A pünte (plural: pünten) is the German term for a type of non-motorised river boat and thus a special type of flat-bottomed boat. It is propelled manually using a crank or hauled by horses on the shore. Today pünten are used almost exclusively as ferries.
History
editPünten were built from wood. They had a flat bottom and the sides sloped only slight outwards. Pünten were often fitted with a sail, although this was usually insufficient for propulsion, so that the boat was mostly hauled as well. A horse was transported on board for this purpose, which had to be put ashore when the boat came to stretches of river that required the boat to be hauled.[1]
Pünten today
editAfter centuries of decline, several pünten are again in operation in Germany in East Frisia and the Emsland. For example the Leher Pünte, the only sail-driven ferry over the navigable Ems, crosses the river near Lehe[2] and, near the Großes Meer in the East Frisian municipality of Südbrookmerland pünten are used at two points along a cycleway.[3]
The oldest operational hand-operated ferry in Central Europe is the pünte in Wiltshausen, which crosses the Jümme at its confluence with the Leda.
References
edit- ^ Marlene Schepers: Von der Pünte zum Containerschiff Archived 2015-07-13 at the Wayback Machine (pdf; 11.9 MB), Reederei H. Schepers
- ^ Leher Pünte Archived 2011-02-20 at the Wayback Machine, Touristikverein der Samtgemeinde Dörpen e. V.
- ^ Mit der Pünte über das Marscher TiefArchived 2020-10-27 at the Wayback Machine, 3-Meere-Weg, Projekt Großes Meer.