Egg reading set
The Eierleset (also Eierläset , eggs Reading , Eierauflesen ) is an old spring tradition , the most popular class of local gymnastics clubs mostly in the Northwestern Switzerland (cantons of Aargau , Solothurn and Basel-Land is aligned) and practiced in different forms. Although the egg reading set takes place on White Sunday (the Sunday after Easter) in most congregations , it has no religious references. The focus here is on the egg as a symbol of fertility. The awakening of nature is symbolized - the victory of spring over winter. The German Remlinger egg run comes closest to the egg reading set .
history
The egg reading set is supposed to be reminiscent of a fertility ritual from the 12th to 13th centuries, with the egg as a symbol for the awakening of nature, growth and a new beginning, which was already familiar to pre-Christian cultures. Another explanation for its creation refers to Lent . Eggs - previously forbidden as a lent food - were in abundance after Easter and had to be eaten quickly.
A document from 1556 comes from Basel , according to which two city originals are said to have delivered an egg picking set on St. The importance of the custom was so great 170 years ago that an etching from an “egg-picking set” was included in the Swiss National Library . The work was created around 1840; The place and the artist are unknown.
Even during the Second World War , egg-picking was retained as much as possible. However, since eggs were rationed , potatoes or egg briquettes were used . This made it easier for the "readers" because this egg substitute could not break easily. However, the rules of the Eierlest have been changed and modernized over and over again. The game was made more attractive for the audience, for example by eliminating the long-distance runner (as the opponent of the “reader”), who was largely invisible to the audience.
The spread then and now was not limited to Switzerland; there is also evidence for Tyrol , Germany (for example Schleswig-Holstein ) and even Wallonia and southern France.
The two variants of the egg reading set
The current form of the egg reading set can basically be divided into two variants: In some places the custom is carried out with the help of elaborately costumed figures; the majority, however, maintain a purely sporting competition. However, there are many differences in the details - for example in the "egg tracks" (one or two, arranged parallel or at right angles to each other), the number of eggs laid out, the material in which they rest (sawdust, grain, specially made wooden blocks with indentations ), the designation of the groups competing against each other (winter and spring or winter and summer), the type of catcher ( baskets or sheets filled with chaff ), the number of catchers and egg runners or the distance between the throwing line (three to twenty meters) and the catcher. In individual cases there is only one runner per lane.
Preparations
Preparations for the variant with mask figures start long before the holiday. A number of costumes have to be repaired because they were badly damaged in the mock battles. Some panels are made anew every year anyway, because the material for the “Stächpälmler” or “Tannästler” has to be freshly collected and processed. The “egg sermon pulpit” will also be erected between four strong trees by the village fountain. Much preparatory work is also invested in writing the “Egg Sermon” itself. This is a kind of " Schnitzelbank ", which is announced by the "egg priest" at the end of the event. Stitches and swipes go mainly to the local councils, but also to some fellow citizens of the village.
On the day before White Sunday, fir trees are brought in, which, decorated with colorful ribbons and connected with fir wreaths, are set up as a triumphal arch at the village entrances. The fresh eggs required will only be procured shortly before the festival. Usually members of the gymnastics club go from door to door and ask for egg donations. In Dintikon this usage is called “Gageln” and also takes place on the Saturday after Easter. The sixteen to twenty-year-olds ask for donations of eggs or money with an unmistakable "GaGaGa". Residents who give nothing find a handful of chaff on their doorstep the next morning. In other places the eggs are made available by sponsors and in Effingen a badge is purchased as access authorization, which helps to finance the complex event.
The egg track is then prepared on Sunday morning. In Effingen, piles of sawdust are scattered in pairs over a length of 80 meters along the Dorfstrasse at intervals of one meter , on which a total of 162 eggs (nine times two white raw and once two colored boiled) are placed. At the lower end of the two rows of eggs, a grain pan filled with chaff is set up as a catching container between two troughs.
The competition
Since the transition from winter to spring does not take place without a fight, two opposing parties take part in the egg reading set, representing these two seasons. Each group in turn consists of several runners and one or two catchers. After the starting shot, one runner in each group runs to the furthest egg in their lane, picks it up and returns to the start or throw line. From there he throws the egg into a tub or a catcher who tries to catch it with a basket. If he hits the container or the catcher catches it, the next runner in his group runs to the penultimate egg. If the egg falls to the ground and breaks, the same runner has to go all the way to the heap of sawdust in question, but this time is not allowed to take an egg. For every tenth egg that is painted in color, a special task has to be solved (for example, the route has to be covered on a roller board or another runner has to be transported in a wheelbarrow). The winner is the group that first deposited the last of all eggs in the collecting container. However, many places end up taking corrective action to ensure spring wins.
In some communities in the canton of Aargau there is a variant in which elaborately designed masked figures are also involved. They are assigned to winter (the "droughts") or spring (the "greens"). While the runners are out and about, there are crude symbolic arguments between them.
The "skinny" figures include:
- the Straumuni , a “block of earth” stuffed with straw;
- the wood shavings , covered over and over with as "curly" wood shavings as possible;
- the Schnäggehüsler clothed with empty snail shells;
- the old and the Alti , although they sometimes make a "suicidal" impression, but access still bravely in the "fight" as the sign of a recent rebellion against the progressive time;
- The seducer used to run after the “young lady” screaming and aggressive until there were kicks and blows.
The "green" figures include:
- the Tannästler , as a symbol for the evergreen forest;
- the pelmet , the shrub that even winter cannot conquer;
- the Jasschärtler , a figure clad with playing cards as the embodiment of the eternal joy of playing of people (perhaps also thought of as a “trump card” who trumps everyone);
- the young gentleman and the young lady as "Hochsetspäärli" in love;
- the Hüehnermaa , uttering shrill cheers, he pushes a cart with a hen in it.
The neutral figures include:
- the police , (formerly: country hunter and armed with a scimitar ) as the regulating power, he tries to mediate the struggle between the forces of nature;
- the pastor , as a representative of morality, who rebukes the village misdeeds in the “egg sermon”, but also praises charities.
Despite many similarities, there are also variations in the figures. In Auenstein , for example, several clowns, two "Africans" and a monkey perform in spring. Winter includes a fireman and the devil there.
The " bell ringing " of the cowbells and the howling that the masked people utter are part of the noise with which one wants to drive away the evil winter spirits. While the runner (s) are on their way or have to cover a certain distance, there are desolate scenes next to them. “Green” and “Drought” are fighting fierce (mock) battles. A nobler level of the fight, on the other hand, takes place in Effingen and is the competition between the runner and the "rider", with the former representing spring and the rider representing winter. Only when the runner has thrown the last egg into the chaff pan does the figures stop doing (the fight with the “Straumuni” is the end) and the rider returns. In order to do justice to the victory of spring over winter, the rider has to lose the fight (albeit often very narrowly) because he is no longer able to cope with the young, blossoming power of spring. During the fight, the "old woman" beats eggs in the pan and smears them because she is sterile herself, especially the young girls (or maliciously the old maids, which is only symbolic today because of the beautiful clothes).
After the competition
In many municipalities, a so-called “Eiertätsch” (egg dish) is prepared after the competition, which is consumed within the association or together with the population. In Effingen, the egg priest holds his egg sermon beforehand. In Oeschgen this schnitzel bank is called "Eiertätsch" and also deals with village events in verse.
In Auenstein, after the egg picking set, there is a bar tour and, in the evening, a “fried egg meal ” for the participants. The losing group in the afternoon pays a " five-pound " fine as a fine . A competition is held to determine who can eat the most fried eggs. In addition, everyone must be accompanied, otherwise a bottle of white wine or fifteen francs is due as a fine. The next day, Auenstein is tidied up, the remaining eggs are cooked thick and then eaten at the "pounding food". Eating the eggs is also symbolic; so the power of the egg, this symbol of fertility, is supposed to pass over to the eaters.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h meaning. ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2014 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. on egg set Effingen; Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Egg loaf. auf Eierläset - The living traditions of Switzerland. Retrieved on February 21, 2014. Dossier Eierläset. (PDF; 266 kB) under references and dossier.
- ↑ a b Egg tray. ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2014 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. on Eierläset - Therwil. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
- ↑ a b c preparation. ( Memento of the original from February 26, 2014 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. on egg set Effingen. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ a b The importance of trees in Pentecostalism. on request tree. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
- ↑ a b c An age-old spring custom: the Effingen “egg reading set”. on E-Periodica.ch. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
- ↑ Eiertätsch. on woerterbuch.info. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
