Cartwrights’ Museum in Damsdorf

The exhibits that are almost a hundred years old, include woodworking machinery and tools, as well as farming equipment. In addition to these, there are several displays showing typical patterns of damage to wood. In an individual tour of the premises, you can learn, for example, how cartwheels and wooden rakes are made, or learn about the origins of true dry rot.

Cartwrights (“Stellmacher”) used to carry out their trade in a dedicated workshop that is called a “Stellmacherei” in German. They made wooden wheels, carts, farming equipment, carriages and many other wooden items. Their workshops were usually close to a blacksmith’s shop that would supply the cartwright with hardware such as fittings, nails and bolts.

The German job title “Stellmacher” can vary from region to region. The term “Stellmacher” is common in the north, while the term “Wagner” tends to be used in the south. There are also various colloquial terms, such as Radmacher (“wheel maker”), Achsenmacher (“axle maker”), Kutschenbauer (“carriage builder”) and many others. These professions used to be separate trades that were gradually combined in the “Stellmacher” trade.

In the late 19th century, cartwrights were sought-after by the railway industry where they were involved in building wagons. Many years later, car manufacturers benefited from their know-how in the area of bodywork design. However, cartwrights became less and less important in the course of the industrialisation.

By now, the profession and know-how of the Stellmacher has virtually disappeared. In rural areas of the GDR, cartwrights used to practise their trade until the political turnaround. They performed tasks in the area of wood processing in agricultural production cooperatives and publicly owned companies, as well as making items such as wooden gates, tools, fences, wooden structures and custom-made items.

It is therefore all the more important to preserve this and other trades that are at risk of being forgotten now and for the future, and to conserve the life and work of our fathers’ generation.