At the beginning of the year, district administrator Hanno Hurth appointed a new district chimney sweep for the district of Emmendingen.
From 1 January 2023 there will be two new good luck messengers in the Emmendingen district. District administrator Hanno Hurth appointed Laura Heckel and Oliver Engler as authorized district chimney sweeps for the Emmendingen district at the end of December. Along with her thanks for taking on this position for the next seven years, she presented the two with their certificates of appointment.
The first woman with her own large district
There are a total of 14 district sweeping in the district of Emmendingen and thus 14 licensed district chimney sweeps, now for the first time a woman. Laura Heckel is a pioneer because she is the first owner of a large district in the Emmendingen district. While there are quite a few female colleagues in the predominantly male profession, they do not have their own district. From January, the chimney sweep from Riegel will take care of the Emmendingen sweeping district no. Laura Heckel came to the chimney sweep profession through the job fair. She always wanted to do something practical. After three internships, she decided to sweep and she trained as a chimney sweep at Wyhl.
With his colleague Oliver Engler, the entry into the chimney sweep profession was similar. He learned at Kollmarsreute. From January he will take over the Emmendingen sweeping district no. 05 and will clean chimneys and chimneys in the municipalities of Gutach, Bleibach, Simonswald, Niederwinden, partly in Waldkirch-Kollnau and also in Güterbach in all districts.
Chimney sweeps with “sovereign” tasks.
What do District Licensed Chimney Sweeps do and how are they different from other chimney sweep companies? Since the liberalization of the trade in chimney sweeps a decade ago, there have been ‘autonomous’ jobs as well as so-called ‘sovereign’ ones. As part of his freelance activity, the chimney sweep can, in accordance with certain legal requirements, carry out private sector tasks such as measuring, cleaning and checking fireplaces. The services are not subject to a tariff, but rather to prices in free competition.
This is to be distinguished from sovereign activities which may only be carried out by authorized chimney sweeps, i.e. district chimney sweeps authorized for a certain district. This includes inspecting the fireplace, issuing or changing the fireplace notice, maintaining the return log, and building inspections in accordance with state law. These tasks serve to prevent fires and thus help to avert danger.
Uniform tariffs, established by law, apply nationwide for sovereign assets. The tasks of chimney sweeps, preventing fires in chimneys, apartments and houses, for example by looking at chimneys and sweeping, is also why they bring good luck to the home and why they are also considered good luck charms in popular belief. There are a total of 16 chimney sweep companies in the district of Emmendingen, 8 in the city of Freiburg, 26 in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, 18 in the district of Lörrach and 43 in the district of Ortenau.
