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Schmutziger Donnerstag
Jan. 31st, 2008 09:01 pm... 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.
( To the pictures! )
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.
( To the pictures! )