This Is How They Harvested Peat by Hand 100 Years Ago

Before coal, oil, and central heating became commonplace, entire communities in the Belgian High Fens relied on peat cut by hand to survive the winter. This documentary follows the complete traditional process of peat harvesting in Sourbrodt—from sharpening specialized peat spades and cutting four-meter-deep peat faces to drying thousands of peat bricks in the open moor before transporting them home months later. A remarkable record of one of Europe's oldest seasonal fuel-gathering traditions, preserved on film. Original source material: Torfstechen im Hohen Venn Published by Alltagskulturen im Rheinland © LVR-Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte CC BY 4.0