Lakerten
Lakerten (German: "under the sheet") is the name of an ethnic minority of travelers in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its former provinces .
The Lakerten belong to the large Yenish family and are culturally related to the Quinqui from Spain and the Pavees from Ireland .
history
The Lakerten are Luxembourg travelers who can be traced back to the 13th century and who used their own "language" among themselves, the so-called Lakerschmus, which is a regional variant of the Yenish language that is influenced by Moselle Franconian and is used throughout the Luxembourg-Eifel region. Hunsrück area until Arlon and Lorraine are spoken. During the great famine of the 15th and 16th centuries, parts of the Moselle-Franconian population emigrated to Transylvania (Romania). Among them were many Yeniche who were called 'Deitsche Zigeiner' in sources of the Danube Swabians in the Banat . In the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the descendants of these emigrants came back to Luxembourg and the Eifel. They arrived in covered wagons and settled in the suburbs of the big cities. Since they had no permanent residence, they lived in wooden or covered wagons. And because these wagons were covered with tarpaulins, Luxembourgish sheets , the rest of the citizens called these returnees “Lakerten”, those who slept in sheets.
The main occupation of the Lakerten was collecting rags, scrap iron and bones. A fraternity of rag dealers was founded in the 19th century. The rag merchants kept the name Lakerten, which today leads, incorrectly, to the assumption that the name Lakerten comes from the rag trade. The peddling and collecting rags was regulated by law. Once a year, on September 29th, the rags chose their rag king . This king was the official spokesman for the Lakerten and maintained relations with the authorities, namely with the state and the church. The last king elected was a certain Georgen from Luxemburg City.
During the German occupation 1940–1945, the rag trade was prohibited. After the liberation of the Grand Duchy in 1945, the rag trade was resumed. The Lakerten now increasingly concentrated on the scrap iron trade. Others became sedentary people, still others became fair people or market traders. The rag trade worked as follows: people gave the collectors their old clothes, scrap iron, etc. and received third-quality porcelain goods (porcelain goods with manufacturing defects) for exchange.
Lakerten today
Today only a quarter of the more than 3,000 Yenish people in Luxembourg are traveling liquors, i.e. those who practice an outpatient trade. Words from the Lakers language or the Yenish have partly passed into Luxembourg usage, which led to the fact that today the Weimerskircher Jenisch is mistakenly regarded as an old Luxembourg dialect.
Quite a few Lakers are aware of their roots. Many descendants are active in the scrap iron trade, showmanship or outpatient trade.
There is still the Laker group “Lompekréimer” (in German: Lumpenkrämer) who try to make authentic Yenish music and compose many songs in the Lakers language.
Well-known Lakerten
- André Kaiser (born 1865), king of the tinkerers
- Nici Wagner called Bolli, in the 80s still a rag picker who drove with a horse and carriage, a local celebrity
- de roude Nici, scissors grinder and local celebrity from Pfaffenthal
- Jean Clement, clown and circus artist
- John Green , Strong Man Artist
- Oliver Kayser, musician and founder of the group 'Lompekréimer'
- Change Bausch, local poet from Weimerskirch and author of the book 'Mir dibbere Jéinesch'
- Pierre Liebaert, founder of the largest scrap metal trade in Luxembourg and the last king of the Lakerten
Web links
- [1] Laker group 'D'Lompekréimer'
- [2] Jenische in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in: Website of the "Jenische Bund in Deutschland und Europa eV"
- Kochemer Loschen - community of the Lakerten
- Fränz Conrad, Nekrolog or Revival? Your Iwwerleeungen for Jéines, see: [3]