Head ride
The Kopefahrt was a public parade for the admission of new Sülf masters to the college of salt pan leaseholders in Lüneburg , whose origins lie in the Middle Ages and which was last carried out in 1629. A wooden barrel filled with field stones, through whose barrel bottom an oak axle was built, was pulled through the streets of Lüneburg by two fiery stallions on which the young Sülfmeister rode.
meaning
The Kopefahrt marks the second part of the festive admission of a young Sülfmeister to the college of salt pan tenants in Lüneburg. While the first part, the so-called begging with swearing-in, a three-time vow on the normative basis of the Sülfmeisterkollegium and a subsequent expensive feast for a limited group of participants, the Kopefahrt was a public parade through the streets of Lüneburg. It is understood as an initiation rite as well as a manhood ritual in the sense of jousting.
Kope (from Kufe = wooden barrel, cf. Küfer ) describes a large wooden barrel with an oak axle built into the barrel bottom and filled with field stones. On old pictures it can be seen that this barrel has been given massive reinforcement by additionally attached transverse and longitudinal strips, in order to survive the rolling journey over bumpy pavement undamaged. The strongly rumbling barrel was to be pulled through the narrow streets at as brisk gallop as possible by at least two strong stallions that were to be ridden by the new Sülfmeister. If no or only a new Sülfmeister had been sworn in, the barmasters had to step in as substitute riders. These new Sülfmeister, or the bar master, were called Kopenforers, i.e. those who ran the Kope.
procedure
The Kopefahrt took place in the week before Ash Wednesday, always on the Thursday before Shrovetide, i.e. in February. The starting and end point of the Kopeffahrt was the Sülze, i.e. the place in front of the saline near the Lambertikirche. At the beginning, the main actors, the Kopefahrer, the Barmeister, the councilors and Sülfmeister gathered on the square in front of the salt works, where the Koepenperde, i.e. the stallions, were stretched in front of the Kopefass. At the beginning, a fanfare of the pioneers opened the wild ride, accompanied by pioneers and followers and two saltworkers (Sülzern) on foot, who had to intervene again and again. The kope was pulled on a cord that connected the two feeding cords of the oak axis, which ran through the barrel bottoms, which then ran between the horses and was attached to a crossbar in front of the rider's chest, each loosely in a bracket on the Saddle button and was held by both drivers with one hand. As a result, the riders were of course severely hindered in guiding the reins, while they had to let the horses pull very evenly. Even if the Kope was just running in the track because the ends of the rope were the same length, the heavy, lurching and rumbling vehicle, which only rested at one point on the road, could hardly be steered through the curves on one strand. Great riding and driving skills and precise teamwork were required of the two cop drivers.
This was followed by a parade through the city. From the year of the last Kopeffahrt, 1629, there is a colored drawing on paper about two meters long, which shows the sequence of the move, which at that time was about eight times as long as shown in the drawing. This is attributed to the then 23-year-old patrician son Georg (II.) Stöterogge, who rode the Kope himself. The motto of the parade at that time was time and eternity. It was represented by the following topics:
- Tempus - time, winged with an hourglass and scythe
- Aurora - the morning star and the fragrant dawn, whose bouquet of flowers may also symbolize spring
The next group of four are the times of day and seasons:
- This - the day, the midday sun, whose scythe and cut sheaf of ears can mean halving the day, but also summer
- Vespers - the evening, the evening sun, whose (harvest) basket may at the same time be an allegory of autumn
- Nox - the night with the moon and starry robes, whose urn or brazier could also represent winter
The following group of three represented the ages:
- Pueritia - childhood, with a hobby horse and a paper windmill, probably accompanied by two funny people, the "flatbed masters", who acted as celebratory folders during the carnival fun. In their hand they were holding a flatbed, made of wood split into thin leaves, or strips of leather. Here the cot was probably attached to a whip handle. The slaps didn't hurt, but they made a rattling or clapping sound. Childhood is chained to:
- Vir - the manhood, in the form of a knight dressed in red, sitting upright with plume and flag. Next to him rides:
- Senex - the old age, dressed in green, bearded, with a fur hat and walking stick. A chain connects him with:
- Mors - death in the next group of three. He carries the arrow that overtakes everyone. To his left rides:
- Fides - the Christian faith, an angel with a green dress and the cross in hands. To the right of death sits:
- Spes - the confident hope of being in the saddle. Your mark is the anchor.
The conclusion of the topic "Time and Eternity" leads to:
- Corona vitae - the crown of life, eternal life in the form of a crowned angel who wears a crown in front of him. Follow him:
- Unio mystica - the union with God, characterized by an engagement ring with a precious stone;
- Pax - eternal peace, holding the palm branch whose chariot was pulled by unicorns.
- Charitas - God's all-embracing love, heart in hands. Two acrobats performing a flick-flick separate this department from the next, of which only the three green forerunners in the picture have survived.
Bacchus kutschier also decorated a four-horse sleigh with fir trees ; two half-naked forest people with shawms and bagpipes and green wreaths pulled along, as well as twelve black forest people with white wreaths on their backs and long black skirts and gray beards around 1600 two Indians, or men with goat and rooster head masks.
Here, too, the kope was burned on the brawn.
In the evening, the "Big Collation" followed, a lavish feast on the Schütting in the market opposite the town hall as the debut of the young Sülfmeister in the company of their peers, with the performance of the "Kope Comedy", which the Johanneum school theater performed exclusively for invited guests was performed, formed the conclusion of the Kopefahrt.
History and special features
The Kopeffahrt was first mentioned in a document in the Barmeisterbuch from 1472, as if it were a traditional custom: se voreden de kopen des jares .
The statement that the Kopefahrt should have been introduced as early as 1273 by Duke Johann von Braunschweig-Lüneburg , who is popular with the Lüneburgers , has so far lacked any basis and is referred to the area of legend.
The ride on the head was considered mandatory. If a Sülfmeister could not take part for urgent reasons, he had to do the Kope the following year or later. In particular, if a Sülfmeister was promoted to a bar master and no new Sülfmeister had been chosen, he had to take over the copier - and with it the costs. In 1538, the Sülf and Bar Master Albert Elver initially tried to refuse the substitute Kopeffahrt when no new Sülf masters had been elected, which upset his colleagues so much that they suggested that the mayor be dismissed. Finally he reluctantly carried the kope, which the chronicler commented on with the commentary de danzet de danzet, de danzet ok .
In the course of the centuries, the scope of the Kopeffahrt grew. Friends, relatives and initiates formed an extensive party. In 1607 almost 100 horses were counted, in 1629 between 106 and 192 horses, according to various reports. Around 1600 the self-portrayal of the Sulfmeisterlichen group came more and more to the fore: in addition to lavish masquerades, which indicated prosperity and scholarly education, the pageant became more and more similar to the depiction of courtly parades and festivities, which was supported by the fact that the dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg Mardi Gras and Kopefahrt attended, as did Duke Heinrich the Middle with his sons in 1518 . 1599 the dukes August , Magnus, Georg and Johann von Braunschweig-Lüneburg , who each received a golden piece of jewelry and the oldest, August, even a horse as a gift. Thereby sleigh rides were organized, in which the rule had mumed and the horses were dressed up as wild animals, z. B. as unicorns or deer. With races, jump-offs, banquets and restaurants, the carnival was celebrated for three days until the Kopeffahrt. Guests came from far away, not only from Hamburg and Lübeck, but also from Saxony and other countries.
Until 1583, the Kopervorers occasionally took maids with them on their horses, after which women were only allowed to watch.
Information about the end of the Kopeffahrt gives a letter 'all Kopenführer' to the bar masters in December 1635, in which the young Sülfmeister indicate their wish to lead the Kopen in accordance with the old, commendable custom and tradition on this upcoming Mardi Gras, but since one knew that in these arduous and dangerous times (Thirty Years' War) the horses and everything else that belonged to a ride on the head were difficult to get, if a clear signal from the council was expected to support the festivities financially. The council, which had consisted at least half of non-Sülfmeister since 1619, was no longer interested in reviving the Kopefahrt, on the one hand for reasons of safety and because the unbridled carnival of the inhabitants in the vicinity of the Kopefahrt had been in for a long time was criticized by the city authorities, on the other hand, because the city was already heavily in debt at that time. As early as 1627, only 50 percent of the salt pans were settled.
Based on the Kopefahrt, the Kopespiele have been held in Lüneburg since 2003 as part of the Sülfmeistertage .
costs
From the year 1599 an invoice for around 1370 marks for the four Kopevorers Statius, Heinrich and Leonhard von Töbing , as well as Albert Elver has been handed down, which lists the expenses for a Kopeffahrt. Costs were incurred for catering, staff (such as cooks, musicians, guards, craftsmen) or material costs (e.g. clothing, dishes, riding accessories, etc.) and amounted to several hundred thalers per new Sülfmeister. At that time, this value corresponded to more than a few houses in a city (a high-ranking civil servant or court employee at this time received an annual salary between 100 and a maximum of 450 thalers, depending on his rank).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vastelavend - Sülzerhöge - Kopefahrt , Dr. Uta Reinhardt, Lower Saxony Yearbook Vol. 72, 2000
- ↑ Patrician education as a communicative process The salt towns of Lüneburg, Halle and Werl in the late Middle Ages and early modern times , Michael Hecht, Böhlau Verlag Cologne 2010
- ↑ Die Kopefahrt , Prof. Dr. Werner H. Preuß, Quadrat magazine , September 2012
- ^ History of the City of Lüneburg , Wilhelm Reinecke, 1977 Heinrich Heine Buchhandlung K. Neubauer, p. 370
- ↑ Vastelavend - Sülzerhöge - Kopefahrt , Dr. Uta Reinhardt, Lower Saxony Yearbook Vol. 72, 2000
- ^ History of the City of Lüneburg , Wilhelm Reinecke, 1977 Heinrich Heine Buchhandlung K. Neubauer, p. 370
- ↑ Old measures, coins and weights from the German-speaking area , Fritz Verdenhalven, Verlag Degener & Co., 1968, p. 9