Sechseläuten

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sächsilüüte
city Zurich
place Sechseläutenplatz
Next event April 19, 2021
Last event April 8, 2019
Duration 4 days
entry Free
organizer Central Committee of the Guilds of Zurich (ZZZ)
Website www.sechselaeuten.ch
Predecessor /
former name
 Winter expulsion, carnival, March
and Easter bonfires , May customs
and parades of guilds
(Ash Wednesday, Hirsmontag parade).
Burning the Böögg (2005)

Sechseläuten ( Zurich German Sächsilüüte ) is a fire hot and Spring Festival in Zurich , which takes place every year in mid or late April. At the center of the fire is the Böögg , an artificial snowman filled with wood wool and firecrackers, which symbolizes winter. The name comes from the fact that, according to the council resolution of March 11, 1525, after the equinox at the end of March, the second largest bell in the Great Minster announced the closing time for the summer half-year at 6 o'clock; in the winter half-year work ended at 5 a.m. The “hymn” of the event is the Sechseläuten march .

The party

The move on Limmatquai

Train of the guilds

On Monday afternoon, the parade of the Society to Constaffel and the other 25 Zurich guilds takes place. Around 3,500 guilders in their costumes, traditional costumes and uniforms, their guests of honor, more than 350 riders, around 50 exclusively horse-drawn carriages and around 30 music corps march through Bahnhofstrasse and Limmatquai to Sechseläutenplatz near Bellevue . The train order is drawn annually in November by the delegates of the Central Committee of the Zurich Guilds (ZZZ). Because of their large groups of riders , the guilds zum Weggen, zum Kämbel and Wiedikon are in the first and last position on the train in a defined rotation mode. The procession of guilds is led by the Zurich City Police , the ZZZ and the banners of the municipalities and the host canton. Winners and guests of honor are presented with flowers and kisses by the audience.

Böögg combustion

Ride on the Sächsilüüte 2007
The Böögg 2010 «loses» its head
year Burn time Guest appearance
2021 Uri
2020 called off
2019 17 min. 44 sec. City of Strasbourg ( F )
2018 20 min. 31 sec. Basel city
2017 09 min. 56 sec. Glarus
2016 43 min. 34 sec. Saffron Guild (Lucerne)
2015 20 min. 39 sec. Zurich
2014 07 min. 23 sec. Obwalden
2013 35 min. 11 sec. St. Gallen
2012 12 min. 07 sec. Bern
2011 10 min. 56 sec. Basel-Country
2010 12 min. 54 sec. Nidwalden
2009 12 min. 55 sec. Schaffhausen
2008 26 min. 01 sec. Solothurn
2007 12 min. 09 sec. train
2006 10 min. 28 sec. Aargau
2005 17 min. 52 sec. Freiburg
2004 11 min. 42 sec. Grisons
2003 05 min. 42 sec. Schwyz
2002 12 min. 24 sec. Ticino
2001 26 min. 23 sec. Appenzell Innerrhoden
2000 16 min. 45 sec. Uri
1999 23 min. 52 sec. Vaud
1998 10 min. 13 sec. Zurich
1997 07 min. 30 sec. Thurgau
1996 08 min. Geneva
1995 05 min. 51 sec. Glarus
1994 21 min. 55 sec. Valais
1993 23 min. 30 sec. Basel city
1992 10 min. 13 sec. St. Gallen
1991 12 min. Lucerne
1990 10 min. 30 sec.  
1989 24 min.  
1988 40 min.  
1987 17 min.  
1986 14 min.  
1985 24 min.  
1984 22 min.  
1983 24 min. 20 sec.  
1982 13 min.  
1981 14 min. 10 sec.  
1980 17 min.  
1979 19 min.  
1978 12 min.  
1977 27 min.  
1976 11 min.  
1975 22 min.  
1974 05 min. 07 sec.  
1973 26 min.  
1972 08 min.  
1971 05 min.  
1970 40 min.  
1969 10 min.  
1968 05 min.  
1967 06 min.  
1966 16 min.  
1965 20 min.  
...    
1961 07 min.  
...    
1959 08 min.  
1958 08 min.  
...    
1956 <4 min.  
...    
1953 08 min.  
1952 06 min.  
...    
1923 No burn  
...    
1910    
...    

Since 1902 the Böögg has been burned on a large stake in the middle of Sechseläutenplatz. The fire is lit at 6 p.m., even if not all the guilds have arrived at the fairground. The groups of riders of the guilds circle the fire three times in the order of their move. The faster the Böögg, filled with firecrackers, loses its head, the more beautiful the summer should be.

For many years now, around 10 p.m., numerous people have been coming to Sechseläutenplatz, using shovels to get some embers out of the fire and roast the food they have brought with them. Even in cool weather, the radiant heat from the pyre creates a campfire atmosphere. The mostly younger, multicultural audience contrasts with the traditional festival during the day.

abstract

After dinner in the guild local place about 21 pm, the exodus of a large part of the guild members take to the couch potato (the guild master and the guild in local left behind) on the other guilds to visit and challenge with speeches. In the next three hours or so, 26 guilds, each with a music corps and their colored lanterns, criss-cross the city center.

Children's move

Since 1896, the children's parade has taken place on the Sunday before the Sechseläuten. All children between the ages of five and fifteen who wear traditional costumes or uniforms can take part. In the early days, besides traditional costumes, fairytale disguises and clowns were popular.

In the 1950s, up to 2,000 children took part, in 1962 over 3,500. In 2012 there were 3047 boys and girls.

Square of the Cantons

Accompanying the parades, a guest canton has been presenting itself since 1991 at the Lindenhof , the historical center of Zurich that dates back to Roman times. The reason for the introduction of a concept of annually changing guest cantons was the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation . Regional specialties are offered in tents for several days. Politicians from the host canton are often guests of honor when the guilds move.

The Canton of Lucerne declined an invitation for 2015 and 2016 for financial reasons, as did the Principality of Liechtenstein , which was requested for 2015 . On Sechseläuten 2016, the saffron guild stepped in as the Lucerne guest guild . In 2017, another guest canton was represented with Glarus .

date

The city ​​council set the date of the Sechseläuten on the third Monday of April. If this day falls during Holy Week, the Sechseläuten will be held on the second Monday. If the third Monday in April falls on Easter Monday, the festival is postponed to the fourth Monday (City Council Resolution No. 1214 of June 13, 1952).
In 1998, the spring break for elementary schools in the city of Zurich was set at DIN weeks 17 and 18. In connection with this holiday regulation, the city council has decided that, in addition to the rule from 1952, the (new) Sechseläuten can also take place on the second Monday in April, if the Sechseläut date falls outside the holidays. The condition is, of course, that this second Monday does not fall into Holy Week or Easter Monday. The exact dates are determined about five years in advance and published on the official homepage.

In the city of Zurich, the afternoon on Sechseläuten Monday is half a public holiday for the city's staff , which other employers in the city also join.

The next Sechseläuten assemblies are:

  • April 19, 2021
  • April 25, 2022
  • April 17, 2023
  • April 15, 2024
  • April 28, 2025
  • April 20, 2026
  • April 19, 2027
  • April 24, 2028
  • April 16, 2029
  • April 29, 2030
  • April 21, 2031
  • April 19, 2032
  • April 25, 2033
  • April 17, 2034
  • April 16, 2035

history

Origin and development of the festival

Sechseläuten on a picture postcard from around 1900

In Zurich's Sechseläuten, the traditional elements of carnival and spring festivals (driving out the winter or burning of winter , March and Easter bonfires, celebrating the equinox, May customs ) are combined with the parades of the guilds ( Ash Wednesday parade of the butchers; parade of the blacksmith's guild on Hirs Monday, six weeks before Easter ).

As a sign of spring, on the first Monday following the equinox, the evening bell (the second largest bell) of the Grossmünster was rung for the first time at 6 a.m., which was the occasion for the spring festival. The burning of a Böögg in front of the Lindenhof wall on the slope against the Limmat already took place in the 18th century. The Böögg was originally a masked frightening figure; this name has been used in Zurich since the 15th century. Arches are larvae- carrying or otherwise masked people who frighten children, do mischief or move through the streets begging.

Called up 1887
Moved to the scratching quarters in 1854, the scratching tower in the background

In the early 19th century, boys burned straw dolls in the Kratzquartier south of Fraumünster at the time of the spring equinox. The current burning of Böögg developed from the Sechseläuten fire in Kratz, which a residents' association had organized since 1868. Various other private individuals also burned their Böögg, for example in 1873 the pupils of the Zurich institution for the blind and deaf and dumb brought a figure made out of old clothes and straw and called a thief in front of their director and burned it after his verdict on Sechseläutentag.

Around 1880 the festival took place as follows: “In the morning, girls dressed in white with maypoles or wreaths on which hang blown eggs, symbols of the victorious summer, go around. The girls, called Mareieli , sing a Mailied to this, whereupon they are thrown a gift in a lit paper roll from the window. At the same time, the boys gather in the various quarters to carry the straw dolls representing winter through the city. At six o'clock sharp, all the straw dolls are lit in the midst of piles of brushwood, a moment that has developed into the festive rendezvous of all the guilds. The citizenry gathers in their guild rooms for a feast and visits each other after sleeping, with speeches mostly of political content being exchanged. "

The parade of the guilds in the 19th and early 20th centuries was each dedicated to a specific theme, which made it even more reminiscent of the carnival. Examples include the English hunting parade with jockeys (1835), Wallenstein and his army (1843), the connection of the city of Zurich with all the peoples of the globe through the power of steam (1856), the heroines of the Swiss country (1873), Zurich Colony in the Congo (1885) and fine arts (1910, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Kunsthaus). After the First World War, the parade was reorganized in a folk way; each guild introduced permanent costumes and has since presented the milieu and the craft that it once stood for.

Race in 1910

Whereas in the 19th century a wide variety of figures were "executed" in different places, the 20th century only knows the appropriate treatment of a snowman who symbolizes winter. Since 1902 the Böögg was burned on the place of the old Tonhalle, which was demolished in 1897; In 1947 the city council renamed the Tonhalleplatz to Sechseläutenplatz. The incineration only failed once in the 20th century: in 1923 the rain was too heavy.

After women were no longer allowed to march in the official Sechseläuten parade, with the exception of officially invited guests, since 1952, the Frauenzunft Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster organized its own parade, which took place half an hour before the guilds' march on the same route. From 2011 to 2013, the women's guild was allowed to march in second place as a guest on the official guild train. Since 2014 she has been marching in corpore as a guest of the Society for Constaffel.

In 2020 the event had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

sabotage

  • In 1921 the Böögg was set on fire early on by a boy. It is said that communists instigated him to do this.
  • In 2006 the Böögg was stolen from the production facility in Stäfa. The Böögg manufacturer was not reported despite negligent storage of explosives. A letter of confession was received from the group «1. May - street free »deposited. A substitute bow was used at Sechseläuten, which was actually intended for the children's move. The original Böögg reappeared at the First May celebration on Helvetiaplatz, but disappeared again. One day later, on May 2nd, he was found by the Zurich canton police in a bunker of a school building in downtown Zurich and placed in the city nursery. There it was stolen for the second time on May 21st.

Accidents

In 1944, when the Böögg was set up because of the cultivation battle in the Enge harbor, it tipped over into Lake Zurich.

In 1950, 1960, 1993 and 1994 the Böögg fell from the pile of wood without the head exploding. The Böögg's head was thrown into the open fire, where the main cracker exploded. In 2016 the head fell from the wooden frame that supports the body, but exploded by itself near the pile of wood.

Varia

  • Also at the Winterthur Carnival , the Carnival of Triengen and that of Sursee , a Böögg is burned at the end of the festivities. In Baden , the Füdli citizens are burned at the beginning of the carnival .
  • Since 2004 there has also been a Sechseläuten in Bassersdorf in Zurich . The partner event in the smaller Bassersdorf was held illegally for the first three times.

literature

Web links

Commons : Sechseläuten  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Living Traditions - Sechseläuten , accessed on April 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon Vol. III Sp. 1511, Article Sëchsilǖte n ; Walter Baumann, Alphonse Niesper: Sechseläuten. Zurich 1976, p. 17.
  3. ↑ List of guest appearances on Sechseläuten 1991–2020. (PDF) In: sechselaeuten.ch. April 2019, accessed October 30, 2019 .
  4. ↑ How was the children's move? “Cool” , Tages-Anzeiger, April 16, 2012, accessed on April 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ No guest canton, but a guest guild , SRF, May 13, 2016, accessed on April 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ In 2017 a guest canton is finally celebrating again , 20 minutes, March 3, 2016, accessed on April 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ Implementing provisions of the ordinance on the employment relationship of city staff (AB PR), city council resolution of March 27, 2002 (with changes since), Art. 160 ( online ).
  8. ↑ https://www.feiertagskalender.ch/kalender.php?geo=3055&jahr=2026&hl=de&klasse=4&ft_id=20 , accessed on April 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon Vol. IV Sp. 1082, Article Böögg .
  10. ↑ slightly modified cited in Swiss Idiotikon Vol. III Sp. 1511 f., Articles Sëchsilǖte n .
  11. ^ Pi .: A world of its own. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, April 28, 2003, accessed December 30, 2018.
  12. ↑ ak .: "Frauenzunft" 2011 in the train of guilds . The New Zurich Times. January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  13. ↑ thu / sda: Women are allowed to march on Sechseläuten. Tages-Anzeiger online, November 6, 2014, accessed November 6, 2014.
  14. ^ "No Fasnacht" initiative with no chance: The Füdli citizens are burning brightly . In: az Badener Tagblatt . ( badenertagblatt.ch [accessed on April 19, 2018]).
  15. ↑ Central Committee of the Bassersdorf guilds