⭐ 18: A Rope-Making Device

A Device Used to Make Ropes for Towing Boats on the River Sava

 
This wooden device was used in the village of Dolenji Boštanj to make ropes which were used, among other things, to tow boats. Prior to the construction of the railway in 1862, the river Sava was an important waterway both upriver and downriver. Boats on the Sava were towed upriver with thick and strong ropes by men or beasts of burden.
Ropes were made of flax and hemp by rope makers. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Posavje region's rope makers worked in the towns of Radeče, Krško and Kostanjevica na Krki. There were different rope-making devices, their basic task, however, was the same, i.e. they twisted fibres into yarns, yarns into braid, and braids into rope. To make a rope using this hand-operated wooden device, which is kept at the Posavje Museum Brežice, a rope maker needed a few other rope-making tools. Judging by the way ropes were made in the Ribnica area, rope makers needed a movable rope cart, hooks and a finishing device for rope twisting.
 

For heritage enthusiasts:

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Sava was the most important inland waterway with boats, barges, timber rafts and boats travelling upstream, transporting oil and grain in skins and barrels, as well as iron, salt, bales of sackcloth and, whenever necessary, even mail. The barges travelling on the Sava could carry as many as 80 to 120 wagons of grain on board. From the 18th century onwards, boats were up to 30 meters long and 1.81 wide, and later also longer and shorter. There were ten to fifteen barges on the Sava per day.
Downstream, boats were propelled by poles and paddles. As these were unpowered boats, they were towed upstream by human pullers who laid a rope over their shoulders. Later, they were towed by oxen and draught horses along well-tended towpaths (a boat was towed by 16 pairs of oxen or 12 pairs of horses). Between Jesenice and Brežice, towpaths were on the right riverbank, between Brežice and Krško on the left or right banks and on the way to Zagorje on the right bank. Traces of these towpaths are still visible in some places. The boats were towed with thick hemp ropes made by rope makers in various villages and towns along the Sava. Local people used to call called boat owners and boat workers who towed boats upstream vlačugarji (roughly translated as strumpeters) based on name for the tow ropes, which were called vlačuge, i.e. strumpets.

Kompolje near Boštanj. Vessels on the river Sava. Johann Weikhard von Valvasor, late 17th century. Inv. No. KZ1/1107.	A print of the town of Sevnica (Lichtenwald) with the Sava and a boat towed upriver by horses. Joseph Kuwasseg, 1845.
The Sava in Brestanica and a boat loaded with goods towed upstream by two horses. Litograph, 1824–1833, Joseph Franz Kaiser. Inv. No. KZ1/ 1099.	Vessels on the Sava near Krško on a litograph, 1842–1848, Joseph Wagner, Carniolan Vedute – Malerische Ansichten aus Krain, Klagenfurt 1842–1848. Inv. No. KZ1/ 1030.

Apart from the rope-making device, Posavje Museum Brežice keeps one of these tow ropes. The tow rope for towing boats upstream on the Sava is made of hemp. It is 6 cm thick, about a hundred metres long and braided into three yarns from 330 fibres, which make up three braids. The rope has the inventory number E5336; there is an added note in the inventory book, according to which the founders and first employees of the Posavje Museum Brežice found the rope in Krško, in the house of patroness and benefactress Josipina Hočevar (1824–1911), where merchant Bon supposedly lived at a later time.

The rope-making device before the conservation and restoration process; Inv. No.: E5336.	The rope-making device for ropes that were used to tow boats on the Sava. The device is shown on arrival at the Posavje Museum Brežice, before the conservation and restoration process, Inv. No.: E6184.

When the boat transport on the Sava ceased in 1862 following the construction of the Zidani Most–Zagreb railway line, the riverside coaching stations, the rope-making trade and inns died out, as did the breeding of horses and oxen that were used to tow boats upstream. The very last boat, which was loaded with cattle, was towed along the Sava to Zidani Most in 1862. The cessation of upriver and downriver travel in the mid-19th century resulted in more frequent use of cable ferries and boats.


For more information see:

• Bat Marjan, Frantar Peter: Sava od Suhadola do hrvaške meje in njeno porečje. V: Ukročena lepotica: Sava in njene zgodbe, Peternel Jože (ur), Sevnica: Javni zavod za kulturo, šport, turizem in mladinske dejavnosti Sevnica, 2009, str. 23.
• Bogovič Peklar Alenka: Promet, promet po Savi. V: Obsavska stoletja. zbornik. Zbornik o Loki pri Zidanem mostu ob 800-letnici župnijske cerkve sv. Helene, Zelič Oskar Zoran (ur.), Novo mesto: Goga; Loka pri Zidanem mostu: Kulturno društvo Primož Trubar: Župnija, 2008, str. 75–80.
• Černelič Krošelj Alenka (ur.): Štirje elementi: 1 – VODA / The four elements: 1 – WATER, Brežice: Posavski muzej Brežice, 2017.
• Černelič Krošelj Alenka (ur.): Savske zgodbe. Po Savi, ob Savi in na Savi v Posavju, Brežice: Posavski muzej Brežice, 2021.
• Gaspari Andrej: Dolina spodnje Save od prazgodovine do druge svetovne vojne. V: Ukročena lepotica: Sava in njene zgodbe, Peternel Jože (ur), Sevnica: Javni zavod za kulturo, šport, turizem in mladinske dejavnosti Sevnica, 2009, str. 127.
• Glogovič Stanka (ur.): Sava združuje. Razstavni projekt treh obsavskih muzejev: Gornjesavskega muzeja Jesenice, Zasavskega muzeja Trbovlje in Posavskega muzeja Brežice, september 2020.
• Ivačič Lebar Irena: Poti in prevozna sredstva v Zasavju, Trbovlje: Zasavski muzej Trbovlje, 2012, str. 5-30, 31, 41-43.
• Kobe-Arzenšek Katarina: Vrvarska obrt na slovenskem skozi stoletja, V: Kronika: časopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino, letnik 23, številka 3, Ljubljana, 1975, str. 170–179.
• Počkar Ivanka: Od svinje do votivnega prašička, od rečnih poti do testenega ptička: občasna etnološka razstava: Posavski muzej Brežice, 3. 12. 2015–31. 3. 2016. 
• Počkar Ivanka: Oživimo savske zgodbe. Elaborat za vpis splavarjenja v register nesnovne kulturne dediščine, Brežice, 9. avgusta 2019.
• Šebek Živko: Krško - življenje z reko Savo, Krško: Zavod Neviodunum, 2009.
• Umek Ema: Trgovski promet po Savi v XVIII. stoletju, Kronika: časopis za slovensko krajevno zgodovino, letnik 12, številka 3, Ljubljana, 1964, str. 194–200.
• Železnik Alfred: Splavarjenje po Savi in promet. V: Boštanj – 800 let, Železnik Alfred (ur.), Boštanj: Krajevna skupnost Boštanj, 1998, str. 187–190.

Prepared by: Stanka Glogovič
 
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