Fool's cap
A fool's cap was the typical headdress of the fool in the late Middle Ages and early modern times . Today, one in is carnival or Shrove often worn cap as a dunce cap called, mostly belonging of man to a certain carnival club shows. Not infrequently, the dunce cap goes upwards - a Hahnenkamm Resembling - zigzag from.
The cap of the court jester
In terms of cultural history, the fool's cap is based on the medieval Gugel , a hood-like cap that was very fashionable mainly in the late Middle Ages around 1400. In medieval Psalterilluminationen of the 13th century we see the fool often bald or with very tangled hair, and later with a total or wreath tonsur . It wasn't until the 14th century that he appeared with a cowl, which in principle does not necessarily differ from the headgear of normal people. It was only the design of the hood tip, which was often extraordinarily long, that made fools ridiculous or perceived as a provocation after it went out of fashion. With this clothing, the fool enters the area of the godless wicked again, who with his eccentric cowl deliberately contrasts the simple hoods of the monks. One of the oldest depictions of the fool's cap can be found in the paradise of the Maria Laach Abbey . Eva is riding a snake there wearing a fool's cap.
Over time, the einzipfelige Cowl became a zweizipfeligen which later became a cap with donkey ears changed. With the donkey's ears, which were also studded with bells at the ends , the fool saw himself near the donkey, which in the Middle Ages was almost completely negative. In addition to stupidity and ridiculousness, this also represented one of the deadly sins , indolence.
It was not until relatively late, in the 15th century , that a cockscomb or cock's head was added to the dog's ears , which was attached to the top of the head, i.e. in the middle of the cowl. Unlike the donkey, in the Middle Ages the rooster stood for positive or negative things, depending on the context. As the embodiment of vice, the rooster almost always referred to only human sexual desire. Exactly in this context stood the fool as a person addicted to carnal love and lust, who has distanced himself from Christian charity. In quite a few illustrations the fool is even shown with a fully developed penis instead of the cock on the cowl.
The carnival hat
Out of this context, a uniform fool's cap developed, especially during carnival, depending on the carnival club, which in many ways reminds of the pronounced fool attributes . While the dog-ears disappeared completely by the 19th century, probably mainly due to the complexity of tailoring and sewing, the Hahnenkamm has continued in many places to this day.
The idea of the fool's cap in carnival is attributed to the Prussian commander of the dragoons, Major General Baron Czettritz . On January 14, 1827, according to the log book of the Cologne Festordnenden Comité, he suggested "that we ... put on a small brightly colored cap during our meetings as a distinguishing mark for the initiated, so that we can recognize those who invade here unsolicited and reject them if we deserve it."
It is not uncommon for the fool's cap to represent the carnivalist or fast night, sometimes even for a completely normal person who attracts attention with their peculiarities or craziness. In order to allow this to happen, the adage every fool is cut off ( every fool should have his own cap in the sense of should he do what he thinks is right, even if this act does not correspond to the norm ) is often used.
The oldest surviving fool's cap in Germany dates from 1840 and was located in Speyer . Today it is exhibited in the German Carnival Museum.
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- ↑ Walter Pippke, Ida Leinberger: The Eifel. History and culture of the old volcanic region between Aachen and Trier. 6th, updated edition. DuMont-Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2009, ISBN 978-3-7701-3926-2 .
Web links
- Fool's cap in the carnival lexicon of the Südwestrundfunk
- Fool's cap in the Mainz Carnival Museum