Spinning @museum.de

F: From the first flax seed to the finished linen cloth – the Ammerland farmers were self-sufficient. And that also applies to their clothing.

M: They grew the flax themselves, harvested, dried and processed it, separated the woody stems from the soft fibres and spun them into linen yarn. Every farmhouse had one or more spinning wheels in its parlour that hummed and squeaked throughout the winter. Spinning was one of the most important jobs on those long winter evenings. And of course those involved in the work joked, sang and laughed... and even spun the occasional tall tale.

F: Spinning in the evening was one thing. But poorer people who worked all hours and still couldn't get ahead had to sit at the spinning wheel in the early hours of the morning as well, if they were to make ends meet.

M: Today, spinning on a wheel is an almost extinct skill that is kept alive here at the local museum.