Submerged in 600 Liters
SCHREINER GROUP
Submerged in 600 Liters
Although the large wooden vat did not take center stage, it was an essential stage prop. On a fine morning in late July, it was filled with 600 liters of water in preparation for the traditional dunking party at Schreiner Group that kicked off in the afternoon. Nine apprentices taking a dip in the cool water were symbolically purged of the “sins” committed during their apprenticeship. For the family company, the custom from the 16th century has become an important highlight on its annual calendar of events. After a forced one-year break due to the coronavirus, the celebration could finally take place again.
The dive into the vat is always the highlight of a dunking party. Assisted by a sponge holder and four catchers, the nine now fully trained media designers, flexographic and screen- printing media technicians, and machine operators dove into the vat one after the other. Accompanied by a round of applause, all of them were presented with their dunking certificates afterwards. As in previous years, the Schleissheim Castle Pipers had opened the event with their music before CEO Roland Schreiner extended a warm welcome to all guests. Telling humorous anecdotes, dunking master Bozidar Petrak, Schreiner Group’s apprenticeship representative, acted as master of ceremonies.
The dunking tradition has been in existence since the 16th century and serves as a “baptism” to purge the journeymen in the printing trade of the mistakes they made as apprentices. “By now, more than 1,200 people worldwide are working for our company,” says Roland Schreiner. “For me, personally, it is important that we uphold such cherished traditions. Especially our apprentices enjoy them tremendously and look forward to them weeks in advance. For us as a family company, training apprentices is of particular importance. Even today, more than ten percent of our workforce are former apprentices.”
