Hallenberger Easter night
In the town of Hallenberg on the southeastern edge of the Sauerland is a special tradition , the Easter Vigil to commit. Nothing is known about the origin of the custom of holding a noisy parade on Easter Vigil, nor is it known since when it existed. Despite the Christian symbols used today , it may go back to pre-Christian Germanic rites. The move is carried out by the local Catholic boys' association from 1746. In more recent times, the spectacle attracts many tourists from near and far every year . Another peculiarity with regard to Easter customs is that in Hallenberg the Easter fire is already burned in the night from Good Friday to Holy Saturday , while in most communities it is customary to burn it on only on Easter Vigil.
Historical lore
In a town chronicle from 1847, Franz Lachmeyer reports on the Easter Vigil without referring to the boys' association:
“On Easter vigil, young people between the ages of 15 and 40, often 150 to 200, make a 3-fold parade through the city. Each participant wears instruments that make loud noises, namely rattles, rattles, drums, whistles, bells, scythes and the like. The order is exemplary. "
In 1909 Peter Sömer from Elspe reported on the Easter cult in Hallenberg in his collection of folk legends and customs. Since the boys' drum plays a key role in the Easter Vigil and was already mentioned in the association's log book in 1781, the custom must be at least as old, concluded the former boy colonel Heinrich Ewald in 1912. Isolated attempts by the authorities to ban the Easter Vigil were ineffective. because the Hallenbergers were too attached to this custom. Even during the Second World War , the younger boys who stayed at home performed the Easter Vigil, albeit shortened and without lighting. Only in 1945, two days after the American troops marched in, there was no Easter parade.
The sequence
According to historical records, the process has not changed to this day. On the night from Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday , the boys and men gather shortly before midnight with their noise instruments, crosses and lantern trees on the market square. While the majority of the boys are with their wagons on the market square, the rest of the boys and the men are standing in the east choir of the church. The street lights are switched off at five minutes before midnight. After the tower clock has struck midnight, the group on the church square tunes the Hallenberg Easter song. Your sinner arrives gone . As soon as the last stanza has faded, the boys' drum gives the signal for the use of the noise instruments with short, quick beats. With a deafening noise, the train sets in motion through the streets and alleys of the old town. In the course of the move, the boys drum takes on an acoustic conductor function. As soon as it sounds, the percussion instruments come in, they fall silent and the rattles are used. This change of instruments now follows alternately, a night watchman's horn sounds to make the changes clearer. The move takes around an hour and a half.
The route
The route of the train has remained the same in recent years. There was a change in the years around 1955, when the train did not turn at the former pastorate, but only later at the Josephshaus. One of the oldest components is the three-time circling of the church. The train wanders along the paths of the historic city center.
Most of those involved made the move with solemn seriousness.
Instruments involved
The most traditional instrument is undoubtedly the boys drum. According to tradition, this is a farmhand drum from the Thirty Years 'War , which is already mentioned in 1667 and is therefore older than the first documented mention of the boys' association in 1746. It has been repaired several times and the eardrum has to be renewed regularly. In the past it was used on several occasions in club life, whereas today it is only used on Easter vigil. An old night watchman's horn is also of great importance. Glowing dark red, over two and a half meters high, the three Easter crosses tower impressively over the noisy train. They carry the face and the stigmata of the crucified, the spear that opened the side, as well as the cross greeting "O crux ave, spes unica" (O cross, only hope). The crosses are owned by the family and are inherited. A cross is even said to contain the frame of a crucifix that was carried around the turn of the century, at that time the only one. The crosses have to be renewed every now and then, but not as often as in the past due to the change from candles to electric lighting. There are no rules as to which instruments are used to generate the noise during the Easter parade, but the general rule is that the noise is only made with muscle power. Electric or compressed air operated instruments are prohibited. Up until a few decades ago, noise instruments were only worn. In view of the former road conditions and also for cost reasons, the handcarts used today were only used later. These still run on metal wheels today. Saw blades attached to posts were carried on their backs, which were then worked on by the men behind them, or two people carried an empty gas bottle on their shoulders, which was made to sound by blows from the side. The muffled tone of the boy's drum, the shrill, metallic sounds of the percussion instruments and the night watchman's horn, alternating with the dark sound of the rattles, are decisive for the roar of Easter Vigil. In addition, old hand sirens from the Second World War are used.
Individual evidence
- ^ Franz Lachmeyer: Chronik der Stadt Hallenberg , p. 174. The chronicle, however, seems to have only been completed in 1848, as reference is made to the March Revolution .
literature
- Georg Glade: 250 years of the Hallenberg Catholic Boys' Association 1746 - 1996 . Hallenberg 1996
- Franz Lachmeyer: Chronicle of the city Hallenberg . Published by the city of Hallenberg. Hallenberg 1981.