Morgestraich
The Morgestraich ( morning prank ) at the stroke of 4 a.m. on the Monday after Ash Wednesday is the start of the Basel Carnival . At this point in time, the city center is completely darkened and the Basler Stadtwerke are extinguishing the street lighting there. The only light then comes from the lanterns of the carnival cliques , on which they present their subjects (French for topics). In front of the cliques, a large train lantern is carried or driven on a wagon. In addition, every active person wears a head lantern that is modeled on the train lantern. This also serves as a distinguishing feature of belonging to the clique, since the carnival people on Morgestraich traditionally do not wear uniform costumes. This open dress code is called “Charivari”.
At the command "Morgestraich: Forward, march!" of their drum major, the carnival cliques march and begin the largest whistle concert in the world with their drums and piccolo flutes . The first march, which is played by all cliques, bears the significant name "Morning Prank"; its end takes the spectacle after exactly 72 hours in turn with the Ändstraich ( Endstreich ).
Many pubs and inns are also open in the Morgestraich and will probably not close for the next 72 hours. There, the spectators enjoy traditional carnival dishes such as gruel , onion and cheese flans .
Due to an incorrectly set clock at the Basel public utilities, the street lighting was switched off at 3:59 a.m. in 2002, but the carnival people celebrated the last minute until Thursday, the stroke of 4 a.m.
Since there have been shops in recent years that have defied Basel tradition and did not turn off the lights of their shop windows at Morgestraich, a "rapid reaction force" was formed in 2003 to provide darkening with heavy ceilings and wooden sheds.
More than 100,000 spectators and active people from Basel and the neighboring countries came to Morgestraich 2003 .
history
As early as 1804, the carnival was opened with a loud drum concert. A special permit had been issued because drumming was forbidden in the city before 6:00 a.m. However, it was a more or less one-off event.
Today's Morgestraich tradition only began in 1833 with the illegal Morgestraich by Samuel Bell . During the 1830s, carnival was subject to numerous restrictions, in particular street carnival was forbidden. However, Bell gathered around 150 followers who later became known as "Bell's cronies". Bell carried out the Morgestraich with them, in which the carnival people from all over Basel marched through the city with drums and pitch torches. The police and the authorities were powerless and were careful not to use force of arms against the celebrating people. In 1835, a Morgestraich took place at 4:00 a.m. with official tolerance. This time has been preserved to this day. In 1845 the pitch torches were banned because of the risk of fire. These were replaced by the lanterns that are still used today. The music for today's Morgestraich was composed by Karl Schell (1864–1936).
In 2020, the Morgestraich, like all other major events of the Basel Carnival, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Morgestraich took place anyway, following the rebellious tradition. The city did not extinguish the light, but that did not keep the die-hard carnivores from their Morgestraich, or from "non-Morgestraich" or au "silent Morgestraich".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ SWR Aktuell, SWR Aktuell: Basler Carnival canceled due to coronavirus. Retrieved February 28, 2020 .
- ↑ The canceled Morgestraich in the video: Across the city center with a face mask and improvisations. Retrieved on March 2, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).