Thousands of years old and almost unchanged: Bernhard Muffler is the fourth generation of his family to practice the rope craft. Even in today's high-tech world, ropes are used in many applications and are often indispensable.

If you look closely, you will notice a wide variety of ropes and cables in shipping, at construction sites, on playgrounds, in sports and in the home. Even though many of them are industrially manufactured today, there are still ropes that no machine can produce in this way. This is where craftsmanship in its purest form is called for. For example, when Bernhard Muffler, a master rope maker from Stockach, Germany, is making an extremely complex rope, assisted by the fifth generation, Sophie Muffler. Almost four meters long.

The intended use: a whip used for the so-called Schnellen in the Swabian-Alemannic carnival. This is where the entire art of the ropemaker's craft becomes apparent, because in addition to special twisting and braiding techniques, the architecture and stability of this very special rope are also involved, so to speak. Craft knowledge passed down over centuries and refined again and again.

IN THE VIDEO
Bernhard Muffler, master rope maker
Sophie Muffler, apprentice/trainee

CREDITS
Author: Sabine Hoeth
Camera: Dirk Schwarz
Sound: Dorian Ostermann
Editing: Monika Agler
Narrator: Rolf Hüffer
Editing: Carmen Lustig
Producers: Monika Agler, Günter Moritz
A production of: teamWERK, Die Filmproduktion GmbH
Social media editing: Land und Leute RP Online