From Village to Village – On the Road with the “Mola”

“In the Hay Month, I traversed the Sättmer (Septimer Pass), the Julier, and the Albelen (Albula Pass), crossing the highest mountains in great heat, burdened with heavy loads and carrying little more than a few coins in my pocket.” These are the words of the traveling painter Hans Ardüser—who wrote with rather free spelling, as was customary in his day—describing his experiences in July 1590. However, he was scarcely able to find work or earn any money during his travels that summer.

Hans Ardüser was not an isolated case. For centuries, people from the region that is now Graubünden set out for distant places—earning a living as confectioners, plasterers, mercenaries, resin workers, and more. For centuries, however, people also travelled through Graubünden’s valleys and neighboring regions—working as tinkers, quacks, itinerant painters, or knife grinders, among others.

Just how heavy the loads once were that knife grinders had to carry or push is made clear at the Museo Poschiavino. On display is a “mola”—a wooden cart fitted with an integrated whetstone and various other tools. Knife grinders would travel from village to village with apparatuses like these, offering their services well into the 20th century.