Stonemason's and bossier's huts @museum.de

You, fox? What is a bossie bossie bossie hut anyway?

It's called a bossie hut. The word comes from the French. “Bossing” means the rough hewing and pre-shaping of stone blocks. Stones were roughly worked in bossing huts before they were taken to the stonemasons' huts, where the individual paving stones were then cut.

The hammer used for this rough hewing of the granite slabs is called a bossing hammer in German. It is large and has a relatively wide striking surface. It takes a lot of strength to even lift this hammer. And then it takes skill and a lot of experience to find the right swing to hit straight stone edges. Woe betide you if you missed a blow. You could smash your whole hand.

In the past, the huts were full of granite blocks and stone slabs. So that work could continue quickly, a supply was always stored here. This meant that nobody had to wait for the next delivery from the quarry. Back then, a skilled stonemason produced 200 paving stones per day. We've done the math for you: It took him just 6 minutes to make one paving stone. To get the surface of the paving stones smooth, the men used a so-called “Dötzer”. This is a small, sharp-edged chisel that is struck with a hammer. A “Dötzer” is therefore an important tool for fine detail work on stones.