Since time immemorial, logs have been transported by water, i.e. the rafters tied logs together to form ‘rafts’ and let the wood float on rivers, lakes and seas. In the high mountains, loose logs were ‘drifted’ in narrow rivers and torrents. Water reservoirs and alluvial ponds were built to enable drifting on small watercourses. Dangers from shoals, whirlpools and weirs led to serious accidents time and again.
The increasing demand for wood and the lack of transport routes on land led to an upswing in rafting until the middle of the 19th century. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that rafting was largely discontinued in Europe.
Film excerpt: ‘Triften und Flössen (Drifting and Floating)’ from ‘Von Menschen, Bäumen und Werkzeugen (Of People, Trees, and Tools)’, a documentary film by the Fördervereins Forstmuseum Ballenberg (Friends of the Ballenberg Forestry Museum)
