THE CHARM OF OLD CRAFTS IN KREMNICA

BUTCHERS

Kremnica

Butchering was a basic food production craft, which supplied the general population of the town. The work of the butchers involved the slaughtering of animals and their processing for meat and meat products. There was great demand in the town for meat in its fresh or conserved (salted, smoked) forms. The butchers produced the final product by means of a number of important activities, from buying animals, through slaughter, bleeding, boning, skinning, and cutting into joints. Apart from meat, they obtained from the slaughtered animals, fat, tallow, and by-products such as hide (sold to tanners), innards and blood.

The cutting up of meat was very important work. When cutting meat, an experienced butcher was able to cut pieces of the required weight, so that actual weighing was only a check. By practice and experience, the butcher acquired the same accuracy when estimating the weight of live animals. The butchers sold their meat on benches at the slaughterhouse. The position of the slaughterhouse was chosen in proximity to a source of running water.

At Kremnica, the slaughterhouses (Plessmarkt, Fleischmarkt) were situated outside the town walls, in the area between the present Lutheran church and Dolná Street. The butchers were among the most numerous (in the 15th century there were 15 of them) and wealthy craftsmen. We find them in the ranks of the officials. In 1414-15, Jan Carnifex even held the position of mayor. Some owned houses at the town square, so that they belonged to the "ringbilrgers." We may assume that they were among the first to establish a guild. They acquired their statutes in 1481, but the statutes contain the claim that they are older. In 1643, they acquired new statutes, which were revised and brought up to date in 1761. Statutes were binding on all masters, and they conducted business accordingly. They decreed that an apprentice had to learn the craft for two years; a journeyman was obliged to complete the prescribed study tour, and to prove his skill with a "Meistersstuck" (master's piece), which could not be done during Lent. The town council reduced the fee for acceptance of a master into the guild, because of the various expenses of butchers, connected with the upkeep of joint buildings and the necessary equipment and tools.

In the mid-18th century, the number of masters increased to the extent that the town council was forced to solve the problem. It decided that in such a small town as Kremnica, 32 benches were too many, so masters could accept apprentices for training only with the permission of the town authorities. It was also decided that local butchers could sell veal at the weekly market, but that masters from neighboring villages could bring meat only on Tuesday and Saturday. In 1777, there were 12 butchers and 9 journeymen in Kremnica. The butchers chose an ox head and crossed axes as their emblem. Their patron was St.Luke.

GO BACK TO OLD CRAFTS

Reprinted from: The Charm of Old Crafts, PhDr. Ludmila Nemeskurthiova
Published by © National Bank of Slovakia-Museum of Coins and Medals Kremnica 1998
Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 7, No. 2, Summer 1999 
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