In the Spessart there is one of the last bakeries in Bavaria – Bavaria

Andreas Assmann strokes one of his barrels. “All unique,” he says. In the workshop of his company in Lower Franconia it is dusty, it smells of campfire and effort. Workers put a nearly two-meter-high bottomless barrel over a burning fire bowl. The expert calls this procedure “toasting”. “The solid wood structure of the inside of the barrel is broken up by the open flame, and undesirable aromatic substances or resinous substances are broken down,” explains Aßmann. Cellulose is split into wood sugar and caramelized, while the wood pulp, lignin, is partially converted into vanillin. “The aromas from our barrel go into the wine and give it a characteristic note.”

The bald head of the company with a small mustache could also pass as a ranger in a national park in his beige work suit. Since 1996 he has been running the family business in Eußenheim (Main-Spessart district) in the third generation. It is one of the last butcher shops in Franconia. The ancient craft, which is said to have been practiced in Gaul in the 1st century BC, was still widespread in the region 50 years ago. Today, according to the Chamber of Crafts, there are 18 Büttner in Bavaria, who are also called “Böttcher”, “Schäffler” or “Küfer” depending on the location. There are a total of 60 companies in Germany (both as of June 2021).

After the Second World War, grandfather Aßmann founded the company in 1945. Today the cooperage produces wooden barrels from 20 to 8000 liters. The large barrels are custom-made and can be found in the historic barrel cellar of the Residenz in Würzburg, for example. Exports are mainly to France – but also to Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The clientele comes primarily from the wine sector. “The smell of the barrels alone inspires me,” says Franconian winemaker Hermann Dereser from Kolitzheim south of Schweinfurt. “The qualities of the barriques are a local specialty.”

“It used to be a drag.”

The 1200 square meter workshop is located on the edge of the Spessart. A worker sits in a barrel, grinds wood. His hair is full of sawdust. “We only purchase Spessartiche oak from a radius of 100 kilometers,” explains Andreas Aßmann. The wood is stored to dry for two to six years before it is processed by him and his eight employees. The 50-year-old says: “I don’t work. If you make your job a hobby, you never have to go to work.”

Hand in hand: Company boss Andreas Aßmann (left) and his father Karl are standing at a barrel in the production of the family business.

(Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa)

Father Karl Assmann also lends a hand – at the age of 81. Every morning he wraps his leather apron around, puts on steel toe shoes, cuts and bends the wooden strips for the outer curve, the so-called staves. Since he was 14 years old, Karl Assmann has been working in the company that he had run for decades. “It used to be a drag,” he says. “Fortunately today there are electric saws, planes and grinders.” He doesn’t think about quitting. The 1970s were a difficult time: many barrels remained empty due to poor harvests. “Back then we produced niche products such as planters or seating – that saved us,” says Karl Assmann. Other companies switched to plastic and aluminum drums.

Karl Assmann’s grandson, Erik, is one of the journeymen of the family business. That morning, the 23-year-old stoked the kettle at 5:30 a.m. in order to use steam to make the staves pliable and later to clamp them together with steel. The barrels are finished with lacquer, some are engraved. Depending on the size, it takes a day to a week until a barrel is ready. “A wine has to breathe and mature,” says company boss Andreas Aßmann. A barrel can last up to 100 years. “But it depends on the care – like in a marriage. You have to look after a wooden barrel like a woman.”

With 99 percent of the cultivation area, Franconia is the most important wine-growing area in Bavaria. There are around 3,500 winemakers, around 650 of whom sell directly, and also cooperatives who all grow wine on more than 6,300 hectares – and have to choose between different barrels. “Wooden barrels are not as easy to care for as stainless steel barrels and require the utmost attention and hygiene in the cellar. The barrel must not dry out and must be protected from microorganisms,” explains Michael Bock from the Franconian Viticulture Association in Würzburg. “Wooden barrels, as traditional wine containers, are currently experiencing a renaissance and are enjoying great popularity.”

Aßmann cooperage

Spread appearance: This is what the staves, fitted with iron tires in the Büttnerei Aßmann, look like before they are shaped using steam.

(Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa)

Marcus Vetter, Deputy Federal Chairman of the Association of the German Barrel and Wine Cellar, also confirms the growing demand. “In order to preserve the cooperage trade in the future, incentives must be created that make working in this area attractive,” he says. “Only those who identify with their job, their activity can also inspire others and thus lead more young people to the craft again.”

Wilhelm Schmid, who is in the same position as Vetter at the Heilbronn-based association, runs a barrel factory in Munich: “Of course I can only speak for my company, but we have had no problems getting young people in recent years. Obviously, our job is meanwhile so exotic that that alone makes it interesting. ” Schmid sees a different challenge, however: “I currently see the main problem in the sharp rise in raw material prices for wood, but also, for example, strip steel – 100 percent increase since last year – and the possibility of enforcing these increases in the form of price increases for customers.”

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