Memminger Children's Festival
The Memminger Children's Festival has a tradition going back over 400 years. Every year over 2000 children from the city's primary and secondary schools take part in the festival.
history
The exact start of the children's festival is in the dark. Presumably it developed from the spring hikes of the school classes and the award of the best children. The festival was first mentioned in 1571. The order of the Queen inn for Meidlin Schuolen from 1587 gives a good overview of the course of the festival at that time, as it still applies almost unchanged. After the spring exam, the girls went to church twice (morning and noon). Afterwards they ate together in the schoolmaster's apartment, they had to bring their food with them. The best students were rewarded, crowned queens, and festively dressed. After the round dancing in the afternoon, the queens' parents invited the schoolmasters with women and the queen leaders to dinner. A few days later there was a walk. The coronation took place for the last time in 1789 after there had been many abuses.
Even after the mediation in 1802, the children's festival was held in the same form. After singing songs together on the market square between the festive church services, the schoolchildren moved with music from the schoolyard or Hallhof to the Reichshain, where various games were held. The children's festival was canceled during World War II .
From 1946 it was held again on the initiative of the city council Ernst-Wilhelm Hermann and some teachers, from 1949 again every year. The children's festival song , which has become a tradition, has been sung by Ernst-Wilhelm Hermann since 1950 . The second children's festival song Reigen on the green lawn , composed by Adalbert Meier and written by Sepp Skalitzky, was performed for the first time in 1969. In 1975 the canon of songs was supplemented with the wake-up call (text and melody by Adalbert Meier).
Since 1955 the children's festival has been held together with Fisherman's Day in July. Herbert Müller , the chairman of the children's festival committee at the time , also ensured the continued existence of the children 's festival.
Today, the focus is on praising the children for the (hopefully) successful school year.
Today's process
The children's festival takes place on the penultimate Thursday before the Bavarian summer holidays, two days before the Memminger Fisherman's Day. On the previous Wednesday evening, numerous Memmingen bands and groups, including the drummer boys and the fanfare procession with flag-waving flags, make music through the old town and play the so-called Zapfenstreich . The next morning the children are festively dressed. Traditionally, the girls are given a wreath of flowers. After an ecumenical service in the inner-city churches, the children flock to the market square, accompanied by music bands. There is singing on a stage and modern and historical dances are performed. The Lord Mayor with his golden chain of office welcomes children and guests from the balcony of the large guild . If the weather is bad, the event will take place in the town hall. After the event in the market square, the children return to their schools, where they receive gifts, including a handshake and a pretzel .
Punctually at 1 p.m. the pageant sets off from Hallhof towards the stadium area. For this purpose, the children in their school classes come up with different costumes weeks in advance and usually make them themselves. Each school presents a different motto. Municipal music bands and bands from the surrounding area accompany the train. The conclusion is the Memmingen Mau-Wagen, which is accompanied by the toll gates and on which the Lord Mayor of Memmingen and dignitaries drive.
On the stadium grounds, children can take part in various games or take a train and a pony carriage. For the older generations, the Memmingen city band plays in the stadium hall.
Children's festival symbols
The stalk carried along in the procession was created from the decorated rods and the royal insignia of the scepter and crown . It is the actual children's festival symbol. The Memmingen children's festival song Reigen on the green lawn is one of them.
Children's festival songs
- Round dance on the green grass ( Adalbert Meier / Sepp Skalitzky)
- 1. Round dance on the green lawn,
- Songs and arrogance,
- Boys clean your noses,
- Girl puts the wreaths well!
- Lord Mayor's Chain
- proudly shines on the balcony,
- Little men and women compete,
- romp to the stadium.
- 2. Seven brave and brave Swabians
- In the long children's train
- even want to trot to Lindau,
- even the skewer is long enough.
- Let the music beat marches
- hold the balloon tight,
- see, even the cousins from the country
- already line all the streets.
- 3. Baskets with the last of the sausages
- And the pretzel crispy fine.
- Hey, we live like princes
- even if fizzy flows instead of wine.
- Colorful flags flutter
- Around the golden rest of the year
- a thousand nimble tongues cackle:
- Nice old children's party!
- Rings im Kranze ( EW Herrmann / F. Schropp / Adalbert Meier )
- 1. Rings in the wreath of green mat
- Forests, fields, brook and reed,
- Are you lying in front of the Allgäu mountains:
- Memmingen! My song is yours!
- 2. The mountains run rushing water,
- Iller, you, to the Danube,
- Above my hometown
- laughs the Mau in quiet peace!
- 3. Joy through the walls cheers.
- When adorned in the meadow
- Youth celebrates their feast day.
- With singing and bang.
- 4. Hometown in Swabia,
- God shield you forever.
- Peace, stay at the children's festival
- for you your group of children.
- Wake up call ( Adalbert Meier )
- 1. Tonight, tonight, I woke up, woke up
- woke up, dreamed that a bird had brought a message,
- brings a message.
- I ponder, I ponder what kind of message that would be!
- 2. This morning, this morning, I was thinking, thinking,
- thought about what message the bird brought to me in a dream,
- brings a message.
- Now it occurs to me, now it occurs to me, the children's party must be today!
- 3. And the drummers were already drumming that it cracked, that it cracked; and
- Then I ran to the window and laughed, and laughed!
- Drimm, dromm, the tired children turned around again.
- 4. And then the fanfare-blowers blew full of power, full of power until the last
- Sleeper finally woke up too.
- Out of bed, out of the nest, today is our beautiful children's party!
- 5. And then everyone played together so that it booms and resounds, booms and
- Sounds and I listened to them until it dies away completely, until it dies away completely
literature
- Werner Habereder, Christoph Engelhard: The Memminger Children's Festival. History and tradition (= materials on the history of the town of Memmingen. Series B: Research. H. 1, ZDB -ID 2285671-7 ). City Archives Memmingen, Memmingen 1998.
