Superstitions
One common German superstition is that about chimney sweeps. Actually it’s not touching the chimney sweep that brings luck - you have to shake his hand. They are considered lucky, because their job, cleaning the chimney prevents the house from burning down. If enough soot gets in a chimney, it could catch fire, just like lumps of coal, and burn the house down, which is why community laws demand that ever house that has a chimney, has to have a chimney sweep. Mostly German Christians believe it.
I learnt about it when I was walking on the road in Germany with my Grandparents when I was younger, and we saw a chimney sweep. My grandparents told me to go shake his hand. Afterwards I asked them why and they explained this superstition to me.
Yes, I believe this superstition because it was told over centuries. However, there is not really proof provided that this superstition is true, therefore, it can’t really be believed or true.
To go more in depth, the occupation of chimney sweep is considered to be one of the oldest in the world, as chimneys have been around since ancient times, though it is only in the last two hundred years that the chimney has grown large enough to hold a man, giving rise to the image of the chimney sweep as it developed in the time of the Industrial Revolution. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Western Europe, construction of rooflines with crow-stepped gables became common to allow chimney sweeps convenient access to the chimney top. With the increased urban population, the number of houses with chimneys grew in pace and the occupation of chimney sweep became much respected and sought-after, although it is sometimes derided in verse, ballad and pantomime.
I learnt about it when I was walking on the road in Germany with my Grandparents when I was younger, and we saw a chimney sweep. My grandparents told me to go shake his hand. Afterwards I asked them why and they explained this superstition to me.
Yes, I believe this superstition because it was told over centuries. However, there is not really proof provided that this superstition is true, therefore, it can’t really be believed or true.
To go more in depth, the occupation of chimney sweep is considered to be one of the oldest in the world, as chimneys have been around since ancient times, though it is only in the last two hundred years that the chimney has grown large enough to hold a man, giving rise to the image of the chimney sweep as it developed in the time of the Industrial Revolution. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Western Europe, construction of rooflines with crow-stepped gables became common to allow chimney sweeps convenient access to the chimney top. With the increased urban population, the number of houses with chimneys grew in pace and the occupation of chimney sweep became much respected and sought-after, although it is sometimes derided in verse, ballad and pantomime.
