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associated with one commodity is practically unique
in the world. At the same time, the mass of hop-pickers
also influenced the development and tradition of hop
tokens, which were a reward for the picked rate of
hop cones, the so-called "věrtel" (the measurement
of hops ought to represent the volume of 30 liters).

Seasonal workers are part of hop growing even in
the 21 century. Although harvesting technology
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has advanced and labour productivity has increased
significantly at harvest, high school students continue
to commute to spring work and university students to
harvest. But not as much as in the time of socialism.
However, it is not unusual for regular participation of
the same groups of friends, which is a small parallel
to the past, when the hop seasonal work became
a major backdrop for the first Czechoslovak musical
"The Green Gold" (Czech cult film from the ’60s filmed
in the Žatec region).

Today’s recruitment companies use slogans like
"Experience hops!" That the hop seasonal workis not
just about money is summed up by the comment of
one of the many young seasonal workers: "This year,
I’m going to hop seasonal work for the third time. At
first, I was afraid to work from morning to evening in
the field. I didn’t know what awaited me; after a few
days, I found out that hops are not just about work 77
and money. It’s mainly about meeting super new
people. I will never forget the experiences I’ve had
here. In conclusion, I would evaluate it in just one
sentence. It’s a different world where the problems of
"civilian" life go by, and enjoying summer at work is
top-notch. So don’t worry and be open to experiences
you won’t easily forget" (Ruman, 2019).

Summer hop seasonal work, hand-picking hops, Stekník, the 1960s

according to the characteristics of the local landscape
in the vast floodplain of the river Ohře. It also includes
some other hop fields and complementary structures
completing the broader picture of both component parts,
such as newer processing plants from the second half of
the 20 century, including some very recent ones, such
th
as the premises of the research and breeding institute.
Another vital element of the buffer zone are the historic
railway lines, which have helped development since
the mid-19 century. At this time, the Saaz hops trade
th
accelerated to truly global proportions and the railway
ensured the arrival of thousands of seasonal workers,
without whom spring work and the subsequent harvest,
in such a short time, could not have been managed. Hop
growing is one of the activities that are very reliant on
manual labour even today, let alone in the days before
mechanisation.