Finch maneuvers in the Harz Mountains

Chaffinch competition in Altenau , Ascension Day 2019

Competition judges in the evaluation

The cages are covered during the competition and are placed on trestles at ear level.

A male chaffinch

The finch maneuver in the Harz Mountains has been a tradition that has been handed down since the 15th century , in which chaffinches compete so that the most beautiful or longest bird song can be awarded a prize. Today the finch maneuver still takes place in eight locations in the Harz Mountains . In 2014, the German UNESCO Commission included it as intangible cultural heritage in the nationwide register of intangible cultural heritage .

history

In the German-speaking area, records can be found up to the 15th century that describe the keeping, care, rearing and vocal training of finches. There are traditions from Thuringia that once extremely good "hitting" chaffinches were traded for the equivalent of a cow . In Germany, Finken's last singing competition outside of the Harz Mountains took place in 2008 . In 2014 there were still 50 people who organized themselves in associations in eight different locations in the Harz Mountains. The places are in the federal states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt . There are similar competitions in northern France, Holland and Belgium.

In 2011 the association groups "Südniedersachsen-Oberharz" and "Buchfinken Ostharz" merged to form the "Buchfinkengilde Harz". This year competitions were held in Wieda , Altenau , Hasselfelde , Sankt Andreasberg , Thale , Hohegeiß , Benneckenstein and Tanne . In 2014 the finch maneuver was proposed by the state government of Saxony-Anhalt for inclusion in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and in the same year it was accepted by UNESCO.

The customs that were also practiced during the GDR era took place in Thale, for example, in at least 135 years until 2003.

Training and course of the competition

A competition is held with the beauty class and the fighting class in two different disciplines, whereby in the fighting class a distinction is made again between the strong class and the distance singing. Only male chaffinches recognize and learn to sing. The competitions are held in April, May and June. In Lower Saxony the competitions are regulated by a decree of the state government, which refers to the statutes of the chaffinch guild. The competition cages must be 50  cm long, 30 cm wide and 40 cm high. In Lower Saxony the competitions start at 7:30 a.m. and in Saxony-Anhalt at 6:00 a.m. The territorial behavior of the chaffinches is used in the competition, as they defend their territory by singing .

Beauty class

For beauty singing, a young finch is presented with various predetermined chants by teaching finches or sound carriers, from which the latter can usually learn two to three, which he then keeps and repeats as long as he lives. Training is difficult and time consuming.

In the competition, the respective vocal piece is then evaluated for its completeness without omitting parts of the opening syllables, the transition, the middle section or the ending. The cleanliness of the singing and the correct pitch of all vocal parts are included in the evaluation during the given period of minutes. This is done on the basis of a scoring scheme in which the chaffinch with the highest score wins.

Combat class

The training for this class is carried out in open spaces in nature or in the forest over a period of several weeks.

In the sub-class distance singing, the cages covered with a white cloth are placed in a row on a 1.60 m high shelf made of boards at a distance of one meter. After the start command, the chants that are sung out, known as the “finch strike”, are counted for half an hour. The winner is the owner of the chaffinch with the most chants. This can be up to 300 within the competition time.

Only animals that had achieved good results in distance singing in the previous three years are allowed to participate in strong singing, as this is more challenging for the birds. The cages are placed on the floor at a distance of one meter. After five minutes, finches that no longer sing will be removed from the competition and eliminated, while the remaining finches will be brought together in a smaller circle. This is repeated five times, the distance between the cages being reduced in each case. In the last circle, the distance between the cages is only a few centimeters and the chants that are fully sung are counted. The winner is the owner of the finch with the most songs. At the competition in Thale, the winner had performed between 20 and 71 chants in different years.

Controversy

In the MDR news magazine Exakt , participants in the finch maneuver were accused of deliberately buying animals from a poacher . The Birds Directive prohibits catching wild birds. The animal welfare organization "Bird Protection Committee" accuses the participants of a long-term deliberate violation of the law, as they say chaffinches cannot be bred in captivity.

Between 1994 and 2000, members of the animal rights movement tried to disturb or prevent various events through noise. The protesters repeatedly disregarded police requirements.

literature

• Lutz Wille, Dieter Spormann (ed.): Chaffinch and human. History of the finch hobby in the Harz Mountains . 3. Edition. Chaffinch Guild Harz, Altenau 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-048280-9 .
• Friedel Knolle: Man and Bird in the Harz Mountains . Piepersche printing and publishing house, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1980, DNB  810960230 .

Web links

• Video: Finch maneuvers in the western Harz . Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) 1991, made available by the Technical Information Library (TIB), doi : 10.3203 / IWF / C-1787 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Finch maneuvers in the Harz Mountains. In: www.unesco.de. Retrieved November 25, 2015 . 
2. ^ Ernst Perzina: Bird trade and love in Vienna. In: Ornithological Monthly , Volume 16 (1891): 455 - 465. ( PDF 1.6 MB )
3. ↑ ^{a b} Burkhard Falkner: Buchfinkengilde Harz founded - it unites bird lovers from East and West. In: www.volksstimme.de. Magdeburger Verlags- und Druckhaus, May 16, 2011, accessed on November 15, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Dieter Spormann: Finkenwettstreit in the focus of UNESCO. (No longer available online.) In: benneckenstein-im-harz.de. May 9, 2014, archived from the original on December 16, 2015 ; accessed on January 6, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Detlef Anders: crowned king after 51 strokes. In: www.mz-web.de. Mediengruppe Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, June 9, 2003, accessed on November 25, 2015 . 
6. ↑ animal welfare; Chaffinch singing competitions in the Upper Harz. RdErl. D. ML v. November 2, 2004 - 204.1-42507 / 89-5 (E) - VORIS 78530. In: Niedersächsisches Ministerialblatt No. 39. November 2, 2004, p. 848 , accessed on January 6, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Broadcast from August 19, 2015 (still available until August 18, 2016 in the ARD media library ( memento of the original from November 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. ) 
8. ↑ The web of lies of the chaffinch tormentors. In: www.vogelschutz-komitee.de. Retrieved November 25, 2015 . 
9. ↑ A tradition of cruelty to animals - Goose riding, finch maneuvers and doubts about human intelligence. (No longer available online.) In: tierbefreiung.de. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015 ; Retrieved November 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.