Schmutziger Donnerstag

[tree_and_leaf]

... as it's known in this part of Germany (or to be strictly accurate, in as far as is possible without IPA, Schmotzgr Dunnschteg, or vowels to that effect) today, that is, the last Thursday before Lent, and the real start of Fasnet/ Fasching/ Karneval. In other parts of Germany it's known as 'Weiberfasnacht' (Women's Carnival), otherwise known as the night when well-conducted men hide in terror of having their ties cut off by hordes of drunken women. In Freiburg, it mostly seems to centre on witches.

The Alemannic Fasnacht is a different beast to the jolly affair further down the Rhine - it's more obviously about driving away the dark, more obviously pagan*. People who are members of the various fools' guilds wear traditional costumes which often involve rather frightening wooden masks (though for me, the scariest ones are the elegant Baroque type associated with Fasnacht at Rottweil over on the Neckar. This is almost certainly Doctor Who's fault). A lot of the other traditional fools's costumes look like they're made out of leaves or feathers - actually it's felt - and there seems a clear iconographic link to the Wild Man who symbolises choas and untamed nature in south west German art. Possibly the Green Man fits in there somewhere too. After all, Carneval isn't just about chasing away the dark or cheering yourself up before Lent starts: it's about letting off steam so that an ordered society can continue to function. Possibly it's the opium of the people - or was - society isn't ordered enough for it to matter as much as it did.

Under the cut, a few photos, though I came on the proclamation of the start of carneval and the exaltation of the powers of darkness (pretty much in so many words, though if you think you're going to summon the devil using the formula 'hocus pocus', you're going to have a long wait) and had very littlepower left in my camera, so they're not brilliant. Still, it's a strange country out there....

* Especially in Basel, where as a result of being Calvinist they celebrate it on the first Monday of Lent - starting at 4 AM.





For the last week or so, the shops have been decorated, among other things with bread masks hanging from the ceiling!



Alternatively, you can have your masks in the form of marzipan.



The Town Hall, from which they summoned up witches and demons to take over the city until the start of Lent. I have heard of better plans...



Witches Sabbat. But please don't ask what the Indians (I think saying 'Native Americans' would give a false idea of the accuracy of the costumes!) are doing there, as I can't even begin to imagine....



Devil and witch....

Comments

[caulkhead.livejournal.com]

Around Stuttgart and Rottweil, the witches steal your shoes, if you're a young(ish) woman. I never did find out why.

[tree_and_leaf]

How odd. Although I bet someone's tried to give it a Freudian interpretation (though it's less obvious than the Freudian explanation of the tie snipping, and even more strained...)

[itinerantsphinx.livejournal.com]

Wow. That all sounds amazing. I was just about to post on my journal that tonight is 'Drunken Thursday' here (also as in Thursday before Lent) - which seems a bit more fun than 'Shrove Tuesday'. I mean, pancakes are great... but then against alcohol... it's a tough one. I guess we should flambe some of the pancakes and combine the two.

[tree_and_leaf]

It was really all quite surreal! I'm going to visit friends in Franconia on Sunday, where the tradition is quite different, and possibly less interesting, but I'll get to actually take part in the parade, which is more fun than watching. I'm going to the peculiar goings on in Basel the week after next, though.

as for the pancakes - serve with an alcoholic sauce rather than just lemon and sugar? Drambuie would be ace, but I don't expect you've got access to any...

[itinerantsphinx.livejournal.com]

I'll get to actually take part in the parade

Awesome! Are you going to wear a mask? And of what? I note too, that not only do the festivities seem quite exuberant, but also seem to go on for quite a while. Fantastic!

As for the Drambuie, you'd be surprised. Wine, spirits, whisky, my local supermarket has two aisles full of alcohol. Definitely not Muslim territory ;)

[tree_and_leaf]

No masks, at least no wooden ones :( as the traditions are different further East. It's a parade with decorated waggons (= decorated tractors and trailers, it being a super-provincial spot) and the group I'm with are going as mafiosi this year. Which reminds me, I must see if I can find something approaching a fedora....

It wasn't so much the problem of getting alcohol - I just assumed that Drambuie would be too obscure and Scottish! (It's also good on vanilla ice cream, btw).

[itinerantsphinx.livejournal.com]

Decorated waggons sound fun!

Checked the supermarket today. It is indeed possible to purchase Drambuie. Hehe. On a things-hard-to-get-hold-of side-note, we also managed to procure a rather tasty haggis for Burns Night. Where there's a crazy offal-loving Scot on the loose will, there's a way... :)


Hope you are having / had fun!

[anna-in-the-sky.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I actually miss going to the "Hemdglunker" Umzug on Schmutzige Dunschtig. It's something I grew up with. If you have time on Tuesday afternoon, you should go to my hometown's (Breisach) "Gauklertag". It's very medieval, for Fastnacht. This year, there is also a Guggemusik concert afterwards. Wish I could be there...

[tree_and_leaf]

'Hemdglunker?' My Alemannic's frightful...

Alas, I'll be in Franconia on Tuesday, but the Gauklertag sounds fun. So many interesting things to do, so little time!

[anna-in-the-sky.livejournal.com]

Well, my Alemannic could be better, too. I understand it but I can't speak it either. I wish there were classes, LOL.

So many interesting things to do, so little time!

Indeed. Are you going to the Morgenstraich in Basel, then? I must admit I have never been there to see it. I just hate getting up early... and I never managed to stay up long enough, either.