Blankenheim ghost train
The Blankenheim Ghost Parade is a carnival parade that takes place annually in Blankenheim , in the Euskirchen district , on the evening of Carnival Saturday. Several thousand visitors come to the town with its 1850 inhabitants to take part as spectators, sometimes also as participants, in the nationwide unique carnival custom, the tradition of which goes back to 1613.
In the Blankenheim ghost train, the fools are masked with a sheet. Two ears are tied with a cord. Another cord or a scarf is tied around the neck. To do this, each spirit takes a pitch torch with them.
Equipped in this way, the fools hop and dance with the shout of Juh-Jah through the darkened place to drive away the dark winter demons as spring spirits. To the music of the traditional carnival march "Juh-Jah Kribbel en d'r Botz", the Blankenheimer Obergeist, who is also the elected Carnival Prince, moves through the city with his entourage :
Yeah yeah, Kribbel en der Botz
If you didn't have that, nothing was needed!
Yeah yeah, tingling en the Botz
De Fassenach it do!
A real Fastelovensjeck
Dä is happy about any dirt! Juh Jah Kribbel en dr Botz
De Fassenaach it do!
The procession begins with the two Jecke-Böhnchen in ghost costumes, who, as “forepingers”, run alternately up and down the path around 100 meters from the top. They run dancing towards each other and past each other, finally stopping, turning around and after a short break repeat the process over the entire route. In terms of their name and the role of jumping ahead of the train, they are related to the Geckenbähnchen , which jumped ahead of the parades in Cologne and other cities in the Rhineland from the Middle Ages . The two Jecke-Böhnchen also have a fixed role outside of the ghost procession in the Blankenheim Carnival and wear their own uniform there. Accompanied by a bell tree , the chief spirit rides ahead of the crowd on a horse and is the only spirit allowed to wear wings on his costume.
During the ghost procession, the street lighting in the town center is switched off. The place is then only illuminated by the torches of the spirits and some Bengali lights at the castle , the gates and the source of the Ahr .
The ghost train is considered the highlight of the Blankenheim Carnival. It ends in the Weiherhalle , where a ghost ball is then celebrated.
Zugspitze with a ring of bells, followed by the Obergeist
Jecke Böhnchen, stopped
Ghosts in front of the Georgstor
Obergeist 2020
Trellis of the Blankenheim Imperial Guard
Individual evidence
- ↑ Blankenheim an der Ahr - The picturesque resort. (No longer available online.) Blankenheim community, archived from the original on January 22, 2016 ; Retrieved July 10, 2008 . 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.
- ↑ Homepage of the ghost train
- ↑ Carnival customs in Blankenheim, online , accessed on February 10, 2013.
- ↑ Chronicle of the Blankenheim Carnival Association: Der Juh-Jah, online , accessed on February 10, 2013
- ↑ Traditional elements of the Blankenheim Carnival. Carnival Association Blankenheim 1613 e. V., accessed on January 22, 2016 .
- ↑ Ghost train. November 9, 2017, accessed February 23, 2020 .
- ^ Eifel and art. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
Web links
- Carnival association Blankenheim - organizer of the ghost procession
- Traditional elements of the Blankenheim Carnival. Carnival Association Blankenheim 1613 e. V., accessed on January 22, 2016 .
- Photo set on Flickr for the ghost train