Sennentuntschi

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The Sennentuntschi , also Hausäli or Sennpoppa ( Sennenpuppe ), is a mythical motif that is widespread throughout the German-speaking Alpine region .

Dissemination and content

The Wissenboden is one of those Alps on which the “Sennentuntschi” is said to have appeared. The same legend, however, is also told in the Urseren Valley and in other areas of the Alps. Their distribution ranges from the Bernese Alps via Uri, Graubünden, the St. Gallen Oberland to Liechtenstein, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Carinthia. Variants of the legend are common in Upper Valais, Styria and Upper Bavaria. Tuntschi or Toggel are legendary figures of the Alpine regions.

There are different versions of this saga , centrally are mostly the following points: The lonely herdsmen and shepherds on the high-altitude Alpine create out of boredom - on the Alps usually worked only men - a female doll. You feed her for fun, talk to her and take her to bed with you. Shortly before the alpine descent , the doll comes to life and begins to speak. She avenges herself for the wrongdoings and the ungodly deed that the herdsmen have done on her. In the legend, she forces one of the herdsmen to stay with her and pulls his skin off him.

The reason for the legend was probably the fantasies about the secluded hustle and bustle of alpine shepherds during the summer months. The legend is also reminiscent of the ancient story of the Pygmalion , where a self-made image of man also gains its own existence. A general human trait appears reflected in this original motif. Psychology calls it the “ Pygmalion effect ” to assume that a creature has life and experience that resembles human beings in stature and behavior. The battered herdsman is possibly a religious ingredient that is supposed to atone for the iniquity, creation and animation of the doll and intercourse with it. In linguistic usage, Sennentuntschi became a metaphor for an art form or product that emerged from desperation and that decent people do not bother with.

Artistic processing of the motif

  • The Swiss playwright and writer Hansjörg Schneider wrote an erotic dialect play of the same name from this motif in 1972, with which he became famous. Here, the herdsmen combine a wine bottle, pitchforks, straw and cheese to make the “Sennentuntschi”. In 1981, Swiss television broadcast the piece late at night, causing a wave of indignation. In Schneider's version, three herdsmen lose themselves in a remote alpine hut in a sexual emergency with this self-made straw doll. Especially the verbal allusions to the created being aroused the minds. There was a complaint against Swiss television: because of blasphemy - because what was actually reprehensible was not the sexual practice, but the animation of a doll. When a media-critical discussion round with “Sennentuntschi” excerpts was to take place, this was censored by the SRG officials . The popular “scandal piece” is still on the repertoire of various theaters today.
  • Jost Meier wrote an opera of the same name in 5 acts in 1981/82 based on texts by Hansjörg Schneider.
  • The Austrian Felix Mitterer used elements of legend in his 1986 drama Die wilde Frau .
  • Adrian Hess made the short film Last Mountain Ride at the Bern University of Fine Arts . He adapts the saga of the Sennentuntschi.
  • The German film Succubus - The Devil in the Body by director Georg Tressler from 1989 tells the legend in exploitation form.
  • The novel Quatemberkinder by Tim Krohn , most of which is set on a Glarus Alp, also uses the Sennentuntschi motif.
  • Directed by Michael Steiner , the film Sennentuntschi was premiered at the opening of the 6th Zurich Film Festival on September 23, 2010. The film opened in Swiss cinemas on October 14, 2010.
  • The association TanzTheater König Franz shows an adaptation of the legend with reversed gender roles as a dance theater. Choreography: Patricia Schmid, music: ensemble carroté. WP 2007, Aarau (Switzerland).
  • Canadian author Alvin Schwartz used this legend for the short story Harold in his controversial series of scary novels for children Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark .
  • The South Tyrolean musician and composer Herbert Pixner set the legend to music with the Herbert Pixner project in the piece Hiatabua .
  • 2018: Heidi H , fiction expérimentale, 16 min 48

Exhibitions

Sennentuntschi from the Calanca valley

The Rhaetian Museum opened an exhibition on the subject on October 9, 2015 in cooperation with the Bündner Kunstmuseum . The focus is on the only known real Sennentuntschi so far. The Rhaetian Museum acquired the figure in 1978 from one of the last residents of the hamlet of Masciadon in Cauco in the Calanca valley . The figure is made of wood, fabric and hair and is about 40 centimeters tall.

literature

  • Urs Bircher (ed.): The theater by Hansjörg Schneider . Hansjörg Schneider reads Sennentuntschi (recording from 1971 - book and audio CD). Publishing house of the authors, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-88661-311-3 .
  • Leander Petzoldt (Ed.): Deutsche Volkssagen . Anthology . Marix, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-86539-138-4 .
  • Curt Englert-Faye, Berta Tappolet (illustrations): Alpine legends and mountain tales from Switzerland . ISBN 978-3-85989-392-4 .
  • Gotthilf Isler: The mountain doll . An investigation into the religious function of some alpine legends. 2nd Edition. Swiss Society for Folklore, Basel 1992, ISBN 978-3-908122-47-0 (first edition in Atlantis-Verlag Zurich, 1959).
  • Jost Meier (music); Hansjörg Schneider, Martin Markun (text): Sennentuntschi . Opera in 5 pictures (1981-82). Schott Music, Mainz.
  • Hansjörg Schneider: Pieces . Sennentuntschi, the inventor, the shooter Tell. Ammann, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-250-01045-6 .
  • Alvin Schwartz, Stephen Gammell (Illustrations): Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones . Scholastic, 1991, ISBN 978-0-06-021795-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tim Krohn: Quatember Children . And how the Vreneli made the glaciers fountain. 7th edition. Structure of paperback 1880, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-7466-1880-7 .
  2. ↑ Green carpet at the opening of the Zurich Film Festival . In: Tages-Anzeiger from September 24, 2010
  3. ↑ "Sennentuntschi" is saved - cinema release is set. In: Tagesanzeiger. February 3, 2010, accessed February 3, 2010 .
  4. ^ Marlies Mendel: Herbert Pixner Project Heimatsound-Festival 2016. In: Die Zeitschrift. February 11, 2014, accessed June 4, 2019 .
  5. ^ Heidi H Les Ateliers DONG Productions