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Traveling Tradesman
"Auf der Walz" or "Auf Wanderschaft" is a German expression that means traveling on the job. It is a centuries-old custom that was started by the Craftsmen Guilds of Europe, around the Middle Ages, and is still practiced there. A young man could enter the apprenticeship of a stonemason, carpenter, roofer or furniture-maker under the supervision of a master of his chosen craft, performing at first menial work for very little money.
This Monday four young and strong Tradesman from Switzerland and Germany visited us.
Each year his responsibilities increase and if he proves himself trustworthy his wages are increased. When his three-year apprenticeship is up, he is considered a fellow (Geselle) after he’s taken a final exam. Then these young men and women are encouraged to go "Auf der Walz" if they want to take their learned craft and become a master.
In the past it was required to travel before becoming a master. Now it is voluntary and a matter of honor. The fellow, however, still has to be under the age of thirty and single and have accumulated no debt.
The decision to undertake this journey requires the fellow to remain outside a 50 km radius of his home. Once he acquired his craft after three years of apprenticeship, he will journey for two years and one day (in the past it was three to six years and one day), and can travel wherever he wants to including other European countries. Sometimes they will travel as far as Russia or Malaysia.
He will leave with only the bare necessities, literally packing only a bundle. He cannot return home until his journey is complete (with the exception of illness or death). His entire possessions consist of his craftsman's clothes (Zunft Kluft) and tools.
Most outfits for guilds are in black and white and adhere to strict dress codes. A proper outfit will be his black long pants, black shoes or boots, a white collarless shirt, and a velvet or corduroy vest with eight buttons (symbolizing an eight-hour work day). There's a colored scarf or tie that is pinned to the collar identifying his craft, sometimes necklaces that show the emblems of cities in which he worked, and a spiral walking-stick called Stenz that the fellow himself made. Last but not least his black wide-brimmed hat.
