Blackberry Man

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wanfrieder Brombeermann at the 450th Wanfrieder Vogelschießen during the Volks-, Schützen-, and Heimatfest 2018.

The blackberry man is the symbol of the Hessian town of Wanfried . Every year the parade to the Schützenfest on the second weekend in July is led by the blackberry man and his entourage (elves and dwarves). In front of the town hall, the mayor hands over the city key and hands over control of Wanfried to the Blackberry Man for four days.

Creation of the Blackberry Man figure

There are various legends and fairy tales that explain the origins of the Blackberry Man figure. One of the earliest explanations dates its creation to August 30, 1608, the day on which Wanfried was elevated to the city by Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel ("Moritz the Scholar"). Landgrave Moritz made it a condition that the Wanfrieder had to bring him two carrying baskets full of blackberries to his Eschwege Castle when they were ripe . This is said to have led to the nickname "the blackberry men".

After the end of World War II , rifle festivals as an expression of German militarism were banned by Control Council Act No. 8 in 1945 . To compensate for this, a local festival was created under the direction of the then mayor of Wanfried, at which the Blackberry Man appeared. Even when rifle festivals were allowed again five years later, the tradition was retained, and from 1953 on, the Blackberry Man also appeared at the Wanfried rifle festival.

Actor of the Blackberry Man:

  • Wolfgang Günther (after the end of the Second World War)
  • Fritz Sieland (1948–1984)
  • Heinrich Roth (1985–1997)
  • Uwe Roth (since 1998)

The tale of the blackberry man

The content of the most popular fairy tale about the Blackberry Man is:

“One day Mrs. Holle was sitting on a sunny meadow on the mountain slope. The elves and dwarves frolicked around them, and a particularly cheeky dwarf played with their pearl necklace. In the wild game it happened that the chain broke, and the pearls rolled down the slope in the meadow. Frau Holle was furious about this and said: “The pearls should turn into blackberries, and you have to pick them all down to the last berry in one night before the owl calls three times at dawn.” And so it happened where the pearls were came to rest, beautiful, magnificent blackberry bushes quickly grew and the dwarf got to work straight away. With a box on his back and a stick in hand to support himself on the slope, he began to pick. All night long until dawn, when he saw the last blackberry, the owl called for the first time. He parted the bush with the stick in order to get closer to the blackberry when the owl called a second time. Now he stretched himself and his fingertips almost touched the blackberry when the screech owl called for the third time and as if by magic the box was empty again and all the blackberries that he had already collected were again hanging on the bushes.

So many, many years passed, every night in blackberry season, the dwarf went to work to collect the blackberries so that Frau Holle could get her pearl necklace again, but every time he tried to grab the last berry, the screech owl cried for the third time.

One night, however, his beard was already down to the ground and his clothes were already completely tattered, he was reaching for the last blackberry and the owl was just opening its beak to call for the third time, a compassionate elf came along to do that Scared owl. The dwarf could finally pick the last blackberry and put it in his box and as he did that, all the blackberries turned back into Frau Holle's pearl necklace. Overjoyed, the dwarf was finally able to give Mrs. Holle the pearl necklace again. "

- According to The Blackberry Man , folk tales.

literature

  • Wilhelm Pippart: The Blackberry Man - old things, legends and songs from the central Werra valley . Eschwege, Rossbach, 1928. Third revised edition in facsimile published by the city's magistrate, Wanfried 1979.
  • Wilhelm Pippart: Wanfried, the city of golden alleys - for the local festival and folk festival of the blackberry men. In: Werra-Rundschau, No. 155 of July 7, 1951, p. 3.
  • Walter Benning: The Blackberry Man / Wichteltanz In: 350 years city of Wanfried . Werra-Rundschau, eight-page special supplement to No. 107 of August 27, 1958. (Heimatgedichte, Eschwege 1958.)
  • How Wanfried got his blackberry man . In: Werra-Rundschau, No. 158 of July 11, 1968, p. 8.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Blackberry Man. In: Website of the city of Wanfried. Wanfried City Council, accessed on January 31, 2019 .

Web links