Schleswig-Holstein Business and Occupations

Following is a list with pictures of old professions

http://www.digitalis.uni-koeln.de/Amman/amman_index.html

Of “dishonest” professions

If a profession could lend itself to dishonesty, it was deemed as “unehrlich”. For instance, a tailor, a miller or a shoemaker could measure material, flour or leather incorrectly and therefore cheat the customer. The worst profession was a “Abdecker”. He was a man who disposed off dead animals and did the “dirty work” for the executioner, namely the disposal of a corps. Looked at as “unehrlich” were even those who had contact with a person who had a job that was regarded as dishonest by society. Entire families (when a child married a person with an “unehrlich” occupation) and children and grandchildren of persons deemed “unehrlich”, inherited this trait. Forthwith they were not allowed to practice trades other than those belonging to their society. If a Abdecker was prosperous, he let his own helpers do the work and thus eliminated the appearance of being “unehrlich”. “Unehrlichkeit” became a problem when “unehrliche” persons died and others had to touch their bodies and/or coffins. Over time the number of dishonest persons grew to such an extent that the authorities had to interfere and release laws to remove the mark of “Unehrlichkeit” from people. In 1731 such a privilege was given to grandchildren if their parents had worked for 30 years in honorable professions. The thought may have been good but in reality a dishonest person was not allowed to work honestly. Therefore, another law had to be issued proclaiming that simply touching a body or a coffin of a dishonest person did not automatically make one dishonest. Society only slowly got away from the notion of what was honest and what was not and in 1820, even the Abdecker could look at his profession as a job worth doing and find acceptance.

Source:

Gisela und Jürgen Laudi. “Vom Beruf des Abdeckers“. Nordelbischer Genealogentag 2003