Guilds and Crafts

Chests for documents and money were part of the equipment of guilds, associations of people practising the same or related crafts. Signs, ceremonial vessels and tools are displayed alongside them. The collection covers both workshop tasks and the shared affairs of guild members.

Rules were recorded in guild articles. Journeymen's certificates and apprenticeship documents relate to the training of craftspeople. Each document had a different role: it either set out the community's rules or certified an individual's skills.

Food production and the working of wood, metal, leather and textiles are represented by finished products and the tools used to make them. Local trades included milling, weaving, hat-making, furriery, goldsmithing, dyeing and wheelwrighting. Crafts benefited from Kežmarok's position on an important trade route.

Special boards were used to summon meetings. Ceremonial goblets and wine jugs, meanwhile, belonged to the objects used on shared festive occasions.