Hand and hitch-up services


In Germany Hand and hitch-up services or more contemporary municipal services are allowed in some German States. In the 1950s in rural municipalities citizens were drafted for mandatory community service frequently, nowadays only small municipalities draft their citizens, like the town of Winsen an der Aller once a year.

Legal Basis

Beside several state´s regulations Hand- und Spanndienste are backed by international agreements like the agreement on the Forced Labour Convention of the ILO of 1930. Following work services, amongst other exceptions, especially for military services, are exceptions of forced or compulsory labour:
Hand and hitch-up services in history were services for the reduction of municipal taxes. It was obliged for the citizens of the municipality to do certain physical work, which can be summarised under the historical terms Corvée or Socage. They were based in Germany on the Prussian municipal tax bill of 14 July 1893.
There were different types of services:
Hand and hitch-up services in history often have been done by the public. This was, for example, the setting of field bridges in the fields, the preservation of dams or even the construction of agricultural roads and local roads. The necessary materials usually has been provided by the authorities.

Hand and hitch-up services today

Even today municipal regulations in Germany provide that municipalities may, under certain circumstances, oblige their inhabitants to carry out manual and hitch-up services, for example in Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria. These are public service obligations within the scope of the German constitution which are not contrary to the prohibition of compulsory labor.