A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only master craftsmen were allowed to be members of the guild. A guild is an association of craftspeople in a particular trade. ... It has been suggested that Artisan#Artisan guilds be merged into this article or section. ...

An aspiring master would have to pass through the career chain from apprentice to journeyman before he could be elected to become a master craftsman. He would then have to produce a sum of money and a masterpiece before he could actually join the guild. If the masterpiece was not accepted by the masters, he was not allowed to join the guild, possibly remaining a journeyman for the rest of his life. If youre looking for the TV show, see The Apprentice. ... For other uses, see Journeyman (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Masterpiece (disambiguation). ...

Today's master craftsman in different countries

United States

While guilds as such do not exist, many trades continue the apprentice-journeyman-master model. Electricians, pipefitters and plumbers are notable examples. Even in academia, the tradition survives, with PhD students as apprentices, post-docs as journeymen and professors as masters. [1] [2] [3] TVA electricians, Tennessee, 1942. ... A pipefitter (also called steamfitterthere is a difference between a plumer and a steamfitter by the number out hammer dents on his forheadfor plumbers our shit is there bread and butter) is someone who lays out, assembles, fabricates, maintains and repairs piping systems. ... Joe Kessler is a plumber! A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, sewage, drainage, venting, heating and air-conditioning, or industrial process plant piping. ... Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. ... A graduate student (also, grad student or grad in American English, postgraduate student or postgrad in British English) is an individual who has completed a bachelors degree (B.A., B.S./B.Sc. ... A postdoctoral (colloquially, post-doc) appointment is a usually temporary academic job held by a person who has completed his or her doctoral studies. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: [1]) varies. ...

The paper which needs to be presented in order to get an academic degree, proving the student's proficiency in the chosen subject and whose quality is examined by existing lecturers, is in effect a form of the medieval masterpiece which needed to be prepared by anyone seeking to be accepted as a master in any professional guild. For other uses, see Masterpiece (disambiguation). ...

The terms Master Mariner and harbormaster reflect the fact that the holders of such positions were originally Master craftsman in the Seamen's Guild. Further derived from "harbormaster" is "stationmaster", though guilds no longer existed when railways came into being. Master Mariner is the official title of someone qualified to command a ship; the qualification is colloquially called a Masters Ticket. The term was introduced in the mid 19th century, and is usually held by the chief officer/first mate as well as the captain). ... The Harbour Master’s transport at Poole, Dorset, England A harbourmaster (or harbormaster, see spelling differences) is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the orderly operation of the port... The station master was the person in charge of railway stations, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, before the modern age. ...

Germany

While guilds have also been abolished in Germany, the ranks of apprentice, journeyman (German: Geselle, that is literally the person you share the chamber, like the companion, who is the one you share the bread) and master craftsman have been retained until today. For many crafts one still has to be a "Meister" to be allowed to run a business of that craft. Journeymen and masters are automatically by law members of their regional Chamber of the skilled crafts which is a self governing public body. The Chamber is the organiser of the technical vocational educational training and overseas the examination of the masters examination. (Strictly speaking: a company that offers services in a craft needs to employ a master of that craft, so it's not a legal requirement that the owner be the master craftsman.) The justification for this is the (perceived or actual) higher quality which is achieved by businesses run by master craftspeople. Some people claim that this restriction limits free enterprise initiative and thus fosters the current high unemployment rate in Germany. Lately several crafts have had the requirement for businesses to have a master of the craft removed; however, any craft that is perceived as being security relevant, like for instance electricians and chimney sweeps, still has it and is unlikely to have it waived anytime soon. The word meister originally means master in German (as in master craftsman or as an honorific title such as Meister Eckhart). ... TVA electricians, Tennessee, 1942. ... Chimney sweep in the 1850s A chimney sweep, or a climbing boy, is a person who cleans chimneys for a living. ...

The master craftsman is the highest professional qualification in crafts and is a state-approved grade. The education includes theoretical and practical training in the craft and also business and legal training, and includes the qualification to be allowed to train apprentices as well. The status of master craftsman is regulated in the German Gesetz zur Ordnung des Handwerks, HandwO (Law of crafts).

The requirements to become a master craftsman are usually an education in the crafts in which the examination should be taken (a successfully completed apprenticeship and examination, called Gesellenprüfung) and experience of at least 3 years as a journeyman (Geselle). Only then training courses for the Meisterprüfung ("master's examination") can be followed. The duration of the courses depends on the craft and can take some years. The examination includes theoretical, practical and oral parts and takes some days (depending on the craft). In most crafts the creation of a masterpiece is still part of the examination. For other uses, see Masterpiece (disambiguation). ...

Master craftsmen who are not running their own business usually have a leading position in a company, not only in crafts. Many companies prefer a master craftsman instead of a university graduate as a technical manager as the education is more practical and they are also supposed to possess good theoretical skills and business knowledge. German master craftspeople are accepted in many countries of the world because of their good education.

External links

• Website of German craft chambers

See also

• Guild
• Apprenticeship
• Vocational training