"Schott" Wheelbarrow and Solus Stove @museum.de

It's not that long ago since single-axle wooden barrows like this one were a common sight in German towns and cities. They were called "Schottsche Karren" (Schott wheelbarrows), supposedly after a prisoner in Hamburg who, in the early 17th century, was employed to collect rubbish with a barrow like this one. The poor miscreant was called Michel Schott, and I suppose you could say he was "in harness".

It seems fitting that this wheelbarrow actually comes from Hamburg and was made available to the museum by the local guild.

Practical barrows like this one weren't just used for refuse collection, but for a wide range of other purposes: to carry goods such as milk churns and for removals, say. But above all, they were a vital piece of equipment for tradesmen, who used them to haul their tools and materials across town.

And anyone who was paid in kind rather than in cash, (which was quite common back in the day) had no problem taking their potatoes, turnips or even half a pig back home with them – on their Schott barrow.

The tinsmiths used the barrows to carry sheet metal and workpieces. They weren't necessarily heavy, but they were unwieldy. And what tinsmiths couldn't do without was their "Soluskocher", a small coal or wood-burning stove in which they heated their soldering irons.