Möhnen

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Möhn or Möön (plural Möhne, Mööne) is the word for an older female person in Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian usage. The term is rarely used in Cologne, but occurs frequently in the Düsseldorf , Bonn and Koblenz areas, as well as in the North Eifel and Düren, especially at Carnival on Weiberfastnacht . Many members of foolish women's associations, usually called women's committees , refer to themselves as Möhne.

Plastic cow in Erkelenz

Obermöhn

As Obermöhn the President referred to in women's committees to articulate and sharp-tongued is at the forefront of the groups and usually takes over the reins of government carnival Weiberfastnacht.

Word origin

The word “Möhn / Möhne” comes from “ Muhme ” and in the West Central German- speaking area until about 1880 referred to a female relative on the mother's side. In many cases, however, a Möhne was also understood to mean an older married, sometimes widowed woman in dark clothes with a head covering. Only at the end of the 19th century, with the advent of the organized carnival, was the term transferred to members of a carnivalist women's association.

Women's Shrovetide

The Weiberfastnacht , called Altweiber in some areas of the Rhineland , is the traditional highlight and most important day of the year for the Möhnen. Then very different customs are maintained regionally. In many places the Möhnen go out in disguise early in the morning, partying and noisy, going through shops and sometimes blocking streets to solicit donations from drivers and passers-by. In the afternoons, the foolish women often meet in town houses, halls and restaurants for Möhne meetings. These sessions are then called "Möhnekaffee" or "Möhneklatsch". There, male people, with the exception of the restaurant staff, are forbidden into the evening hours and are subject to foolish "punishments" such as bringing the Obermöhne home or a round of bars. The latter also gives the Möhne who finds the only coffee bean hidden in the cake.
In Düren there is the Heischebrauch the so-called "Rommelns" obtained at the children for the rhyme saying a Möhne sweets from this.

Düsseldorf "Möhnensturm"

On Altweiber, the Thursday before Shrove Monday, the Dusseldorf town hall is traditionally "stormed" by the Möhnen at 11 am . The Lord Mayor symbolically presents the city key to Princess Venetia . This late medieval custom is an expression of the fact that "everything goes wrong" at Carnival. The town hall, which is usually run by men, is ruled by women for one day.
The “Möhnensturm” officially heralds the street carnival in the state capital in Düsseldorf .

Monuments

  • A “dancing Möhn” on the market in Erkelenz is reminiscent of old women. The approximately 1.4 meter tall bronze sculpture was designed by the sculptor Ursula Klügel.
  • During the carnival season, since the 1970s, Möhne made of wire and plastic have been tinkered as life-size figures in the Erkelenzer Land, hung on houses and placed in trees. This tradition goes back to the “Möhneleut” group around the pharmacist Karl-Eugen Luther. Long-established carnival enthusiasts such as the master carpenters Heinz Görtz and Kurt Hupke were instrumental in spreading the Möhnen culture. Instead of Erkelenz it is called "Möhnelenz"

Mediography

Web links

Wiktionary: Möhn  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johannes books, Bonn-Beueler Sprachschatz, Rheinische Mundarten Volume 3, Bonn 1987; Hannelore Kraeber: New dictionary of the Koblenz dialect . 2nd Edition. Fuck, Koblenz 1992, ISBN 3-9803142-2-7 , keyword: Möhn .
  2. Westdeutscher Rundfunk: "'Möhnensturm' in Düsseldorf: Where does the custom come from?", At: https://www1.wdr.de/unterhaltung/karneval/moehnensturm-duesseldorf-brauchum- Background-100.html (accessed on 8. September 2019).