Rupertikirtag
When Rupertikirtag is the Domkirchweihfest at St. Rupert's Day in Salzburg , which every year around September 24 , the feast of St. Rupert , will be held for five days. The venue is the places in the center of Salzburg around the cathedral . Rupertikirtag is one of the most traditional folk festivals in Austria and is visited by more than 100,000 people every year.
history
Emperor Otto III. granted the city of Salzburg the right to hold a daily market on May 25, 996 . Independently of this, two fairs have been handed down in medieval Salzburg: the Lent fair (it is mentioned in the 14th century city law) and the even older autumn market. This so-called Herbst-Dult (also Ruperti-Dult) emerged from a festival in honor of St. Rupert and is mentioned for the first time in 1331. The time for the feast recalls the transfer of the bones of St. Rupert - the founder of the city of Salzburg and first abbot of the St. Peter monastery - moved from this monastery to the then newly built cathedral on September 24, 774 by Bishop Virgil .
Emperor Friedrich III. In 1481/82 the mayor and the city council certified the two customary fairs with their own fair privileges. Rupert's Day on September 24th became the most important trading day of the year, when legal and business matters, such as inheritance and personal property awards, were regulated.
In the Middle Ages, the fair called “ Dult ” was initially limited to the cathedral area and the market square. Since the structural redesign by Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (1559–1617), the Residenzplatz, Kapitelplatz, Domplatz, Universitätsplatz and Marktplatz (today Alter Markt) or parts of them were included in the Dult to a varying extent. The festival was always ceremoniously rung in by the cathedral bells. Because of epidemics (“death run”) the Dult could not be held several times, for example in 1564, 1585, 1676 and 1680. Hans Sachs describes the Ruperti-Kirtag in his “Praise of the City of Salzburg” with the words:
... Mess and Marck / Ruperti are also big there with buying and selling / there are lots of merchants coming ...
Extensive sanitary requirements from Prince Archbishop Max Gandolf Kuenburg have been preserved from 1677. From 1856 the fair was moved to Mirabellplatz for 30 years and then from 1886 to 1896 it was moved to Franz-Josef-Straße and the adjoining Schallmooser Hauptstraße and its side streets.
From 1873 there is a detailed description of the Rupertikirtag by the Salzburg local historian Karl Adrian . Annual fairs flourished at the end of the 19th century , with shows receiving the greatest interest. This can be explained as there was no cinema or television at the time. In Panoptikums, for example, regicides were re-enacted, "Indians and natives" performed wild dances and "Oriental performances" brought the Arab culture closer. Shows with wild animals were particularly popular at this time.
In 1924, the Kirtag was revived in the city center. After an interruption during the Second World War, the Dult has continued to live in a different form since 1946 and was initially housed at the Hofstallkaserne and later in the Volksgarten. In 1977 the "Rupertidult" was brought back to the places around the Salzburg Cathedral by Erwin Markl under the name "Rupertikirtag".
Today, great attention is paid to the historical model of the Dult. Today only old rides , customs and almost forgotten handicrafts find their place on the Rupertikirtag. To this day, hydraulically operated rides, loud music from CDs and excessively large advertising banners are frowned upon. The tourist appreciation and awareness of the Rupertikirtag increases from year to year, which is mainly due to its authenticity. In contrast to the nearby and simultaneous Oktoberfest in Munich , Rupertikirtag is perceived as a family festival .
Attractions
Historic rides
Rupertikirtag receives a special flair from the exclusively historical rides. Some of them are almost 200 years old. The chain carousel , built in 1848, became a symbol of Rupertikirtag and is only brought up on Rupertikirtag.
gastronomy
The catering for the Rupertikirtag is based on traditional home cooking. In addition to the festival tent, which sells typical dishes such as roast chicken and roast ox, there is another gastronomic offer, such as the Salzburg hunters with their game , the dumpling hut and stalls with fish on a stick .
Craft
Since 1982, between 20 and 30 almost forgotten craft professions have been presenting their métier in the special show “Living Crafts”. B. the quill stickers , Säckler and Hutmacher , which are considered rare . A papermaker also creates handmade paper that is printed with a motif that was designed by a contemporary artist from Salzburg who changes every year. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the “Rupertikirtags-Drucke” will be donated.
Music, dance and theater
The Rupertikirtag is dedicated entirely to traditional music. All performances take place in the area of customs, with folk music and dance in the foreground. Every year there are also demonstrations of foreign traditional groups. Only brass music is offered in the marquee.
Another rarity on Rupertikirtag is a pawlatschen stage . Specially reconstructed for the Rupertikirtag according to an old model, various theater performances take place on it.
Salzburg Hanswurst
The historical figure of the Hanswurst is considered the mascot of the Rupertikirtag. The Hanswurst is present at all important events and also hangs around the market. He is also the one who opens and closes the Rupertikirtag with the ritual raising and lowering of the market flag. The figure was embodied for many years by Werner Friedl, followed by Agilo Dangl and Werner Dürnberger.
Others
In addition to the big attractions, Salzburg farmers are given space on Rupertikirtag as well as market parties, the historic Kirtag organ and much more. In addition to these, various masses take place in the cathedral in order to do justice to the actual basic idea - the cathedral church fair for Ruperti.
St. Rupert, today's namesake of the festival, is the Salzburg state patron and his name day on September 24th is also the Salzburg state holiday .
The spring dult
The Rupertikirtag, sometimes also called "Ruperti-Dult", should not be confused with the spring "Dult" which still exists today - also a fair that currently takes place every year at Whitsun on the Salzburg exhibition grounds and is usually simply called "Dult" in the vernacular becomes. With the exception of its name, in contrast to the Rupertikirtag as an amusement park, it shows few historical references today. This spring fair originally also took place around the cathedral square. In 1856, the spring Dult moved to the area of today's Mirabellplatz, which was previously used as a parade ground in front of the barracks of the Neue Thürnitz. In 1896, after previous inadequacies in its implementation, the Dult was lifted after a municipal council resolution and continued as a festival in Franz-Josef-Park (today Volksgarten) until the first years of the First World War, until it was held in 1924 together with the Herbstdult, i.e. the Rupertikirtag moved the festival district.
literature
- Wilhelm Erben : Herbstruperti. A study of festive history. In: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Salzburger Landeskunde , born in 1910, (Volume L), pp. 45–90. (Online at ANNO ).
- Josef Kaut (ed.): Salzburg A - Z . Nest-Verlag, Nuremberg 1954.
- Trade, commerce and traffic - the Salzburg markets . In: Peter F. Kramml (ed.), Friedrich Besl (collaborator): Historical Atlas of the City of Salzburg . Series of publications by the Archives of the City of Salzburg, Volume 11. Information Center of the State Capital Salzburg, Salzburg 1999, ISBN 3-901014-64-0 .
- Peter F. Kramml, Sabine Veits-Falk, Thomas Weidenholzer: City of Salzburg. History in pictures and documents. Treasures from the city archive . Series of publications of the Archives of the City of Salzburg, Volume 16. Archives and Statistical Office of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 2002, ISBN 3-901014-76-4 .
