Peel sick
Schäl Sick ( Rhenish for "scheele / wrong side"), rarely written Schälsick in Cologne , is an expression that is still common in the Rhineland today for what the beholder sees as the "bad" or "wrong side" of the Rhine .
This term is also used on the Moselle and the Sieg , mostly for the right side in the direction of the river.
term
The expression Schäl Sick comes from the Cologne word peel for "to blink", related to "squint" or "scheel anblick". In earlier times, when there was no steam shipping, barges , so-called towboats , were pulled up the river by horses ( grained ). The animals were blinded by the sunlight reflecting water, so that they could only “blink” the other bank. In order to protect the horses from eye damage caused by the sun's rays, blinkers were put on the animals on the side facing the water , so that they could no longer see the other side of the Rhine. This history of origin, which is often taken up again and again, is controversial. On the one hand, it has not been proven that horses are blinded by glaring sunlight, and on the other hand, it would not only affect one eye on one side, from which a crooked side could be deduced. However, on the Rhine in the area in question on the left bank of the Rhine, the so-called towpath was used so that the "crooked" eye was always the horse's left eye.
Local interpretation
Cologne / Bonn region
In the Cologne / Bonn region , the term Schäl Sick only refers to the districts on the right bank of the Rhine . One possible explanation lies in the early medieval religious separation of the two sides of the Rhine. The Romans only settled the left side of the river on the Lower Rhine. The Rhine itself formed the border with the Roman Empire . Only south of Remagen near Rheinbrohl did they venture to the right bank of the Rhine and fortified the border with the Limes in their further course . While Christianity was able to spread widely in the Roman areas, the Teutons on the other side of the Rhine remained unaffected for a long time. The Christians on the left bank of the Rhine regarded the inhabitants on the right bank of the Rhine as pagans who paid homage to Odin (Wodan), who is known as the one-eyed, cross-eyed Germanic god who was considered insidious, treacherous and unpredictable by the Christians. The Schäl Sick would therefore be the side of the Rhine on which the uncultivated barbarians worshiped their Schäl Wodan. The Cologne bands Schälsick , Schäl Sick and Schäl Sick Brass Band have named themselves after Schäl Sick .
Neuss
For citizens of Neuss , the Schäl Sick is also on the right bank of the Rhine. The explanation of the term is interpreted differently: the horses only wore their blinkers on the side of the rising sun (east = right bank of the Rhine), because otherwise they would peel from the sun's rays . In addition, there is traditionally a particularly neat tension between Neuss and Düsseldorf. While Neuss is one of the oldest cities in Germany , the earliest mention of Düsseldorf is only in the 12th century and thus much later. The location of Neuss on the left bank of the Rhine and the Prussians' fear of France favored the faster development of Düsseldorf. The "upstarts" from the right bank of the Rhine then incorporated the towns of Heerdt, Lörick, Oberkassel and Niederkassel on the left bank of the Rhine in 1909 , so that Düsseldorf made the leap over the Rhine. The people of Neuss have not forgiven that to this day and the flax still blooms over the village on the Düssel at some of the regulars' tables. In addition, since the siege of Neuss at the latest, there has been a sibling relationship between Neuss and Cologne, as the people of Cologne helped the people of Neuss during the siege. For this reason too, Neuss shares the rivalry with Cologne with Düsseldorf. You can see this u. a. because of the fact that the city patron of Neuss on the Quirinus cathedral turns his back on the people of Düsseldorf.
Dusseldorf
The Düsseldorf term was probably formed in analogy to this fact, but the districts on the left bank of the Rhine (e.g. Düsseldorf-Lörick ) are located on the Schäl Sick , which is called Schäl Sitt in Düsseldorf's Platt .
Krefeld
In Krefeld on the left bank of the Rhine there are the peelings you . Since Krefeld does not have an urban area on the other side of the Rhine, the Krefeld expression means the neighboring cities of Duisburg in the north and Düsseldorf in the south on the right bank of the Rhine . Krefelder therefore always live on the “right” side of the Rhine for Krefeld. It is also interesting, however, that the relationship to Cologne, which is also on the left bank of the Rhine, from the Krefeld's point of view is subjectively better than to Düsseldorf, which is closer but on the “wrong” opposite bank of the Rhine. The historical rivalry between Cologne and Düsseldorf is well known.
Koblenz region
The expression is also known as Scheel Seit in the area around Koblenz . It is used derogatory here by residents of both the left and right banks of the Rhine to denote the other bank.
Mainz / Wiesbaden region
In the Mainz / Wiesbaden area , both sides of the Rhine are referred to as the "Ebsch Seit" when it comes to designating the "wrong" bank of the Rhine, especially in the rivalries in the AKK conflict .
Plettenberg region (Sauerland)
In the area of the Lenne , which flows through Plettenberg , the northern districts (including Eggerin) are referred to as the wrong side.
sociology
Since all of these areas were more frequently, or at least more severely, affected by Rhine floods, there are other similarities such as thin settlement, small towns like Deutz or Beuel , fertile soil and extensive agricultural use.
From the point of view of the early class society of the city dwellers, there was a natural social gradient in their reality of life from the city of the high classes , such as citizens and nobility, to the lower classes of peasants and serfs in the countryside.
The security problems widespread outside the cities, caused by thin, rather rural settlement and mostly missing city walls, evidently encouraged the city dwellers in the belief that they live on the “good” and “right” side.
All the areas known as Schäl Sick were cut off from the bustling urban life of the neighboring large cities until the massive construction of bridges over the Rhine in the 19th and 20th centuries. A Rhine crossing with Schalden and Gierponten was in ancient times associated with effort or even with a risk.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heinz Dick, Theo Koch: Schäl Sick - On the trail of the origin . In: Ooßeköpp op d'r Schäl Sick . Flittard 1990, pp. 35-83
- ↑ Schälsick: Two strong guys , hiphop.de, April 21, 2017
- ↑ Schäl Sick rock band since 1975
- ↑ Schäl Sick at Discogs (English)
- ↑ Battle of Worringen