Kirmesjohann

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The Kirmesjohann , or Kerbejohann or Kerwe-Johann is now a fictional character during the Kirchweih festival associated with the respective customs during the festive days. The "Kirmesjohann", for which there is a real background, has meanwhile become the symbolic figure for many church fairs and embodies a popular, happy and humorous man who, as a kind of patron saint, high on the fair tree or in the gable of the marquee - mostly hanging as a straw figure - watches over the fair and is held responsible for all sins towards the end of the festive season and is burned or torn to pieces.

Real origin

There is good information about the origin of the “Kirmesjohann” and the relation to real characters in Langwaden (North Rhine-Westphalia). Accordingly, he was called "Johann Franzen" in bourgeois life and was a popular bachelor in the middle of the 19th century , who appeared in many places on name days and festive days, dressed in tailcoats and top hats, curiously always with the same bouquet in hand. The Kirmesjohann memorial stands in Langwaden as a reminder.

Other parallels

  • In the entire Taunus to Frankfurt the "Kirmesjohann" is of course called "Kerbejohann", analogous to the local name "Kerb"
  • In Frankfurt-Sossenheim the Kirmesjohann is named after a different honorary member every year. There he was called z. B. in 2015 "Kerbe-Lothar"
  • In Cologne there is the "Nubbel" in the Rhenish Carnival in Cologne , and in Düsseldorf the Hoppeditz for the, a straw doll that embodies a scapegoat that is burned on the last night of the carnival, on Ash Wednesday .

Song of the Kirmesjohann

The song about the Kirmesjohann is one of the better-known Kirchweih songs that has been sung by the fair boys nationwide in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate since the 20th century . Today it is mostly following the fair Burschenlied as fast, repetitive song phrase , "Where is the Johann" in the form of a fair - "Anthem" sung or as Singspiel used.

song lyrics

Version a.):
Where is Johann?
Is Johann not at home ',
is he at the fair,
chooses one
Version b.):
Where is Johann?
Isn't Johann at home?
He's at the fair
gets a frenzy

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Origin of the "Kirmesjohann" in Langwaden (detailed description with picture reference)
  2. ↑ Custom of the "Kerbejohann" in Laubach ( Memento of the original from June 21, 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. (Taunus newspaper) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.taunus-zeitung.de
  3. ↑ In the Main-Taunus-Kreis "Kerbejohann" in Wildsachsen ( Memento of the original from June 21, 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. (Highest circle leaf) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kreisblatt.de
  4. ↑ For the Curb in Frankfurt-Sossenheim 2015 there was the Kerbe-Lothar ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Frankfurter Neue Presse) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fnp.de
  5. ^ "Kirmesburschenlied" in combination with "Wo ist den Johann": combined version in Central Hesse