May procession

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The Maienzug is a traditional children's and youth festival in Aarau . It takes place on the first Friday in July and heralds the end of a school year. The highlight is the parade of the school youth through the city. Over time, the more than 400-year-old custom developed into a large folk festival that begins on Thursday, the evening before the May procession. The qualifying expression "Maien" does not refer to the month of May, but on Maienfeld in the meaning "spring branch" or more specifically " tail ".

history

The origins of the custom go back to the 16th century. In 1587, a "Kinderen Umbzug" was mentioned for the first time in the minutes of the council, probably a few decades earlier. The move was in connection with the annual replacement of various municipal offices in mid-January. Students and teachers of the Latin School and the German School moved to the town hall , where they were fed at the city's expense. Masked figures played all kinds of jokes in the crowd. In 1608 the children's parade was postponed to the first days of May. Teachers and clergy tied the carnival-like mummery more and more back in the course of the 17th century. In the year 1700 the predicants finally got the abolition of the sometimes exuberant procession because they considered it to be blasphemous "foolish work".

In order not to have to withhold the traditional feeding from the schoolchildren, the city council decided in 1707 to combine this with the much more modest Rueten gan " getting down to earth "; it took place again a fortnight after Pentecost . In this custom, first mentioned in Aarau in 1588, the pupils, accompanied by musicians, wandered into the forest in order to cut rods - a punishment for disobedient pupils. Games and competitions were held in the afternoon. Gradually the name "Maienzug" caught on. The relationship with cutting the tail was lost - possibly in connection with the prohibition of “cutting the Meyen” in the 1660s - and instead the religious celebration (similar to solemnity ) came to the fore. The Maienzug retained its more sacred character until the 19th century. Then, however, a gradual secularization of the custom set in and the Maienzug developed into a folk festival while retaining some traditional elements.

Since the 19th century the May procession could not be carried out five times: in 1817 because of the famine in the year without a summer , in 1843 because of the collapse of the wooden Aare bridge , in 1888 because of a scarlet fever epidemic , in 1944 because of a feared (but ultimately not occurred) air raid in World War II and 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic .

May parade today

Today the May procession coincides with the end of the school year in the first week of July. The May procession begins with the meeting of the weather commission on the battlements near the town church of Aarau. On the Oberturm, a tower at the gate of the old town of Aarau, depending on the decision of the weather committee, the good weather or bad weather flag is now hanging. At 7:00 am, some cannon shots follow, which are fired from the Aarau hill, the Alpenzeiger. In addition, the Aarau cadets and tambours play in several locations throughout the city. The schoolchildren move later, with the girls traditionally wearing white clothes, a wreath of flowers on their hair and a bouquet of flowers in their hands, while the boys (mostly) black trousers and white shirts with an infected flower - if possible a "grenade" ( Blossom of the pomegranate tree ) - bear. The moving route begins in the “Graben” near the Upper Tower and leads through Rathausgasse, Vordere Vorstadt and Bahnhofstrasse to Laurenzenvorstadt . It finally ends at the Telliring , where the morning party takes place. This includes short speeches as well as musical and theatrical performances by the school children. At lunchtime, a banquet is held on the Schanzhügel and in the Schachenhalle , attended by representatives of the authorities, parents, teachers and children (around 3000 people in total). In the afternoon there are games and sporting competitions for the school children.

The «May parade evening», which takes place on the Thursday before the May parade, has become an important part of the festival. This folk festival in the alleys of the old town was first held in 1988 and is aimed at older young people and adults. The Chrutwäje Openair has also developed into a tradition , a music festival with free admission, which has been taking place since 1984 on Friday evenings as part of the May procession at the Schachen racecourse . The Maienzug also includes a lunapark with rides as well as concerts by various music associations.

Other Aargau youth festivals with similar historical roots take place in Brugg ( Rutenzug ), in Zofingen ( children's festival) and in Lenzburg (youth festival).

literature

  • 400 years of the Aarau Maienzug. Published by the city of Aarau. Aarau 1988.
  • Charles Tschopp: The Maienzug. Images and thoughts. In: Aarauer Neujahrsblätter 38, 1964, pp. 8–43 ( online ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See also Hermann Rauber: From the history of the Aarauer Maienzuges. In: 400 years of the Aarau Maienzug. Published by the city of Aarau. Aarau 1988, according to which it was decided in 1609 that "the conductor [...] should go to the Rueten (or Meyen) with the children"; Then Badisches Lexicons , Volume III, p. 534, Article Maien, meaning 2d "green leafy spring branch of birch or beech" (with evidence from southern Baden; in the Schweizerisches Idiotikon , Volume IV, column 1 ff. Article May ( s ) the meaning is missing "Spring branch" however).
  2. ↑ a b Hermann Rauber: From the history of the Aarauer Maienzuges. (PDF, 42 KB) In: 400 Years of the Aarau Maienzug. City of Aarau, 1988, accessed on August 11, 2011 .
  3. ↑ On the then widespread custom of dodging the rod, cf. Schweizerisches Idiotikon, Volume VI, from column 1819 below ( digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Hermann Rauber: 70 years ago the Aarau Maienzug was canceled. Aargauer Zeitung , July 4, 2014, accessed on July 2, 2020 .
  5. ↑ May parade in Aarau canceled - the city still wants to set celebratory accents. Aargauzer Zeitung, April 30, 2020, accessed on July 2, 2020 .
  6. ^ Hermann Rauber: Because of the hole in front of the town hall: Aarauer Maienzug takes a shortcut. Aargauer Zeitung , June 23, 2011, accessed on August 11, 2011 .
  7. ↑ 25 years of Openair Chrutwäje Aarau. Monsieur Fischer, 2009, accessed August 11, 2011 .