Peat Extraction @museum.de

M: Spades of various sizes, awkward peat forks and heavy, waterproof boots – all required to cut peat around Bad Zwischenahn.

F: Peat consists of dead and decomposed plant particles. It's an excellent fertiliser and – coarsely ground – also provided good, absorbent bedding for livestock. But in the Ammerland, where it was very plentiful, it was used mainly for fuel.

M: Many villages around Bad Zwischenahn came into being as a result of peat extraction from the bogs. People moved into the inhospitable bogs, settled there and started to drain it. They laid out complex systems of ditches designed to draw off the water present in the soil and gradually dry out the layers. Nevertheless, peat cutting was gruelling work, and muddy besides.

F: The chunky wooden clog on the wall was one of the articles the peat cutters wore to work. The bottom of the clog was stuffed with straw to ensure their feet didn't get too cold. The tall uppers made of sturdy leather had to be greased regularly so the leather remained waterproof.

M: Kitted out in this way, the peat-cutters moved out into the bogs and began to remove the soil with great care, layer by layer. The rule was: the deeper you got, the more difficult the work, but the better the peat. The surface layer consisted of relatively recent white peat. That was used to line the inside edges of wells and as bedding for livestock. Only the black peat farther down was suitable as fuel.

F: It was cut in large blocks, piled up into a large circle, repeatedly turned and left to dry over the summer. In autumn, the dry and much lighter peat blocks were brought into the house, stacked in the loft above the hall and provided enough fuel for the winter.