Werkelmänner#

Hurdy-gurdy Men, travelling musicians with hurdy-gurdies, who, in the 19th century, performed their music on public squares and in busy "thoroughfare houses" (Austrian house type with a public thoroughfare) in Vienna and other big towns. The first generation of hurdy-gurdy men were Italians, followed later mostly by disabled soldiers. In the course of time, they superseded the long-established harpists.