Sorbian wedding in the Spreewald

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Wendish wedding procession in the Spreewald in 1931 with the bridal couple at the head

The traditional Sorbian Spreewald wedding was celebrated by the Sorbs / Wends in the Spreewald . Numerous customs and traditions are associated with a Sorbian wedding and made it a highlight for the entire village.

The peculiarity of a Sorbian wedding lies in the numerous practiced customs and traditions, the observance of which was placed great importance:

Everything followed in a certain order. Even today some customs and traditions are practiced in partly modified forms at Sorbian weddings.

Wedding preparations

At a Sorbian wedding, the wedding bitter ( braška , póbraška or družba ) is the most important person next to the bride and groom. He prepares the wedding together with the bride and groom and the parents, invites the guests personally and leads the course of the wedding. Today there are only a few left in Lausitz who carry out this time-consuming activity.

wedding day

The bride and groom initially spent the wedding day separately.

The wedding guests and relatives of the groom met in the festively decorated house of the groom. The guests were greeted by both the groom's parents and the groom himself. After a funny speech by the wedding bitters about the bride and married life, the guests were served food and drinks. Often the groom then asked for the forgiveness of his sins and was said goodbye to the parental home. Then the wedding bitter invited the guests to drive to the bride's parents house to pick them up. Two groomsmen were sent ahead to announce the arrival.

The relatives met in the bride's parents' house to say goodbye. The future wife thanked her parents and siblings for the past few years. The bride's entire household items were then loaded onto decorated wagons and driven to the new home (often the groom's parents) by volunteers.

In the meantime, the groom's little wedding procession arrived in front of the bride's house and the wedding bitter wooed the bride. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the wedding bitter bought the bride free and handed her over to the groom. Afterwards the wedding bitter organized the wedding procession for the way to the church. Around 1900 the procession was led by the wedding bitters himself, followed by the groom and the best man. Afterwards the bridegroom's brothers rode. The wagons followed behind the riders; the first with music, the mother of the bride sat in the front of the second carriage, behind it the bride sat between the first and second bridesmaid and behind that two maidservants found their place. There were no fixed seating arrangements for the rest of the wedding guests and they shared the wagons.

In the course of time the order changed, for example as follows: The wedding procession was led by the single, followed by married couples, grandparents, godparents, parents and the maid of honor. In front of the bride and groom the virgins, later little girls in festive costumes, ran. This tradition has survived to this day in the form of the flower children . The bridal couple themselves formed the end of the wedding procession.

The wedding took place in the church depending on the religious affiliation. After the wedding, the wedding procession went to an inn for a feast. The wedding party had to buy their way there. Children hang decorated garlands across the street so that the train was asked to stop. The path was only released again after payment.

Arrived at the inn, the wedding party was presented with a festively decorated and richly set table. Usually the meal consisted of four courses. Around 1900 sandwiches were served, followed by sweet millet porridge, fish in Spreewald sauce and finally roast pork and potatoes. In the course of time, the traditional dishes have changed and adapted to the way of life and habits. Among other things, a traditional wedding soup is served today , followed by beef with horseradish sauce and bread, roast veal and finally a dessert. In the late evening there was often a small snack consisting of coffee and cake or, alternatively, bread and cold cuts. Nowadays, the carefully selected wedding cake is served at midnight. In terms of drinks, beer, wine and schnapps could not be missing. Chants, lectures, poems, and speeches served as entertainment during the meal.

After the wedding dinner, the wedding party moved into a tavern, accompanied by music from a brass band. Here people were asked to dance and the custom of removing the bridal wreath was carried out. This custom can now be found in the throwing of bridal bouquet. With the disappearance of traditional costumes from everyday life, the custom of removing the bridal wreath was changed into the veil dance, which is still a welcome tradition at weddings today. In the Sorbian region, the veil dance completes the wedding and the married couple are considered married couples. After the long celebration, the bridesmaids and grooms brought the bride and groom home and gave them congratulations and advice for married life.

Day after the wedding

The day after the wedding, the wedding party returned to the house of the couple and welcomed the bride to her new home. On that day, the guests wore more comfortable clothes instead of the festive costume and the party continued until late into the night.

Dress code

In contrast to today's wedding dresses, the color black was in the foreground in wedding costumes in the Spreewald.

In addition to a black skirt with a black apron and a specially crafted low-cut black jacket, the bride's headdress was particularly important. Depending on the region, this varied from large embroidered hoods (lapas) to magnificent hats with silk ribbons or a Hupac, made from artificial flowers (myrtle), pearls and silk ribbons.

The groom also went in black, as he does today. A frock coat with a small bouquet of myrtles on the cuff, a jacket that was also provided with a small bouquet of myrtles and ribbons, and a top hat as a headgear dressed the groom of that time.

The peculiarity of the costume of the wedding bitters was a long sword. In addition, like the groom, he wore a cylinder decorated with flowers and ribbons and a decorated sash.

The costumes of the bridesmaids were similar to that of the bride and mostly differed only in the color tones of the skirts, silk ribbons and the bows of the headdress. Except for the first and second bridesmaid, who was the eldest godmother of the bride and groom, the others were allowed to change in the afternoon and choose more colorful traditional costumes.

The other wedding guests wore the traditional church attire with colorful bouquets attached on their chests or on the men's skirts. The women held just such in their hands.

literature

  • Erika Rauprecht, Eckhard Albert: Spreewald costume dance . REGIA Verlag Edeltraut Wiegand, Cottbus 1997. pp. 45–49. ISBN 3-936092-09-5
  • Mato Kosyk: Serbska swajzba w Błotach - The Wendish (Sorbian) wedding in the Spreewald, Zywjenske tsojenja - Biographical pictures. Volk und Wissen, Berlin 1955. pp. 54–59.
  • Sorbian folk costumes. 5th volume, issue 2. 1st edition. VEB Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1976. p. 15.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wedding in Sorbian: Be king and queen for a day . In: nrz.de . September 18, 2014, accessed June 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ Mato Kosyk: Serbska swajzba w Błotach - The Wendish (Sorbian) wedding in the Spreewald, Zywjenske tsojenja - Biographical Pictures. People and Knowledge, Berlin 1955. p. 57
  3. ↑ Jörg Schurig: Wedding in Sorbian. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. 22nd September 2014.
  4. ↑ Erika Rauprecht, Eckhard Albert: Spreewälder Trachtenreigen. REGIA Verlag Edeltraut Wiegand, Cottbus 1997. P. 49. ISBN 3-936092-09-5
  5. ↑ Jörg Schurig: Wedding in Sorbian. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. 22nd September 2014.
  6. ↑ Erika Rauprecht, Eckhard Albert: Spreewälder Trachtenreigen. REGIA Verlag Edeltraut Wiegand, Cottbus 1997. P. 45. ISBN 3-936092-09-5
  7. ↑ Erika Rauprecht, Eckhard Albert: Spreewälder Trachtenreigen. REGIA Verlag Edeltraut Wiegand, Cottbus 1997. pp. 45/46 . ISBN 3-936092-09-5
  8. ↑ Erika Rauprecht, Eckhard Albert: Spreewälder Trachtenreigen. REGIA Verlag Edeltraut Wiegand, Cottbus 1997. P. 47. ISBN 3-936092-09-5