Ear-splitting mastery of scythe deneshing

The first Central German scythe denying championship took place in Altenburger Land. 29 men and women from Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt took part in the deafeningly loud competition at the Rositz fair, according to Ralph Cramer, chairman of the Altenburger Land forage shredders.

Dengeling involves tapping the front edge of a scythe flat with a hammer to sharpen it. The competitors worked the scythes with hammers for 45 minutes. Judges then assessed, among other things, how well the cutting edges of the scythes were driven out - i.e. thinned - and whether the cutting edge was straight.

Heiko Müller from the Oschatz district of Mannschatz (North Saxony) won the men's competition. Of the three women taking part, the jury rated the performance of Aline Albrecht from Schmölln in Altenburger Land as the best.

According to Cramer, the Futterschroter have been organizing scything championships for decades, alternating with another club. This year, the other club had canceled and as an alternative, the Futterschroter organized the first Dengeln championship - which is to be held every two years in the future.

"At first we wanted to hold a Thuringian championship. But then the Saxons wanted to come too," reported Cramer. "Then it became a Central German championship. Who knows, maybe we'll organize the first German championship in two years' time." Interest was already high: according to Cramer, hundreds of spectators came to watch the spectacle.