The Schüttesäge Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in the town of Schiltach in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. It is located in the county of

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...

in the German federal state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. The museum has exhibits on the themes of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and timber rafting in Schiltach and the surrounding area in the Upper Kinzig valley.

History

The former church

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

(''Kirchensäge''), later called the Schütte Sawmill (''Schüttesäge''), (its owner was the publican of the ''zur Schütte'' inn in

Wolfach Wolfach ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Wolfä) is a town in the Black Forest and part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is a well-known spa town. Geography Geographical Position Wolfach lies where the two rivers Wolf and ...

), was first mentioned at this site in 1491. It was operated as a sawmill until 1931. Today it still has an undershot water wheel with a diameter of 7.20 metres that still drives the

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

machinery. The water-powered facility is a

protected monument In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The museum was opened in 1989 by the town of Schiltach.

Forest economy

The museum portrays the

industry and the working of wood, its use in

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

construction, its link to timber rafting (the manufacture of rafts from wood) and its link to the tanning industry (bark collection for the red tanners).

Timber rafting

Timber rafting was a major source of income for Schiltach until the 19th century. The museum depicts the life of the rafters with photographs of the period and other contemporary documents, tools of the trade, work clothing, etc. There is an explanation of what was meant by a ''Gestörfloß'' and how it was made.

Tanning

Tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

was another important source of income in Schiltach, and there is still a white tannery there today. The various tanning technologies are portrayed, especially red tanning in the context of forestry, as well as tools and the history of Schiltach's tanning families. An outside area on the theme of tanning enhances the exhibition.

External links

Website of the museum
Timber rafting History of forestry 1989 establishments in Germany Museums established in 1989 Local museums in Germany Museums in Baden-Württemberg Rottweil (district) Forestry museums {{Coord, 48, 17, 25.6, N, 8, 20, 37.6, E, type:landmark_region:DE-BW, display=title