page_title: Örtze
section_title: Technology
hierarchical_section_title: Örtze / Timber rafting / Technology
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Wilh. Witte, einer der letzten Flößer auf der Örtze English: Wilhelm Witte, one of the last rafters on the River Örtze. Lower Saxony, Germany
context_page_description: Örtze is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. The Örtze rises north of Munster in the Große Heide and, after 62 kilometres, joins the Aller southeast of Winsen.
context_section_description: The Örtze was navigable by timber rafts all year round from its confluence with the Wietze near Müden to the Aller thanks to its water-retentive, sandy river bed. A timber raft could travel these 36 river kilometres (22 mi) in a day. In the second half of the 19th century there were also 11 raft-building points from Müden to Oldendorf where the logs hauled to the river by horse and cart were tied together to form a raft. On the Aller the logs were bound together to form even larger rafts and floated down to their offloading point in Bremen. From there the wood was shipped to England, the Netherlands, France or Spain.
  The rafts were 23 metres (75 ft) long and 3 metres (10 ft) wide. One feature were the rounded willow hoops at the front, the so-called hand rails (Handregels), which the rafter could grab in an emergency. The rafter carried a pole (Schufstaken or Schufboom) for manoeuvering the raft which he pressed against the left shoulder with a T handle. It was fitted with an iron spike and hook at the end.
caption: Wilhelm Witte, one of the last rafters on the Örtze, around 1910
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