Latzmann
Latzmann is the name of a regional folk custom in Upper Swabian villages, which is usually carried out on Whit Monday .
The village youth disguise themselves in traditional robes. As horses , they pull a cart with a figure bound from straw through the village. The collectors in the Latzmann entourage “threaten” the farmers and residents with special slogans , whereby eggs, flour, sugar, lard and money are required. The traditional Latzmannsküchle are then baked from the ingredients , which the children eat during the parade and at the party that follows.
There are special historical sayings for all characters. Each participant learns his or her little saying by heart and recites this text in front of each household in the town, ending with "Holla".
Example for the egg collector: “Beire, Beira, Oier raus or I let the fox in the Hennahaus, the fox des isch a baises animal, he eats all of the henna. Holla! ”(Meaning: 'Farmer, farmer, eggs out or I let the fox in the chicken house, the fox is an evil animal that almost eats all the chickens').
Regional distribution
Above all in northern Upper Swabia in the Alb-Donau district , the Latzmann custom is carried out on Whit Monday in the communities of Untermarchtal - Oberstadion ( Hundersingen suburb ) and in the neighboring villages of Grundsheim - Volkersheim and Altbierlingen . In Dintenhofen and Herbertshofen , however, it takes place on Carnival Saturday .
hierarchy
The tradition is that the children from the Pferdle have to "serve themselves up" to the management positions via the guards and collectors . The youngest participants are dressed up as Pferdla . Guards armed with wooden sabers watch out that neither the groupage nor the "bib (man)" is stolen.
The hierarchy is structured as follows:
- Pferdle → Guardian → Collector (eggs, flour, sugar, lard and money)
- The red → devil → leader → emperor
Origin of the custom
The origin of the Latzmann custom is not clear among folklorists: While some see it as a pagan custom, others think it is a remnant of spiritual or guild games.
literature
- Wolfgang Rieger, Der Latzmann - A Pentecostal custom in the old district of Ehingen, in: Schwäbische Heimat, Schwäbischer Heimatbund, 41/1990/2/118