Cave Gladium

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Coordinates: 49 ° 18 ′ 21.3 "  N , 12 ° 50 ′ 56.7"  E

Cave Gladium ( lat. "Hats of the sword you") is an annually since 2003 in Furth im Wald place-find Middle Ages bearings, organized by the "Cave Gladium eV". It is integrated into the Further Drachenstichfestwoche and is traditionally held on the third Sunday in August.

Historical background

The historical background for the event is the camp of the retreating imperial army after the battle of Taus in August 1431 . After the defeat by the Hussite army , the remnants of the imperial ban gathered near the first German city across the border: Furth im Wald. As the sources say the battle took place on the third Sunday in August, this was also chosen as the time of the event.

At the same time, the Drachenstich takes place in the city of Furth in the forest , the oldest popular play in Germany. The fictional plot of the listed play by Josef Martin Bauer is also set in the time of the Hussite Wars . In 2006 a new piece by Alexander Etzel-Ragusa was performed in addition to the old one, which is intended to pay tribute to the political development (collapse of the Eastern Bloc) and to give more space to the characters and the story at the time of the Hussite Wars. Since 2007 only the new piece has been performed.

Supporting program

In addition to the camp life with more than 80 medieval groups and over 1,000 people in costumes, the fixed program items also include a medieval market with jugglers , fire- breathers and traveling people as well as concerts by musical groups.

In the meanwhile 15 years of the event, groups such as Schelmish , Die Streuner , Adas , Feuerschwanz , Heidenlärm, Furunkulus, Fabula and Musica Vagantium have performed at the festival. The Fatzwerk group performed for the first time in front of a larger audience at the Cave Gladium in 2006 and has been part of the musical program ever since.

At the 2010 event, life in the camp was presented on an area of ​​over 10,000 m².

As part of the “Cave Gladium” there are several tournaments and competitions in which the participants can compete. The individual competitions include the sword fight, in which two opponents can compete against each other in the two disciplines "sword and shield" and "hand and a half sword" , as well as the archery tournament, which is held in different disciplines and with the most traditional equipment possible. The so-called "field battles" are competitions between two to four teams who have to solve different tasks, e.g. B. the conquest of the opposing flag. There are also annually changing Gaudi competitions such as “Das Further Fischerstechen”, a medieval cooking competition or a Bruchenball tournament.

The organizing association has honored the historical background with the "Hussite Battle" since 2015. Here two groups compete against each other, which pursue the troops of the Imperial Army and the Hussites . When selecting the participants, particular attention is paid to adequate armaments protection and the conformity of the equipment used with the historical framework in the late Middle Ages . During the fighting, the attack of the Imperial Army on a Hussite wagon castle is recreated.

In 2006 more than 20,000 visitors could be counted, in 2007 the Cave Gladium attracted 25,000 visitors. Since 2009, around 20,000 people have visited the Cave Gladium every year.

In addition to live broadcasts from radio stations ( Antenne Bayern , charivari ), the evening show of the Bavarian Radio broadcast live from the festival area in 2015 .

  • Scene from the field battle (2005)

  • Overview of the storage area (2005)

  • Trebuchet being shot down (2005)

  • Tents in the storage area (2014)

  • Fire breathers at the 2014 event

  • View of part of the camp (2014)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mittelbayerische.de: 20,000 guests traveled to the Middle Ages . In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung . ( Mittelbayerische.de [accessed on August 25, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Cave Gladium 2017: The Hussite Battle. Retrieved August 25, 2017 .