Alpine blessing

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The alpine blessing , also called Betruf , Ave Maria calling , Sennen Ave (in Liechtenstein ) or Sankt Johannis blessing , is a protective prayer in the form of a chant . In some Catholic parts of the Alps he is called every evening by the herdsman on a small hill in his alp / alpine pasture .

designation

In German-speaking Switzerland, the protection call is usually called “Alpine blessing”. In central Switzerland, the term “Betruf” is sometimes preferred so that there is no confusion with the act of blessing the alp at the beginning of summer.

distribution

The fraud is widespread in Catholic mountain areas in Switzerland : in the cantons of Uri , Schwyz , Obwalden , Nidwalden , in parts of the canton of Lucerne (in the Pilatus and Entlebuch area ), in the canton of St. Gallen (Sarganserland), in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and in parts of the canton of Valais ( Upper Valais ) and the canton of Graubünden ( Surselva ). It is also practiced in the Principality of Liechtenstein , Vorarlberg in Austria and Allgäu in southern Germany .

history

The fraud is believed to be one of the oldest Christian traditions in Switzerland. The ritual is a similar protective function for the cattle to earth like the earlier nightly sung or recited on a wind instrument Kuhreihen melody. The predecessors of the alpine blessings are probably cattle blessings, for which handwritten documents from the 14th century have survived. In what is now Switzerland, occupations are first mentioned in the 16th century on Mount Pilatus by the Lucerne town clerk Renward Cysat . In 1609 the Lucerne authorities forbade the ritual because it was pagan. As a result, a Jesuit priest , Johann Baptist Dillier (1668–1745), is said to have reinterpreted the text as Christian . In 1767 the text of a fraud was first recorded in writing.

Form and content

It is a text-related spoken chant with a melody and psalm-modifying lecture without the shape of a song. In a kind of prayer recitation, Mary and the patron saints are invoked in all four directions for protection for all living beings and property on the alp.

The alpine farmer uses a wooden or tin milk funnel ( Folle ) to amplify his voice like a megaphone , through which he sings his request on four to five recitation tones in order to “protect and preserve everything that is and belongs on this alp” (ring motif in of central Switzerland ) or the cattle "in front of the Wolf sin revenge" and "the Bäre si Paw" ( Sarganserland to protect).

literature

  • Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser (Ed.): Bättruef - Alpsegen. Swiss Alpine Prayer . Oberhofen 2006 (Compact Disc).
  • August Wirz: The fraud in the Swiss Alps . Diss. Phil., Freiburg / Switzerland 1943.
  • Tonisep Wyss-Meier: The fraud in the German-speaking and Rhaeto-Romanic areas . Collection of texts and explanations. Appenzell 2007.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Betruf in der Zentralschweiz The living traditions of Switzerland, Federal Office for Culture FOC, Swiss Confederation
  2. ^ A b Max Peter Baumann: Alpine blessing. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ↑ Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser: The fraud in the Swiss Alps (PDF; 198 kB) ( Memento of the original from October 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / downloads.directserver.org
  4. ^ Thomas Jay Garbaty: The “Betruf” of the Swiss Alps. In: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 73, No. 287, January– March 1960, pp. 60–63, here p. 62
  5. ↑ Sarganserländer Alpsegen The living traditions of Switzerland, Federal Office for Culture FOC, Swiss Confederation