Bethenmoos
As Bethe Moss ( tail word from Elisabeth Moss ) was in the Erzgebirge a moss edition called, traditionally very common until about the middle of the 20th century the Christmas season on the window sills were laid.
description
The moss cushions were traditionally taken out of the forest on November 19th, the day of St. Elisabeth . Originally the moss cushion had the function of keeping out drafts in the Advent season , when the windows were decorated with chandeliers and the shutters were not closed, in order to prevent the formation of ice flowers .
After the appearance of the double windows, which used to be hung from the outside in front of the year-round windows in the Ore Mountains at the beginning of winter, the moss was also used as a free material to block the upper and side cracks. It was spread flat on the window frames between the outer and inner windows. Animal miniatures and Christmas figures such as angels and miners were placed on the moss with their faces outside when the windows on the ground floor faced the street.
Fetching Bethenmoos from the forest, lining the window frames and decorating the moss cushions on the Saturday before the first Advent with lichen , heather and animal figures made of mass or wood was an integral part of the Ore Mountains Christmas tradition. Today, the custom of fetching moss is only seldom practiced on Elisabeth Day, as Elisabeth Day is largely forgotten and the need to line the window frames by using modern windows no longer exists. But putting up Christmas figures and animals on moss is still practiced in villages in the Ore Mountains.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manfred Blechschmidt: Christmas customs in the Ore Mountains . Altis-Verlag, Friedrichsthal 2010, ISBN 978-3-910195-60-8 , p. 38ff.
- ↑ Dietmar Sehn: Christmas in Saxony , Sutton, Erfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-954002-02-3 , pp. 83f.