“HOUSES WILL ALWAYS BE BUILT”
Three years ago, Constanze Boss would never have dreamed that she would one day become the HWK Düsseldorf's "Apprentice of the Month" - the 20-year-old actually wanted to go to university. She is now in her second year of training as a carpenter.
Constanze, you are an apprentice carpenter. Which company are you training at?
I'm an apprentice at Röders GmbH in Mönchengladbach, now in my second year of training. I finished my A-levels in 2023 and then started my apprenticeship. Last summer, I was even apprentice of the month at the HWK Düsseldorf.
Isn't it a bit unusual these days for someone with A-levels to opt for an apprenticeship in the skilled trades? Most graduates want to go to university...
That was actually my first thought too, but then I decided against it. I wanted to make a difference rather than sit somewhere and study.
How did you get into carpentry?
When my granddad died, we sold his house. He was a cabinetmaker and joiner and we didn't know what to do with his tools. I had the idea of training as a craftsman in order to reuse his tools - and came across the profession of carpenter. I liked the idea of being involved in the traditional process of building a house and being able to contribute a lot. I applied to Röders GmbH, completed three days of trial work and started my apprenticeship shortly afterwards.
As a young woman, you ended up in a profession that is mainly carried out by men.
That's right, there are only two other women at my vocational college. The work requires a lot of strength, which is perhaps one of the reasons. For me, carpentry is an incredibly beautiful profession and when it gets really physically difficult, the crane takes over - even for the men. You get used to everything else.
What does the training as a carpenter involve?
The profession is very varied: we build roof trusses, timber frame construction, dormers, but also façades and restore timber frames. Part of our work involves finding simple solutions to problems that arise when building a house. The carpentry profession is therefore very creative, also because we often have to work within the constraints of the individual situation.
And it is very much characterised by traditions, some of which are almost a little exotic. What special features are there in the profession?
First of all, our clothing. We wear classic guild trousers made of corduroy and a matching waistcoat with eight buttons, each of which represents one working hour a day. By the way, if you lose a button, you have to buy a round of beer. (laughs) Our trousers are very functional. For me, this workwear is like a smart uniform.
What traditions do you still hold on to in the trade?
There are cuts and constructions that have been made in the same way for hundreds of years or wooden joints that are completely stable without nails.
And then in your profession there's the "Walz". What is that all about?
The Walz is a journey lasting three years and one day, during which you are not allowed to travel closer than 50 kilometres to your home town. Nowadays, not every carpenter journeys and it doesn't necessarily have to last three years, but you travel from one building site to the next without money and work for board and lodging. The aim is to see and learn new things. However, you only go on the Walz as a journeyman, i.e. after the three-year apprenticeship.
What other traditions are there in the carpentry trade? You've just mentioned traditional cuts and designs that can now also being taken over by machines. Do you still learn to do them by hand?
Yes, but we don't learn that in the company, but at the "Bildungszentren des Baugewerbes - BZB" in Düsseldorf. Here we work by hand with chisels and saws, just like you used to do. Apprentices from all over the region come to the BZB and we are taught by a master carpenter, who actually also trained at Röders GmbH.
Nowadays, many young people prefer to work from home rather than on site. For you, it's the other way round ...
Carpentry is a world of its own for me and I find it much nicer to work physically. At school, things became more and more digitalised and at some point, we no longer wrote on paper but only on tablets. In my job, we work in a very traditional way, you only need your head, a pencil and a folding rule, just like in the old days. And I like that!
District Master Craftsman Frank Mund, Constanze Boss and HWK President Andreas Ehlert: in May 2024, trainee Boss was named ‘apprentice of the month’ by the Düsseldorf Chamber of Skilled Trades.
Where do you see yourself in ten years' time? Will you still be working in the trades or do you perhaps want to go to university after all?
My job is extremely physically demanding and I'm a very petite person. So, it would be a good option for me to study architecture or construction at some point. In other words, to learn the theory behind the practice that I experience on the construction site.
And how do you see the future of your profession? Do you think carpentry will still be around in 50 years' time?
I am confident. Even if technology in this field continues to develop and there are ways to build a house in just one week, people will still want to work with natural resources. And that requires the craft of carpentry. So yes, the profession has a future. Houses will always be built! •
Text: Katja Vaders
Pictures: Wilfried Meyer, Nicole Röders