Sickle handle
Sichelhenke (also called Sichellege or Sichelhengetse ) is a harvest festival that was so called, especially in southern Germany.
Explanation of the name
When the last bread- grain field was harvested, the farmers decorated the last harvest wagon. In the field a prayer was often said by the farmer . The reapers put their sickles off - hence sickle- leg. In the barn, the scythes and sickles were hung in the beams - hence sickle handles.
procedure
The harvest festival was celebrated throughout Germany according to a similar custom . The focus was on a festive feast, to which the farmer invited all harvest workers. They could eat their fill, and then they danced and celebrated with beer ("harvest beer") or wine . With this, the farmers thanked their helpers for the strenuous work during the harvest weeks. The "Lord" was given a harvest crown at the beginning of the festival and a saying was spoken, which often contained allusions to the current events in the harvest weeks.
history
From the ancient sickle Henke developed in Christian times , the harvest festival . It is traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday in October with the altar decorated with harvest gifts. In many northern German communities, the harvest festival and the harvest festival have grown together - and are then celebrated on the same day. Then a harvest crown is first hung on the altar for the service . After the service, mostly young people carry the crown out of the church and attach it to the first wagon of a procession that leads through the whole village.
The custom of the Sichelhenke festival has been preserved in many villages in southern Germany and is celebrated jointly by local history associations - sometimes with agricultural fairs .
See also
literature
- Gerd Friederich: sickle handle. Thriller. Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8425-1185-9 .
- Sickle handle & anniversary party. In: Manz-Backtechnik: Kitchen culture. Issue 3-2014.
