Gerberhäuschen Heidweiler

Tanning was and is hard and unpleasant work. It begins with the cleaning of the skins. In the past, the skins were soaked in salt with the meat side first for several weeks to remove the water from the still adhering meat. Then the skins were soaked in fresh water (stream) for a few days for the first time to wash out the salt again. This was followed by depilation in a lime broth ("liming"). Only then did we start working on the skins with hairpieces, shears and other special scraping knives, removing all remaining hair and flesh. . This treatment was followed by a further salt bath for final cleaning. Only now did the actual conservation begin. In pits, the processed skins were piled up with the respective tanning agent and the full pit was filled with water, which started the tanning process. Depending on the type of leather, this process could take several weeks, but also months or years. Once the desired tanning result had been achieved, the hides were again washed, brushed, dried and smoothed several times. The odours associated with the fermentation process as well as the smell of rotting skin and meat parts and the waste disposal explain why the tanners tended to work outside the actual village life.