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the Wandergesellen at the periphery of major cities, besides wide, asphalted roads, Der Preis der Freiheit
near cars, worn-out, alone and tired, as if time had caught up with them and passed
them. There is something the pictures by the great photographers have in common: Regeln. So viele davon gibt es, dass unruhige Gesellen schon Monate vor ihrer Wanderschaft gewis-
they are restricted to the form, the silhouette and focused on the visual appearance. A senhaft mit dem Auswendiglernen beginnen. Wie betritt ein Wandergeselle eine Kneipe? Wie spricht
view from the outside onto the outside, in some cases approvingly, in others casting er um Arbeit vor? Wie wird ein Reisebündel geschnürt und was gehört hinein? Was bedeutet „Stiefel
them as heroes, in others again pitying these strange figures they were capturing. A schmoren“, „Ausflaggen“ oder „Abpriemen“? Sechs Gesellenbruderschaften, vereinsartige Zusam-
photographic search for the stereotype, not the individual. It was all about the outfit, menschlüsse wandernder Gesellen, gibt es in Deutschland. In ihnen reisen pro Jahr etwa 400 Hand-
not the skin. werker, dazu kommen weitere knapp 100 Gesellen und Gesellinnen, die frei, also unabhängig von
einer Bruderschaft, unterwegs sind. Und alle, ob frei oder in einer Vereinigung, haben eigene Regeln,
One should show the human being underneath Riten, Umgangsformen und Traditionen. Aber es gibt Grundbegriffe der Wanderschaft, die von allen
Reisenden oder „Fremden“, wie sie sich selber bezeichnen, be- und geachtet werden:
The two Wandergesellen at the motorway service station trudge through the sleet to
the next car. Those old photographs do not do them justice. They do not really show • Auf Wanderschaft gehen darf jeder ausgelernte Handwerksgeselle, hauptsächlich reisen aber die
them but the longings, intentions, opinions of the photographers. One should photo- Baugewerke (Zimmerer, Maurer, Tischler, Steinmetze, Betonbauer, Dachdecker).
graph them anew, but differently, without a setting, without the forest and the mea- • Er oder sie muss ledig, kinderlos, schuldenfrei, möglichst unter 30 Jahre alt und ohne Vorstrafen sein.
dow, without the country road and the sunrise, without a commentary. Neutrally, ob- • Während der Wanderzeit darf sich ein Geselle nur bis auf 50 Kilometer seinem Heimatort nähern.
jectively, like an anthropologist. In bright daylight, in front of a white wall, in full focus. Eine der sechs Gesellenvereinigungen verlangt sogar eine 60 Kilometer weite Bannmeile.
Attentively, respectfully, with due dignity but also with the required distance. And one • Der gesamte persönliche Besitz wird in einem von den Gesellen fast zärtlich „Charlie“ genannten Rei-
should go further to uncover the human being underneath, making not the type but sebündel und in der in ihrer Zusammensetzung streng festgelegten Kleidung, der sogenannten „Kluft“,
the individual visible, radically visible, removing everything, the outfit and the stick mitgeführt. Das Wanderbuch, ein paar Sachen zum Anziehen, etwas zum Lesen, Landkarten, vielleicht
and the trade pin, until the human being remains and nothing else. One should show noch eine Taschenuhr, etwas Briefpapier, sonst gehört ihnen nichts. Handys sind verboten!
them naked. But that’s impossible. They are not going to do it. In prim Germany, na- • Alle wichtigen Entscheidungen, besonders über die Aufnahme neuer Mitglieder in die Bruder-
kedness is still a precious asset, something valuable which is not just simply given up, schaft, werden auf dem „Handwerkssaal“ getroffen. Die Inhalte der auf diesen Treffen reisender und
disclosed. It takes courage to do it. A symbol, an incarnation, does not undress, it ehemals gereister Wandergesellen geführten Diskussionen sind streng geheim. Und tatsächlich ist
would thus expose itself, to criticism, to reality, it would become human. Or it would kein Wort davon je nach außen gedrungen. Auch im Zeitalter des Internets nicht.
take its clothes off for exactly this reason. Deliberately, wilfully, decidedly, because • Die geforderte Wanderzeit variiert zwischen mindestens zwei und höchstens drei Jahren und einem
there is something else hidden underneath: not a pewter plate, not a petty-bourgeois Tag. Über diesen Zeitrahmen hinaus deutlich länger „auf der Straße“ zu sein, ist zwar erlaubt, wird
figure of longing but a human being. Intriguing, contradictory and free. And it would aber von den meisten Gesellenbruderschaften nicht gern gesehen. Zu groß ist die Angst, der Rei-
be important to show this. The time is ripe for it. A photo project, an exhibition, a pu- sende könnte vom starken „Duft der Straße“ niemals mehr genug bekommen und zuletzt vielleicht
blic discourse. Soon – no, now! The sleet is falling almost vertically, the cold hurts. I sogar „verpennern“.
approach the two Wandergesellen. I shall ask them. I ask them. The venture begins.

Why it is not all that easy to photograph Wandergesellen
The price of freedom
There are only five hundred of them. Which is not really surprising. Who would want
to live voluntarily in the street without money, without a home, without a cell phone, Rules. There are so many of them that restless Wandergesellen often start conscientiously memorizing
for three years and one day, with the hat, the outfit, three pairs of socks, two under- them already months before they are even setting out. How does a Wandergeselle enter a pub? How does
pants and a handful of T-shirts as the only possessions. Without knowing where one he or she ask for work? How is a satchel packed and what has to go into it? What do the many highly
will spend the night or be working in the morning. Of the 34,000 apprentices in the specific expressions actually mean? There are six Gesellenbruderschaften, association-like alliances of
building industry, five hundred are doing it per year. They take to the road, with a map Wandergesellen in Germany. Belonging to them, 400 craftspeople are journeying per year and then there
of Germany and a toothbrush. As a consequence, one rarely sees them, rarely meets are an additional almost 100 male and female Wandergesellen who are on the road freely, meaning that
them and hardly ever talks with them. And they, the male and female Wandergesellen, they are independent of one of the alliances. And all of them, whether free or in an association, have their
are aware of their exclusivity. A lot of time, of meetings, of getting to know each other own rules, rites, social manners and traditions. Yet there are basic concepts of journeying which have to
preceded the photographs. There was no persuading. If anything, then explaining and be respected and obeyed by all those journeying or “Fremde” (strangers), as they often call themselves:
convincing. Wandergesellen today know about their symbolic value. After the three
years of hard apprenticeship, the years of taking to the road are enjoyed, they are sa- • Every trained craftsman- or woman may take to the road but it is mainly people from the building
voured, totally. Wandergesellen love their freedom, their independence, their rebellion trades (carpenters, bricklayers, joiners, stonemasons, concrete workers, roofers) who are journeying.
against conventions. If they said yes to our photo project, this yes counted, clearly and • He or she has to be single, childless, debt-free, preferably less than 30 years old and without any pre-
firmly. The given word has to be valid and it is kept. More than 1,700 photos were vious convictions.
taken in our studio in Berlin during close to 14 months. The female and male Wander- • For the duration of the journey, the Wandergeselle may only get up to 50 kilometres to his or her
gesellen often arrived unannounced, straight from the motorway, from the country hometown. One of the six alliances even requires keeping a distance of 60 kilometres.
road. With dirt on their shoes and rain water on their trouser legs. And we asked them • One’s total personal possessions are taken along in a satchel which the Wandergesellen almost fondly
to stay like that, unwashed, uncleaned, unprepared, warts and all. Just as they are call Charlie and in the strictly prescribed combination of the clothing, the so-called Kluft. The journey
standing in the car parks to hitch a ride. We didn’t want to rearrange anything and journal, a few items of clothing, something to read, maps, maybe a pocket watch, a bit of stationary,
they were not to pose: No “models”, no prototypes, no ideals but, as far as it is possi- this is all that belongs to them. Cell phones are forbidden!
ble in front of the camera and in the spotlight, just to be themselves. Thus all the ex- • All the important decisions, particularly about accepting new members into the alliance, are made
pressions shown, all the movements, scratches, scars, bumps, all the smiles and all on the occasion of the “Handwerkssaal”. The topics of discussions during these meetings between jour-
the worry lines are their own. Twenty Wandergesellen have become part of our “Kluft neying and formerly having journeyed Wandergesellen are strictly confidential. And in fact never has
& Haut” project. Our pictures are deliberately rooted in the tradition of the objective, a single word spoken during the sessions leaked out. Not even in the age of the Internet.
almost anthropological kind of photography. “Kluft & Haut” never turned into expo- • The requested journeying period varies between at least two and a maximum of three years and one
sure, or simple amusement, was far from denouncing the Wandergesellen, neither as day. Although being “on the road” beyond this time frame is allowed, most alliances frown upon it.
regards the traditional work clothes nor the nakedness of the persons shown but an The fear is too strong that the journeymen and -women might never get enough of the “scent of the
encounter at eye level. In their own form, their own dignity, their own greatness. road” and, in the end, could even risk becoming tramps.