Poltringer Fasnet

It started less then a week after Christmas. We noticed the young men of town out stringing flags over all the main streets. They look like Nepalese prayer flags, but faded by many seasons of use. Then we got a booklet in the mail describing the events for the upcoming Fasnet season. OK, at least we knew a bit of what we were in for, since we'd gone to a Fasnet parade in the nearby town of Rottenberg last year.

Fasnet flags guide the way to the Rathaus.

I still wasn't quite prepared last Sunday, jetlagged after returning from the states the day before, when we started hearing music and Schwäbisch dialogue booming from a sound system as our town prepared for the the Umzug (parade). Just before 1pm we bundled up and turned right from our front door and into prime parade grounds. Traffic was being diverted around the entire town.

The "Bockmoster" from Poltringen

We were surprised by the lineup of 60 "Fasnetsclubs" from neighboring villages that proceeded to march past us. The parade in Rottenberg last year was huge, but it seems that even our little village of just a few thousand could put on a good show. The parade lasted two hours! And each Catholic village near us has put on an equivalent parade in the past few weeks. These fools and witches have been busy!

A kind fool from Bondorf hands out treats.

Tübingen is not a Catholic town, so there is something special to be experienced by living in a village such as Poltringen. Last Thursday (Schmotzinger Donnerstag) we went to the Rathaussturm (Storming of the Town Hall). I enjoyed a Rote Wurst (local sausage variety) and beer as we again watched one of the Fasnet rituals just steps from our house. Under moonlight the children and witches paraded past the Rathaus and finally we saw each of the Poltringer Fasnetsclub groups perform. It was quite eery to watch the masked witches dance with traditional brooms around a burning cauldron. I cannot quite accept this as a Catholic ritual, and indeed my Schwäbisch colleague Karin confirmed that Fasnet is a tradition in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria that pre-dates Christianity. It was the people's attempt to scare away winter with these strange spirits!

Fasnet is wrapping up this week. Last Thursday during the Rathaussturm the mayor symbolically gave the key to the town hall to the Narren (fools). But on Tuesday they have to give it back. No more fun, as we go into the Lenten season. Joe and I will head to the Poltringer Fasnetsclub Halle (yes, they have a headquarters) for the Fasnetsverbrennung (Fasnet burning). We're still not really sure what a Fasnet actually is, but this somehow involves burning a witch. By Joe's estimation, witch burning is an adequate representation of Catholic history in Europe.