Elwetritsch

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Elwetritschenbrunnen by Gernot Rumpf at the Klemmhof in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse

The Elwetritsch (also as Elwetrittche , Elwedritsch , Ilwedritsch ; in the majority Elwetritsche (n) ; in ( pseudoscientific ) Latin bestia palatinensis ) is a bird-like mythical creature that is reported in southwest Germany and especially in the Palatinate .

The Elwetritsch is to be seen as a local equivalent to mythical creatures in other regions , such as the Bavarian Wolpertinger or the Thuringian rattle .

Appearance, descent and offspring

Stone sculpture of a male Elwetritsch
Elwetritsch hatching from the egg

Elwetritschen are described as chicken-like in the broadest sense . However, it is said that they have little use for their wings, which is why they mostly have to stay in the undergrowth or under the vines . Sometimes Elwetritschen are also shown with deer antlers , their beak is often shown as very long. In the second half of the 20th century, artists increasingly began to label Elwetritschen as female by depicting the creatures with breasts .

Elwetritschen are said to come from crossbreeding chickens, ducks and geese with goblins and elves living in the forest . As poultry descendants, they naturally lay eggs, which, however, grow during the breeding season because of the origin of the forest spirits. Eggs in various sizes and stages of maturity are artistically displayed at the Elwetritschenbrunnen in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse.

Geographical distribution

Sculpture of an Elwetritsch in the spa gardens of Dahn (Southwest Palatinate)

The area of ​​circulation of the stories from Elwetritsch extends from the Palatinate Forest in the west to the east over the Rhine plain to the southern Hessian Odenwald , also further to northern Baden and northern Württemberg ( building land , Madonnenländchen ). In the Main-Tauber district the children are told that the “Ilwedridsche” would spend the night in the crowns of the pastures on the Tauber . In the Bavarian Lower Main, the mythical creature called "Elfetritschle" or "Ilwetritschje" is also known. A memorial was erected for him in Großheubach . There you will find explanations of the type and nature of how to catch it and how you should behave in a spontaneous encounter with it. In the Bavarian Upper Palatinate , the mythical creature occurs occasionally under the name "Elbatrietscherl". Presumably it was introduced in the late Middle Ages by the sons of the Palatinate electors when they were supposed to learn to govern in Amberg . In addition, stories about the "Elvertritschla" in the Upper Franconian Fichtel Mountains are known.

The distribution area is almost congruent with the historical Electoral Palatinate and some of its dynastic exclaves . The former residence of the Count Palatine near Rhine, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, is the secret capital of the Elwetritschen. The Elwetritschen fountain, created by the sculptor Gernot Rumpf , stands here . Other sources relocate the origin to Dahn in the southwest Palatinate , which also has an Elwetritschen fountain. In addition, Erfweiler or other communities in the area are assumed to be the place of origin.

Another argument in favor of the origin from the Palatinate is that Pennsylvanian Germans hold the opinion that Palatinate people who emigrated to America - from which this ethnic group mainly descends - had taken some "Elberitsch people" with them, "so ate they know Heemweh grigge deede" (High German literally: so that they do not Homesick). Stories of the Elwetritsch are documented among the Amish . An English-language newspaper from the Pennsylvania German Society in Kutztown is entitled Es Elbedritsch.

Spelling and word origin

The most common national spelling is Elwetritsch . In the Palatinate, Elwetritsch and Elwedritsch are used roughly equally. The versions Elbe (n) - , Elfe (n) - , Elwen- , Ilbe (n) - and Ilwe (n) - (t / d) ritsch as well as Elwetrittche are used considerably less often and only regionally limited.

There are several theories about the origin of the word.

  • One interpretation assumes that the origin of the second part of the word is unclear and controversial, while the first refers to the elves or elves as female forest spirits from Germanic mythology . This etymology is supported by the connection between the Ilwedridsche and the willow trees, which, for example, are to be used as living or sleeping places in the central Main-Tauber district.
  • The name could have something to do with the word "elbentrötsch". This is a condition that occurs when a person or an animal is struck by an arrow, a lightning bolt or the breath of an elven or elven being, and which means something like “stupid”.
  • It is believed to have a root in French . According to this, it was a "triche des élèves" or, in Alsace , an "Eleventriche", in German a craftsman swindle or ulk . A derivation from "Elbentriche" (such as forest ghosts swindle tales ) would be plausible according to this interpretation.
  • The Neustadt graduate agricultural biologist Stephan Dreyer offers a more recent approach to explaining the word part -drit, -trit or -tritt. As is well known, the houndstooth is an older or popular name for the seedling ( germ spot , germ disc) growing in the fertilized hen's egg . In the poultry industry, one also says of the mating process that precedes this phenomenon: “The rooster kicks the hen.” This “pedaling cycle” leads to insemination in the fallopian tube and thus to the fertilization of existing mature egg cells. Since Elwetritschen are said to have come from a cross between domestic fowl and forest spirits, an "Elbentritt" analogous to the houndstooth should be assumed as the origin. The same infected mutatis mutandis and linguistically from the consequences forth in failure occurs an elf. In addition, the aforementioned French interpretation is in no way refuted, if it is taken into account that the French “triche” can also mean cheating or fraud. This would undoubtedly be the case if an elf cheated on her elf with male fowl. It is noteworthy that the ending “-che” or “-sche” is also known as a diminutive, sometimes also as a trivialization.

Customs care

hunt

Illuminated trap for the night hunt for Elwetritschen
Artist's impression: Sack to catch Elwetritschen

In several Palatinate municipalities, tourists are offered an Elwetritschen hunting license as a whimsical pastime . Locals, on the other hand, have of course been given the hunting license "in the cradle". The Elvetritschenjagd is seen as a high art, as the creatures are considered very shy. The best hunting time is dark new moon nights. In one variant of the hunt, the catcher needs a sack, an oil lamp and a club. Drivers try to scare away the Elwetritschen by shouting “Tritsch, tritsch” and by hitting trees or vineyard poles so that they escape into the catcher's sack. Another variant of the hunt is to use a sack with an opening at both ends. The sack is set up into a kind of hose with the help of a branch. The lamp is placed at the rear opening of the sack. Now one has to wait until an Elwetritsche, attracted by the light, enters the sack through the front opening; then the bag is closed. However, the Elwetritsche usually escapes through the second opening.

To protect themselves from attacks by the Elwetritschen, the hunters drink plenty of alcohol before and during the hunt, the smell of which is said to keep the Elwetritschen at a distance. The often unsuspecting catcher and hunting license aspirant is occasionally left secretly in the open until he finally finds his way home frozen through - and without any hunted prey. Then there is the obligatory feast and matching drinks to warm you up, for example wine or fruit brandies. A special "Elwedritsche drobbe" (drop) was even produced in a winery in Bissersheim in the Palatinate .

Other customs

  • In several cities in the Palatinate there are associations that take care of the traditions of the Elwetritschen. The oldest is the Elwetrittche Club from 1982 in Landau . A square dance club also based in this city calls its annual dance special the "Landau Elwetrittche Hunt". In Pirmasens there is an "Elwetritsche Academy", in Dahn there is a "University of Applied Sciences for Tritschology" (see educational trail), in the Landau Zoo there is an enclosure with figures of the mythical creatures, and Elwetritschen have also found their place in the Kaiserslautern Zoo . The Elwedritsche Museum is located on Antoniengasse in Speyer .
  • The mythical animal appears at the Baden Carnival. The “Ilwedritsche” group of the Peterstal fool's guild has been working in Bad Peterstal since 1975. In 2010, a carnival club was founded in Bühl -Vimbuch, where the mythical creature is called "Hilwedritsche".

research

In the area of ​​distribution of the mythical creatures, the Elwetritsch is not only examined in the context of narrative research or folklore, but also as a scientific joke zoologically and thus ostensibly scientifically. A Palatine “research team” headed by the aforementioned Stephan Dreyer, in collaboration with not yet well-known “Tritschologists”, endeavors to prove the existence of Elwetritschen in other vertebrate groups as well. In the previously published research results of the group, the diet (originally supposedly only from grapes of the vines) is presented as very varied.

In order to maintain and modernize the system , even fish, amphibian, reptile and mammalian trash are discussed. The Palatinate municipality of Otterstadt near Speyer has already acted . In 2004 she had the Otterdritschenbrunnen built by Gernot Rumpf, which creates a link between Elwetritschen and otters . The documentary fiction “The Elwedritsch Project” - an intended analogy to the Blair Witch Project  - the Ludwigshafen media workshop CUT e. V. (2001) even assumes the existence of predatory thrites and also grants other exciting insights into the legendary life of these creatures. The method of historical hunting with sackcloth and lantern is also explained in detail in the film by the Palatinate dialect poet and Elwedritsche expert Paul Tremmel . The implementation of the hunt by laypeople involves unpredictable risks. In the end, opinions differ as to whether the Elwedritschen are friendly towards humans or not, or whether they can be slaughtered and eaten or are to be placed under species protection .

The family relationships to the Bavarian Wolpertinger (deer antlers, mammal reference ) seem to be historically and fabulously "scientifically" proven . This is one of the reasons why the predominant definition and biological classification of Tritschen - whether Elwe, Ilwe or other - as birds or bird-like mythical creatures must be questioned. There may be secondary crossings of these two groups of mythical creatures, which must have come from the time when the Palatinate was still Bavarian . However, in this case there “should” be similar beings in the Baden - Swabian corridor to Bavarian-Swabia , or along the short connection between Odenwald and Franconia , Elwetinger or Wolperdritschen should occur. So far, however, nothing is known about such research.

Others

A high-performance computer at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern is named after the mythical creature.

literature

  • Stephan Dreyer: Contributions to Elwedritschologie . Schlaraffia Perla Palatina, Neustadt / Weinstr. (2003-2008).
  • Stephan Dreyer: Lecture in the culture barn . Queichhambach May 21, 2011.
  • Michael Konrad: Not because of Vogel . In: The Rheinpfalz on Sunday . Ludwigshafen February 8, 2009 (contributions to the Darwin year, with suggestions from Stephan Dreyer).
  • Michael Landgraf and Wulf Werbelow, illustrations by Steffen Boiselle: Elwetritsche . Agiro Verlag, Neustadt / Weinstr. 2013, ISBN 978-3-939233-15-2 .
  • Peter H. Kemp: Mondes diverse - diverse worlds - Allee witt - husch, husch, Ehr - allez houste - away with you . Elwedritsche in Saar-Lor-Lux. Norderstedt 2011, ISBN 978-3-8448-5075-8 (Moselle-Franconian dialect).
  • Rudolf Mulch: Elbentritschen and related things . In: Hessian sheets for folklore . tape 49/50 , 1958, pp. 176-194 .
  • Walter Rupp: Illustrated Elwedritschen Lexicon . VPT Verlag German Gollkofer, Ludwigshafen 1997, ISBN 3-921973-13-9 .
  • Brigitte Sokop: The origin of the Elwedritsche. The ancestors with special attention to the distribution of distant relatives . A contribution to the Elwedritschology and migration history of the Palatinate national bird. August 5, 2011 ( Lecture in the Queichhambach Culture Barn , online as PDF; 7.4 MB).
  • Wulf Werbelow, photos by Helmut Vieser: The legend of the Elwedritschen . A fabulous animal from the Palatinate. Hermann G. Klein Verlag, Speyer 1994, ISBN 3-921797-33-0 .
  • The Palatinate authors Albert H. Keil, Walter Rupp, Hans Jürgen Schweizer and Paul Tremmel have written poems and texts about the Elwetritschen - partly in High German , partly in Palatinate dialect  .

Web links

Commons : Elwetritsch  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Project Linguistic Atlas of Kansas German Dialects. University of Kansas , accessed November 18, 2010 (Amish community interviews in Kansas).
  2. ↑ It Elbedritsch - Newsletter of the Pennsylvania German Society. books.google.de, accessed on September 22, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Search engine queries (September 22, 2018).
  4. ↑ Elves (real Elves, Old Norse Alfar, Anglo-Saxon Elf, English and Swedish Elf, old and middle high Alb, Plur. Elbe) . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . tape 5 . Verlag des Biographisches Institut, Leipzig 1886, p. 549 ( archive.org ).
  5. ^ A b Stephan Dreyer: Contributions to Elwedritschologie .
  6. ^ Elwedritsche Museum Speyer. City of Speyer, accessed on September 11, 2012 .
  7. ↑ a b Walter Rupp: Palatinate Elwedritschen. Retrieved September 11, 2012 .
  8. ↑ Black Elwis. Bischoff Brewery, archived from the original on February 10, 2013 ; Retrieved September 11, 2012 .
  9. ↑ Ilwedritsche Bad Peterstal e. V. Accessed February 21, 2014 .
  10. ↑ Hilwedritsche. Fasnachtsgesellschaft Feurio Vimbi, accessed on January 8, 2011 .