All Saints' Fair
The Allerheiligenkirmes in Soest is the largest old town fair (formerly the largest inner city fair ) in Europe and takes place annually in its historic city center .
history
The Allerheiligenkirmes is the oldest folk festival in North Rhine-Westphalia and was celebrated for the 682nd time in 2019. The Soest city archivist Gerhard Köhn on this: “The Soest fair could go back to these times (meaning the time around 1100). However, it was only documented in writing in 1338 in the oldest surviving Soest city bill, written on parchment. There the inconspicuous and barely legible entry says: 'Item de wrighe kermesse constat VI s.' (In addition, the free fair costs 6 schillings). "
Around the fair
Every year around one million visitors (2019: 1.3 million) come to the folk festival in the heart of Westphalia on a total of five fair days. What is special is the atmosphere of a fair between half-timbered houses and churches, which many perceive to be “homely” , which ensures that many former Soesters settle down for the All Saints Fair in Soest. The symbol of the All Saints' Fair is the Soester Jägerken , a figure modeled on Simplicius Simplicissimus . The first All Saints' Fair was celebrated on the occasion of the parish dedication of the St. Petri Church .
Schedule of the Soest Allerheiligenkirmes
The All Saints 'Fair is always officially opened on the first Wednesday after All Saints' Day with the tapping of the barrel by the Soest mayor at 2 p.m. in the marquee on the Kohlbrink. In 2010 there was a so-called soft start for the first time, ie the showmen could open in the morning. The carousels spin until midnight on Wednesdays. As on the other days, however, this is only the end of the street fair, in the Soest restaurants the partying usually ends in the early morning hours.
The horse market takes place in Soest on Thursday morning. The Nelmannwall will be closed to this market, where traders will open their stands between 08:00 and 14:00. Agricultural vehicles are also shown on the roadsides. The Soest shops, schools, offices and banks are largely closed at this time. In recent years the “bull guessing game”, a game in which the participant who estimates the weight of a live bull most precisely, no longer took place. For some years now, instead of the previous bull estimation, the "horse estimation" takes place, in which the weight of a cold-blooded horse can be estimated. The fair Thursday ends at midnight.
On Friday there at 19:00, a firework display . The shooting takes place behind the Soest train station. In 2006, the fireworks were experimentally combined with a laser show on two days (Wednesday and Friday) . For this purpose, it was moved back to the old town, to the great pond , from where it was not possible to burn it down in previous years due to tightened security conditions. However, the fireworks could only be fired very low and was consequently only visible to a comparatively small number of visitors. After complaints from Soest residents and visitors to the fair, who could no longer see their traditional locations, it was decided to move the fireworks back to the edge of the city center (behind the train station). The spectacle can also be easily observed on the fairgrounds.
On Fridays and Saturdays the fair is open until 2:00 a.m. Saturday in particular, but sometimes also Sunday, are the days with the most visitors.
Sunday is generally considered a family day. The fair ends at 10:00 p.m.
Special features of the Soest All Saints' Fair
The bull's eye
The typical drink of the All Saints' Fair is the “bull's eye”, a mocha liqueur that owes its name to the typical appearance of the ready-to-serve drink. To do this, cream is added to a liqueur glass in such a way that, with a little imagination and a little puff, the resulting image looks like a bull's eye when viewed from above.
The doodle man
The Dudelmann is a stomach liqueur that is only served at the Soest All Saints' Fair. The sales booth also has cult status because stickers with lively slogans ("If you drink the doodle man for ex, you have the very best sex") are distributed on it. The history of the Dudelmann goes back to the middle of the 19th century, when the old wine merchant Ignaz Lücking invented the recipe for the “fine gastric liqueur”.
Amelunxes
This is a sales stand for honey liqueur ("carousel without hydraulics"), which is made by a Soest beekeeper and is offered for sale in edible shot glasses made from waffles with a chocolate coating. This stand deserves special attention because the operator stands behind his stand with a microphone during the entire fair and either sings along to pop music or sometimes makes very funny comments or the like during the sale. This always ensures a good mood among the spectators and customers.
The pot market (also pot market)
Attached to the Allerheiligenkirmes is a large pot and housewares market on the square at the back of the town hall (Vreithof).
Pott's historic fair
Since 2007, Pott's Brewery has held a historical fair near the market square every year. Here there are attractions such as: egg-throwing, now and then archery, mead stalls, grill stalls, stalls for knick-knacks and jewelry as well as medieval music and jugglery and the musician group "Die Streuner".
Incidents
In 2012, a 50-year-old man was so badly injured in a fight that he died as a result.
Web links
credentials
- ↑ Dr. Gerhard Köhn: The Soest All Saints' Fair
- ↑ According to the spokesman for the Soest police station, Andreas Stache quoted in Soester Anzeiger: The big balance: "Jahrhundertkirmes" attracts 1.3 million visitors (accessed on November 12, 2019)
- ↑ Soester Anzeiger: After a fight at a fair - 50-year-old succumbs to serious injuries (accessed on November 19, 2012)