Calf raffle

Lot for the "calf raffle" of the Bremen youth welfare organization Alten Eichen Foundation from 1596 (here from 2009)

The calf raffle (or ox raffle ) was a raffle , which was mostly organized for social or charitable purposes and in which large portions of meat could be won when a ticket was purchased. The prizes in kind determined in the lottery procedure were meat from calves or oxen , which was deemed to be of high quality , which gave the lottery its respective name. Such raffles can be traced back to Bremen , for example, since the middle of the 18th century , where this tradition has persisted in one individual case to this day.

history

As in other cities in the German-speaking area, the orphanages in Bremen have traditionally been supported by the citizens of the city for centuries, and their financing was mainly through donations and lotteries. The best known was the so-called “calf raffle”, which had been held since 1738 for three orphanages in Bremen, the Red and Blue orphanages and the St. Petri orphanage , and in which meat from animals raised by the company could be won.

The non-profit Bremen youth welfare organization Stiftung Alten Eichen from 1596 still organizes such a raffle every year in the run-up to Christmas, the prizes of which meanwhile include poultry meat and coffee in addition to beef. The income from the sale of tickets is used by the foundation to buy Christmas presents for the children, young people and families it cares for. In 2011 the “381. Edition of the traditional calf raffle "of the Old Oak Foundation in Bremen.

In addition, calf and ox raffles used to take place as part of folk festivals , mostly in rural regions. They then served as one of the attractions for the visitors and were more commercially oriented, in that the cost of the material prizes acquired in normal trade were paid from the lottery sales and the additional proceeds were collected by the organizer.

See also

• Monastery ox train

literature

• Bärbel Ehrmann-Köpke: “Demonstrative idleness” or “restless activity”? Handicraft women in the Hanseatic bourgeoisie of the 19th century (=  international university publications , volume 546). Waxmann Verlag , Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8309-2368-8 , p. 295 (also dissertation , University of Bremen 2009; online at Google books ).
• Angelika Timm (author); Old Oak Foundation from 1596 (publisher): 400 Years - From the Red Orphanage to the Old Oak Foundation 1596–1996. The story of a children's home in Bremen. Hauschild Verlag , Bremen 1996, ISBN 3-931785-05-X , p. 21.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bärbel Ehrmann-Köpke: “Demonstrative idleness” or “restless activity”? Handicraft women in the Hanseatic middle class of the 19th century. Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-8309-2368-8 , p. 295 ( online at Google books ).
2. ↑ Prize drawing in the calf raffle ( memento of the original from March 6, 2016 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. . Report on the website of the Alten Eichen Foundation from 1596 , Bremen, from December 16, 2011; accessed on January 31, 2012.