Der Letzte seines Standes: Der Schlittenbauer

NEW: Want to watch all 27 films? Then support us on Patreon! Here's the link:   / benediktkubyfilmproduktion   ------------------------ You can purchase this and 26 other films in the series "The Last of His Kind": https://vimeo.com/ondemand/derletztes... ------------------------ He's not just called Wagner, he is one, and has been for 60 years. Near the Bavarian Oberland, he has his house, his workshop, fields, and three cows. Albert Wagner inherited the property and workshop from his father, who built not only tools, sleds, and wagons, but also carriages. At the end of the 1950s, a major change occurred – Wagner had to find new fields of work. In 1970, there were still 10 master wheelwrights in the area, but just a few years later, Albert Wagner was the only one still working in his old trade. He's actually long retired, but his customers won't let him, so he's making one last horse-drawn sleigh. Watching him at work, it seems as if he's never done anything else. It's always astonishing how, under the master's hand—especially in wheelwrighting—a finished object emerges from a rough piece of wood in a remarkably short time, thanks to sweeping movements. But of course, this is only possible if every move is precise, if the arms and hands are capable of the kind of movements that only come with years of practice. Once all the woodwork is complete, the sleigh goes to the blacksmith, Andreas Oppenrieder, who forges the fittings, such as the runners and supports. At 81 years old, the blacksmith is also one of the last of his kind and, like Albert Wagner, one who still masters the old craft techniques. In between, Albert Wagner builds what was already a specialty of his father: Good Friday rattles. “These are essentially wooden instruments with which, during Holy Week, when the church bells are silent, the children in the village call the people to prayer.”