The Walz: quest and companionship

A journeyman with his bundle welcomed (on the right) by a representative of Nuremberg’s Brush Makers’ Guild on the outer wings of this triptych. The inscription imagines their  short conversation and can be translated as: ‘God greet you, dear Sir father of mine / Have thanks dear and fine son / Do the journeymen of brush makers journeymen lodge here / You shall be welcome, by God.’ The triptych, commissioned by the Guild of Brush Makers (their brush symbols are at the top) dates from 1586 and 1728 (when the scene of the journeyman was probably added to the front).

Walz, the very word might remind you of Johann Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz, famously featured in the iconic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Walzen, no longer an everyday word in German, means any kind of movement, from walking to hiking and even dancing. Today, Walz stands for the traditional period of travel that a small number of craftspeople still undertake upon completion of their apprenticeship when they officially become journeymen (that is to say, someone hired ‘by the day’ to exercise his or her trade, from  the French journée- ‘day’). In many trades, the term ‘journey’ is to be taken literally: historically, most Gesellen (the German word for journeymen) were required to go on such a tour to develop their skills under different masters and in different towns. Yet, even more than simply another form of training, the Walz is fundamentally a transformative quest which relies on companionship and hospitality. After all, the German word Gesellen literally means ‘companions’. The Walz is also known, more prosaically, as Gesellenwanderung (‘journeymen tour’) and, with more poetry, as Tippellei: a beautiful word which conjours the sound of the patter of boots on the road. Today, travelling Gesellinnen and Gesellen have to be single, childless, debt-free, preferably under thirty years of age and without previous convictions. They are also not allowed within fifty kilometers of their hometown. Theresa Amrehn (*1985), trained in the ancient craft of Kirchenmalerei (or ‘church painting’, which today requires specialist knowledge of historic techniques and restoration). She published an account of her experiences while travelling in Germany, Britain, Austria and Switzerland. Her book Königin der Straße (‘Queen of the Road’) dispels any romantic notions you might have had about travelling. Her Walz is rewarding and demanding, physically and psychologically, right from the start -- when she is asked to climb over a 9ft high wall to mark the beginning of her journey.

The Kluft: a distinctive and practical look

“Resi Kirchenmalerin’s” first action upon deciding to go on the Walz was to commission a bespoke outfit consisting of a red corduroy jacket and waistcoat, paired with cream-coloured, flared trousers. Today, travelling journeymen and women have to wear this so-called Kluft in the colours of their trade. “Kathrin Bootsbauerin”, the boat builder featured here, wears black, the colour typical for those working in wood. It is a uniform of sorts with clear origins in the nineteenth century. The outfit also includes a hat, known as Deckel (literally, ‘cover’) and a staff which travellers make themselves. Eighteenth-century depictions of travelling journeymen in our collections show that they dressed according to the fashions of their time. And yet, the eighteenth-century figure of a carpenter already is painted in black, just as “Kathrin Bootsbauerin” more recently.

Yet, there is still scope for modern travellers to add personal touches to their uniforms, as the recent photo series Kluft+Haut by Dominik and Benjamin Reding, Berlin, shows. Belt buckles and buttons are popular ways for the Tippelbrüder (‘travel companions’) to express their individuality. Nevertheless, the Redings’ images force us to consider how the Kluft relates to the individual characters of their some twenty sitters, whose bodies are beneath. The artists therefore juxtaposed the portraits of their sitters in their ‘uniforms’ with portraits of them in the nude, thus “making not the type but the individual visible, radically visible” (Dominik Reding in ait 7/8.2019).

Is Covid-19 the end of journeymen travels?

In 2014, the Walz was listed in the register of UNESCO Heritage of immaterial culture, highlighting its lasting cultural significance and its unique status worldwide. To combat Covid-19, journeymen have to submit to the same restrictions as the rest of us. The Confédération des Compagnonnages Européennes  – the European body which oversees these periods of professional travel – has issued guidelines for its members that echo those for other institutions, including museums. At the same time, these Covid-19 guidelines also include rules that appear baffling to outsiders, such as the “Stiefelschmorverbot”, or ‘a ban on stewing boots’. In fact, this simply means that sharing drink from a glass in the shape of a boot is not permitted during the pandemic. Perhaps easier to understand is the recommendation to return “back to the roots” that is to walk and sleep outdoors ‘at Mother Green’s’. Yet while the restrictions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic continue, no new journeymen can start their travels, and the continuation of this time-honoured tradition is daily placed more and more in jeopardy.

The GNM and I wish all journeymen and women out there safe travels. Stay healthy, and stay in touch!

Read
KulturGut, the GNM’s monthly focus on its collections, offers a range of object histories compiled during and after the Cultural History of Crafts project (in German).
Back on 15 July 2006, The Guardian Newspaper’s Stephanie Boucher reported on a young German blacksmith, journeying in the UK – who incidentally also took one of the first British travelling journeymen under his wing. (English)
Theresa Amrehn with Henriette Dyckerhoff and Nadine Wedel: Königin der Landstraße. Munich: Piper, 2016. (German)
Dominik Reding: Kluft & Haut. Porträts junger Menschen auf der Walz, in: ait, 7/8 2019, pp. 122-124. (English and German)

Watch (German only)
The NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) produced a 50 min documentary on the Walz today which is available on YouTube.
In January 2020, the Bayerischer Rundfunk broadcast this five-minute insight into the experiences of Kilian, a carpenter journeyman.

I would like to thank Benjamin and Dominik Reding, Berlin, for sharing their insider knowledge and permission to use one of their images in this blog; I would also like to thank my colleagues in the GNM’s Conservation Department IKK for their input.