"Now, cheer up mate, and hand over the quid! It's for the fatherland..."
Posted on 12/25/2005 7:36:56 PM PST by blam
Germans give chimney sweeps the brush-off
By Kate Connolly in Berlin
(Filed: 26/12/2005)
In his top hat, white tie and brass-buttoned uniform, and dangling a brush on a chain over his shoulder, Erhard Feller might have walked off the set of a film about Victorian England.
But the 51-year-old chimney sweep is a vibrant part of working life in modern Berlin and the uniform is standard for him and his 8,000 colleagues across Germany.
Even though most German chimneys are too thin for Santa Claus to squeeze into, Christmas is still the busiest time of year for Mr Feller, who travels on a motorbike between the 310 properties he is responsible for.
The few remaining households with fireplaces and wood ovens are keen to ensure they are in working order during the winter break.
The chimney sweep has a reputation as a bringer of luck. But an increasing number of Germans are angry that the sweeps have a monopoly and they are forced to pay for their services, whether they have a chimney or not.
According to German law, every household has to pay between £40 and £80 a year for the chimney sweep to visit several times a year. The industry is worth more than £80 million annually.
These days the sweep's main job is to check for emissions of carbon monoxide, and to sweep the soot, even though most people heat with natural gas, which produces neither.
The monopoly law has its roots in the Middle Ages, but the current legislation goes back to the Third Reich.
It is said it was introduced so that Adolf Hitler could be sure of the loyalty of the chimney sweeps in order that they would spy on ordinary Germans.
In exchange, Hitler assigned them with districts which were theirs to sweep for life as well as setting a fixed wage for the first time.
They were also given permission to enter people's homes with no notice. Still today, chimney sweeps can gain access to people's homes more easily than police.
"It is anachronistic that we have to pay for something that we have not asked for and no longer need, and that in the age of the free market we cannot choose whether the heating engineer comes instead," said Helmut Ostberg, a 61-year-old pensioner who has formed the "People's Lobby Against the Chimney Sweep Monopoly" which boasts around 100,000 supporters across the country.
Mr Ostberg's lobby is demanding the right of those Germans who wish to sweep their own chimneys to do so, as well as the opening up of the market.
The more militant members have refused the sweeps access to their homes, prompting them to return with police back-up and break down doors. Those like Mr Ostberg who refuse to pay their chimney sweep fees have had their bank accounts frozen.
The lobby claims to be not against chimney sweeps, just against the monopoly.
But they have not a good word to say about them, even suggesting that it was drunken chimney sweeps who started the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933, a key event in the establishment of Nazi Germany.
"They have acted as spies throughout history from the middle ages through the Nazi era and into the communist dictatorship of east Germany, and we're fairly convinced they're continuing to do so today," said Hanns-Gerd Volkmann, 63, another lobby member.
There is plenty of evidence to back up his claims, including government documents and court testimony.
For several years the European Commission has been showing a growing interest in stopping the monopoly.
It has put increasing pressure on Germany to change the law governing chimney sweeps to allow for a more open market and to permit non-Germans access to sweep Germany's chimneys - which is currently prohibited.
Berlin's chimney sweeps though, appear wounded when the charges are put to them.
"We are there for people's safety, and to protect the environment, and we have changed accordingly with the times," said Mr Feller, leaping up on to a chimney in the southern Berlin district of Schöneberg and dropping his brush 72 feet into the basement of a block of flats.
"In Belgium where there is no such law, some 300 people die each year from gas poisoning and chimney defects. In Germany the figure is zero," he added.
Mr Feller, 51, who started working as a sweep 36 years ago, rejects the spying claims as absurd.
"Chimney sweeps have always had to have the trust of their customers precisely because we have access to their homes," he said. "I have no wish to abuse that trust."
BTTT
Good lord.
Those were my exact words. Does the German government also require car owners to buy buggywhips and have them inspected yearly?
Unbelievable.
"Chim chiminee Chim chiminee Chim Chim Cheree, a Chimney sweep's lucky as lucky can be...."
I'm trying to imagine Dick Van Dyke working for Special Branch. :-)
Chimney fires are a reality, but I prefer to decide for myself when to have this done and how much to pay.
Goodness, that is without a doubt one of the more dumb taxes, and it is no matter what name it is using, I have heard about lately. The banning of giving the homeless can openers in San Fran also comes to mind.
"The monopoly law has its roots in the Middle Ages, but the current legislation goes back to the Third Reich."
Ah, wonderful, modern, progressive Deutschland!
And if I remember right, it takes 7 years to become a qualified chimney sweep.
Something you should be able to learn in a couple monyhs at the most, I'd think.
Must keep those chimneys clean for Kriss Kringle.
"Now, cheer up mate, and hand over the quid! It's for the fatherland..."
Wow!
No, but they do require all cars to carry first aid kits.
"Mary Poppins" bump.
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