lorraine region of eastern France. But after the indoctrination year, the wanderers are allowed, even encouraged, to range as wide in the world as their earnings can take them. Herbert Wiegman and Olav Schmidt worked as traveling journeymen in the 1980s and now own a construction firm based in Berlin. They hire young wanderers for jobs requiring special skills, such as the restoration of buildings under historical protection. Four itinerants were busy recently replacing the solid wood beams of a 100-year-old apartment house in eastern Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. When you want quality, you go to these guys, says Wiegman. They are clearly diligent in their work, or they wouldn't be putting up with this lifestyle. It's not for everyone. A lot of guys prefer to stay home with their moms until a regular job surfaces, or they have girlfriends who want to get married. But those who stick with it can be counted on to do top-class work. France Also Has Wandering Workers Wandergesellen must be single, free of debt and, in the case of men, already through their compulsory military service, unless they have arranged a
Re: FW Nomadic workers
The renewed popularity of the walz is attributed not only to the slowdown in construction but to the highly regulated nature of the building industry in western Germany, which poses its own barrier to economic growth. Another reason is that different kinds of nomadic workers have entered the picture: cheapest workers from Portugal and Poland... Chris
Re: FW Nomadic workers
The renewed popularity of the walz is attributed not only to the slowdown in construction but to the highly regulated nature of the building industry in western Germany, which poses its own barrier to economic growth. Another reason is that different kinds of nomadic workers have entered the picture: cheapest workers from Portugal and Poland... Chris Chris, 'Cheapest' or 'most desperate'? Brian -- ** * Brian McAndrews, Practicum Coordinator* * Faculty of Education, Queen's University * * Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 * * FAX:(613) 533-6596 Phone (613) 533-6000x74937* * e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]* * Education is not the filling of a pail, * * but the lighting of a fire. * * W.B.Yeats * ** **
Re: FW Nomadic workers
Brian McAndrews asked: 'Cheapest' or 'most desperate'? Probably both... (somewhat synonymous in neoliberalism, isn't it?) Chris
Re: FW Nomadic workers
Between the death of Samuel Yellin and the beginning of the revival in the early 70s, art blacksmithing languished in North America, kept alive mostly by a few of the people who had worked with Yellin. It was chiefly in Germany that the craft continued to flourish and to enjoy wide appreciation. Although contemporary Kunstschmiede -- artist blacksmiths -- may attend Hochschule, apprenticeship has remained the normal entry to the craft. Having finished his Lehrzeit, the journeyman -- Wandergeselle -- regarded traveling from shop to shop as an important, even necessary component of his training. By working in, or at least briefly visiting, many shops the young smith became acquainted with techniques and tooling, styles and design approaches in much wider variety that would be available at the one shop where he apprenticed. A curious part of this tradition was this: The wandering smith had no regular income and depended on the work, short or long term, that he was offered at the shops he visited. If there was no paid work available, he was still welcomed, fed and put up for a night or two. In token payment for this hospitality, he was hired to make a nail which was then driven into the stump that supported the anvil. Although I haven't seen it myself, it's reported that there are old shops in Germany, some of them very old, that have anvil stumps solidly armor plated with many hundreds of plain and ornamental nail-heads made by many generations of journeyman smiths. (I've used the male pronoun above. The president of the Artist Blacksmiths' Association of North America was for years a woman smith and I believe that the present president of a similar organization in Germany is a woman, but acceptance of women in the craft is, with a few exceptions, a relatively recent innovation. Nailmaking, probably the most tedious drudgery in the blacksmithing domain, was often done by women in England a couple of hundred years ago, presumably because the stronger of them were regarded as equal to repetitive drudgery if not to more intellectually demanding tasks such as making horseshoes and wagon tires, let alone ornamental ironwork.) - Mike --- Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
