Saxony's initiation pranks for apprentices: air hooks and cancellation pliers are a thing of the past
As thousands of young people begin apprenticeships in Saxony, the old custom of sending newcomers to fetch imaginary items like 'air hooks' and 'cancellation pliers' has all but vanished, replaced by a welcoming culture 'at eye level'.
The old prank catalogue
For generations, the first days of an apprenticeship in Saxony came with a peculiar test. Newcomers in industry, craft workshops and offices were dispatched by their trainers to fetch tools that did not exist: Lufthaken (air hooks), Kümmelspalter (caraway splitters), Froschhaar-Pinsel (frog hair brushes), a frame for a blood picture, spare bubbles for a spirit level, a trade-tax measuring rod or a tax-evasion form. When the apprentice obediently went searching, the colleagues enjoyed the show. At Sparkasse Zwickau, training supervisor Ronny Hüdel recalls that the Stornozange (cancellation pliers) was legendary in the early 2000s. The story went that because the pliers were scarce, banks lent them to one another, and apprentices were sent to another branch to borrow the tool. A farming association reports a case in which a trainee was told to go to the 'cylinder capacity'. The Leipzig Chamber of Skilled Crafts remembers learners being sent to a hardware store to purchase 'Siemens-Lufthaken'.
A test of common sense
Anett Fritzsche, spokesperson for the Leipzig Chamber of Skilled Crafts, says the practice was likely intended as a kind of initiation rite. It also probably aimed to signal to the apprentice that common sense would be expected from day one of the training, and that thinking along was essential to succeed. Another prank involved asking trainees to leave fingerprints for police comparisons, only for the colleagues to prepare the ink pad with an excessive amount of paint beforehand.
The disappearing tradition
Today, such customs have mostly gone. Ask chambers and associations, and the answer is the same: it is no longer usual. Sparkasse Zwickau states that the tradition no longer exists. The Chamber of Skilled Crafts in Leipzig adds that today it is rare and occurs at most in individual businesses, depending on how they operate. New apprentices are welcomed 'auf Augenhöhe', on a footing of equality, rather than being the butt of practical jokes.
A changing workplace culture
The shift coincides with a broader change in how German companies approach the first days of vocational training. The emphasis has moved from rites of passage rooted in situational humour toward structured onboarding, clear expectations and mutual respect. The start of the 2026 training year in Saxony, with thousands of young people stepping into their professional lives, illustrates the quiet departure of a long-standing but increasingly unwanted ritual.
