Two Stecknitz drivers

The Stecknitzfahrer association in Lübeck has been mentioned in documents since the Middle Ages. It was dissolved in 1845, but re-established in 1935. Stecknitzfahrer transported salt from the Lüneburg salt works to Lübeck via the Stecknitz Canal. The canal and the association were named after the Stecknitz, a small meadow river that supplied the canal with water. The Elbe-Lübeck-Canal that exists today runs along roughly the same route as the former Stecknitz Canal.

Above the entrance door to the Stecknitzfahrer's office building, you can see two figures about 1.30 m tall. The person shown on the right is still quite young. He is holding a long staff in his hand. The flat Stecknitz barges were propelled with such sticks. An activity that required a lot of muscle power. The second person shows a somewhat corpulent old man in his typical clothing and with a pipe in his hand. Both figures were created by the sculptor Sven Schöning based on the sculptures that have been here since 1905 and with funds from the Possehl Foundation. The original sculptures came from the Lübeck sculptor Wilhelm-Christian Cuwie.