The outdoor carpet hanger (also carpet stand or carpet rack) is a construction to hang carpets for cleaning with the help of

carpet beater A carpet beater or carpetbeater (also referred to as a rug beater, carpet whip, rug whip, clothes-beater, dust beater, carpet duster, wicker slapper, rug duster, or pillow fluffer, and formerly also as a carpet cleaner or rug cleaner) is a ho ...

s. It is known in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, Finland,"Carpet Racks in Finland"
by Riitta Oittinen Sweden, Romania, Russia, and other countries.

Secondary usage

It was a small center of social life. German writers

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...

and

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

described hangers as important places during their childhood. Children may use it as a playground, as a soccer goal, as a drumming implement, a gymnastic device,"Joanna Mucha chce rozruszać dzieci. "Kiedyś trzepak, dziś komputer i iPhone. Rośnie pokolenie sprawnego kciuka""
/ref> etc.

Poland

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

the outdoor railing for hanging the rug is called (a noun from the word , "to beat"; the beater itself is called '). Since the 1990s, it is very rare to see anyone using a for its prime function . In the newest housing developments, are rarely installed.

Romania

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

the carpet hanger ( or ') was an important

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

in the social life of each neighbourhood during the communist and post-communist period, where it served as a meeting point for neighbours and was frequently used in children's games. Before important holidays, queues would form around the railing, as few people owned a vacuum cleaner, and even those who did would still beat their carpets in order to 'freshen them up'. During the rest of the year, "it was generally used as a football goal by the boys, while it suddenly transformed girls into

Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...

." The carpet hanger has been described as representing a sort of "''Arc de Triomphe'' in front of the

apartment block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

", while writer Paul Gabor dubbed it "the ancestral belly of the totalitarian regime" during the communist era. In recent years, the carpet railing has been a topic of debate for urban planners and local authorities, as many Romanian cities have passed (and sometimes rescinded) laws forbidding their placement or decreeing their immediate removal, citing aesthetic or noise pollution reasons.

Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

the carpet hanger is called ', derived from ' (meaning "to whip") and ' (meaning "stand").

References

External links

Cleaning tools Street furniture Rugs and carpets Domestic implements {{Architecturalelement-stub