Master craftsman
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A master craftsman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only master craftsmen were allowed to actually be members of the guild.
An aspiring master would have to pass through the career chain from apprentice to journeyman before he could be elected to become a master craftsman. He would often have to produce a sum of money and a masterpiece before he could actually join the guild. Becoming a master was often very hard.
In many guilds, the master craftsman had strict obligations, one of which was to take on an apprentice (or several depending on the craft) to ensure the survival of the guild.
Today's master craftsman in different countries
Florida
Today Florida State University has a special Master Craftsman Program to train artists in handcrafts.
Germany
In Germany, while guilds have been abolished there as well, the ranks of apprentice, journeyman and master craftsman have been retained until today. For many crafts one still has to be a "Meister" for being allowed to run a business of that craft. The justification for this is the (percevied or actual) higher quality, which is achieved by businesses run by a master craftsman. Because of this restriction, some people claim that it limits free enterprise initiative and that it fosters the current high unemployment in Germany.
The master craftsman is the highest education in crafts and it is a state-approved graduate. The education includes theoretical and practical training depending on the craft and also business and legal training. The education for the allowence to train apprentices is included too. The state of a master craftsman is regulated in the german Gesetz zur Ordnung des Handwerks, HandwO (Law of crafts).
The conditions to become a master craftsman are usualy an education in the crafts in which the examination should be taken and experience of at least 3 years as a journeyman. Then the training courses can be visited and after that the examination can be taken. The duration of the courses depends on the craft and can take some years. The examination includes theoretical, practical and oral parts and takes some days (depending on the craft). In most crafts still a master piece has to be made.
Master craftsman who are not running her own business usually have a leading position in a company, not only in crafts. Many companies prefer a master craftsman instead of an university graduate because the education is more practical and they also have good theoretical skills and business knowledge. German master craftsmen are accepted in many countries of the world because of their good education.