Handicraft profession for the production of containers and vessels, mostly made of wood, for example also of wine barrels. Depending on the country and region, there were or are various names for this, such as Binder, Böttcher or Bottiger (from Bottich), Böttner or Büttner (from Bütte), Fassbinder, Fässler, Fasszieher, Holzküfer, Kübler (from Kübel), Küfer, Küfner, Pinter, Schäffler, Schedler (from Schedel = hollow measure), Simmermacher (from Simmer = hollow measure), Tonnenmacher (from Tonne = hollow measure), Weinküfer and Wynzuegel. The name is derived from the Kufe (wooden vessel); the Celts used wooden barrels on a large scale for transporting wine as early as 600 BC; therefore the craft of barrel making has an ancient tradition (see in detail under Wine Vessels). Until industrialisation, there was a close connection with the brewer and the cooper (who was responsible for the cellar work in wine making ), or rather these activities were often carried out by one person. Today, the wine cooper is called a wine technologist in Germany. Today, the wooden barrels are manufactured industrially in clay cellars. See a complete list of relevant keywords under barrel.
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Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien