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A ''pünte'' (plural: ''pünten'') is the German term for a type of non-motorised river boat and thus a special type of flat-bottomed boat. It is propelled manually using a crank or hauled by horses on the shore. Today ''pünten'' are used almost exclusively as
ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water t ...
.


History

''Pünten'' were built from wood. They had a flat bottom and the sides sloped only slight outwards. ''Pünten'' were often fitted with a sail, although this was usually insufficient for propulsion, so that the boat was mostly hauled as well. A horse was transported on board for this purpose, which had to be put ashore when the boat came to stretches of river that required the boat to be hauled.


''Pünten'' today

After centuries of decline, several ''pünten'' are again in operation in Germany in
East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisi ...
and the
Emsland Landkreis Emsland () is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany named after the river Ems. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Leer, Cloppenburg and Osnabrück, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (district of Steinfur ...
, as well as the Dutch province of
Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nove ...
. For example the ''Leher Pünte'', the only sail-driven ferry over the navigable Ems, crosses the river near Lehe and, near the Großes Meer in the East Frisian municipality of
Südbrookmerland Südbrookmerland is a municipality in the district of Aurich, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 7 km west of Aurich Aurich (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Auerk'', West Frisian: ''Auwerk'', stq, Aurk) is a town in the ...
''pünten'' are used at two points along a cycleway. The Dutch province of Drenthe has a ''pünte'', ''Johannes Veldkamp'', a restored historical ''pünte'' dating to 1907.
Pünte „Johannes Veldkamp“
''
The oldest operational hand-operated ferry in Central Europe is the ''pünte'' in Wiltshausen, which crosses the Jümme at its confluence with the Leda.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punte Boat types