Rope making

Twisting, twisting, twisting

It quickly becomes clear why a building of such dimensions is necessary. In order to produce a rope of a particular length, the ropemaker Wale Jaggi pushes the small waggon which runs on rails away from the stranding machine. To make a 6-metre-long rope he needs to move the waggon 8 metres along the track, as the rope becomes shorter as it is rotated. To begin with, he stretches the fibre strings out between the machine and the waggon in order to twist them into four strands for each rope. The preliminary twisting stage calls for a certain “feeling” on the part of the ropemaker, as he has to detect the right moment at which the strands are equally tightly twisted. Only then, using the ropemaker’s ‘top’, does Jaggi twist the strands in the opposite direction until the rope has been braided evenly along its whole length.

Ropes made from hemp and flax

Finally, the rope has to be tucked (stitched down) by hand to stop it opening up again. Hemp and flax are also used for making ropes in the Rope Walk from Unterägeri. Rope was once indispensable and played a numerous roles in the everyday life of the countryside. It was used for tethering calves, tying hay loads up tightly, hanging up fruit to dry, lashing tree trunks on to the sledge, or simply as cord in the living quarters. Various ropes made in the old way are on sale in the Museum.