A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster, German: Meister) was a member of a guild. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers In the European guild system, only master craftsmen were allowed to be members of the guild. A trade as an occupation usually refers to the profession that require some particular kind of skilled work
An aspiring master would have to pass through the career chain from apprentice to journeyman before he could be elected to become a master craftsman. Apprenticeship is a system of Training a new generation of practitioners of a skill A journeyman is a trader or crafter who has completed an Apprenticeship. He would then have to produce a sum of money and a masterpiece before he could actually join the guild. Masterpiece (or chef d'œuvre) refers to any Work of art that is considered extraordinary If the masterpiece was not accepted by the masters, he was not allowed to join the guild, possibly remaining a journeyman for the rest of his life.
Contents |
Today's master craftsman in different countries
United States
While guilds as such do not exist, many trades continue the apprentice-journeyman-master model. Electricians, pipefitters and plumbers are notable examples. An electrician is a Tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings and related equipment A pipefitter (also called steamfitter) is a tradesman who lays out assembles fabricates maintains and repairs piping systems A plumber is a Tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking Water, sewage Drainage, or industrial Even in academia, the tradition survives, with PhD students as apprentices, post-docs as journeymen and professors as masters. A graduate school or ("grad school" is a school that awards advanced degrees such as doctoral degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned A postdoctoral fellow (colloquially " post-doc " is a temporary research position held by a person who has completed his or her doctoral studies The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies [1] [2] [3]
The paper which needs to be presented in order to get an academic degree, proving the student's proficiency in the chosen subject and whose quality is examined by existing lecturers, is in effect a form of the medieval masterpiece which needed to be prepared by anyone seeking to be accepted as a master in any professional guild. Masterpiece (or chef d'œuvre) refers to any Work of art that is considered extraordinary
The terms Master Mariner and harbormaster reflect the fact that the holders of such positions were originally Master craftsman in the Seamen's Guild. Captain is the traditional customary title given to the person in charge in command of a Ship at sea A harbourmaster (or harbormaster, see spelling differences) is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular Harbour or Further derived from "harbormaster" is "stationmaster", though guilds no longer existed when railways came into being. The station master was the person in charge of railway stations in the United Kingdom and some other countries before the modern age
Germany
While guilds have also been abolished in Germany, the ranks of apprentice, journeyman (German: Geselle, that is literally the person you share the chamber, like the companion, who is the one you share the bread) and master craftsman have been retained until today. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. For many crafts one still has to be a "Meister" to be allowed to run a business of that craft. The word meister originally means "master" in German (as in Master craftsman or as an honorific title such as Meister Eckhart; akin Journeymen and masters are automatically by law members of their regional Chamber of the skilled crafts which is a self governing public body. The Chamber is the organiser of the technical vocational educational training and overseas the examination of the masters examination. (Strictly speaking: a company that offers services in a craft needs to employ a master of that craft, so it's not a legal requirement that the owner be the master craftsman. ) The justification for this is the (perceived or actual) higher quality which is achieved by businesses run by master craftspeople. Some people claim that this restriction limits free enterprise initiative and thus fosters the current high unemployment rate in Germany. Lately several crafts have had the requirement for businesses to have a master of the craft removed; however, any craft that is perceived as being security relevant, like for instance electricians and chimney sweeps, still has it and is unlikely to have it waived anytime soon. An electrician is a Tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings and related equipment A chimney sweep is a person who cleans Chimneys for a living History The occupation of chimney sweep is considered to be one of the oldest in the world as
The master craftsman is the highest professional qualification in crafts and is a state-approved grade. The education includes theoretical and practical training in the craft and also business and legal training, and includes the qualification to be allowed to train apprentices as well. The status of master craftsman is regulated in the German Gesetz zur Ordnung des Handwerks, HandwO (Law of crafts).
The requirements to become a master craftsman are usually an education in the crafts in which the examination should be taken (a successfully completed apprenticeship and examination, called Gesellenprüfung) and experience of at least 3 years as a journeyman (Geselle). Only then training courses for the Meisterprüfung ("master's examination") can be followed. The duration of the courses depends on the craft and can take some years. The examination includes theoretical, practical and oral parts and takes some days (depending on the craft). In most crafts the creation of a masterpiece is still part of the examination. Masterpiece (or chef d'œuvre) refers to any Work of art that is considered extraordinary
Master craftsmen who are not running their own business usually have a leading position in a company, not only in crafts. Many companies prefer a master craftsman instead of a university graduate as a technical manager as the education is more practical and they are also supposed to possess good theoretical skills and business knowledge. German master craftspeople are accepted in many countries of the world because of their good education.
External links
See also
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers Apprenticeship is a system of Training a new generation of practitioners of a skill Vocational education or Vocational Education and Training (VET also called Career and Technical Education (CTE prepares learners for jobs that are basedDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic