Slå katten af tønden
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Slå katten af tønden (German: Katzenschlag or Tonnenschlag, literally: "to beat the cat out of the bin") is a custom used in Danish Fasching (Danish Fastelavn , from Low German Fastelavend ). Here, children hit the turn with a wooden club on a suspended, filled with candy barrel. Whoever hits the ground out of the barrel, is for cats Queen crowned, and who the last stave down strikes, the cat king . A prize is often given for the best costume . Occasionally, buckshot is also organized for adults; then a stronger barrel and a larger club are used. Carnival barrels are a main occupation for the few remaining Danish coopers .
Slå katten is also known in the former Danish Skåne and in southern Schleswig , for example in Flensburg .
It is believed that the custom originated in Holland and was spread by the Dutch farmers that King Christian II introduced to Amager . On the island of Amager near Copenhagen, buzzing is still a game for adults who knock down the barrel on horseback and dressed in folk costumes, a process that is similar to riding the ring .
There used to be a live cat in the barrel. This goes back to a popular belief throughout Europe that a city could avoid the plague if cats were killed. Allegedly, in the 1830s, a Danish pastor caused the customs to be abandoned with the living cat. The latest evidence of the custom of a live cat is from Reersø , a remote coastal town on Zealand , in the 1880s, however the cat was usually let go as soon as the bottom was knocked out of the barrel.
See also
swell
- ↑ Så slår vi katten af tønden ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Amagerbladet, January 31, 2008 (in Danish)
- ↑ Katten af tønden , historie-online.dk (in Danish)
