Straw wreath

A straw wreath is a symbol and a label with different terms and its different usage was also part of traditional customs in the past .

Origin of name

Straw is a collective term for threshed and dry stalks and leaves of plants . Kranz comes from the Old High German krenzen (to wind around) and the Middle High German wreath, the origin of which is uncertain.

Coat of arms and symbols

Regional tavern in the form of a straw wreath in Lower Austria ( Krems an der Donau ).

Ear of corn and straw wreath symbolize the fertility of the soil (see e.g. the coat of arms of Großwilfersdorf or of Kornberg near Riegersburg ). In parts of Lower Austria the Buschenschankzeichen is a plaited straw wreath, while in Vienna this symbol consists of a pine, fir or spruce bush.

regional customs

Straw wreath as a harvest symbol.

In agriculture it was known to put on straw and laurel wreaths during harvest time. In some places the Whitsun bride was not dressed up with flowers, but with a wreath of straw or a wreath of Nessel. Again in other places this happened to the Pentecostal cow or the Pentecostal ox.

A straw wreath was also part of a joke procession of bachelors and Virgin of the bride after the wedding night handed over or to hand over and put on tried, but to its rejection. This wreath of straw was provided less with straw than with all kinds of colorful ribbons, wax figures for children, utensils in the nursery, etc. The straw wreath symbolized the defloration that took place on the wedding night . After that, the now wife received the bonnet (come under the bonnet ) that honorable women used to wear.

In the kitchen (tarred) straw wreaths (straw rings) were used as coasters for bulbous kettles, bowls, etc. Also used in the bain-marie .

punishment

Straw wreath / straw braid as a symbol of shame for women who had children out of wedlock. Exhibit in the Torture Museum of San Marino . These women, known as "shameful women", were shorn their heads and forced to wear straw wreaths in front of the main portal of the church on festive days.

The straw wreath symbolized the loss of virginity in particular and later of honor in general and it was first documented as such a symbol in sources in Germany, France and England in the 13th century .

In the past, weakened women had to appear on the day of their wedding with a straw wreath instead of the bridal wreath as a token of their lost honor, which is still common in some areas, since such a wedding is called a straw wedding. This usage is old and occurs in France as early as the 13th century, where instead of a wreath of straw, a wreath of rushes was used. Richard Bishop of Salisbury is aiming at something similar when, in an ordinance of 1217 at the Du Fresne v. Annulus, says: Nec quisquam annulum de iunco, vel quacumque vili materia, vel pretiosa, iocando manibus innectat muliercularum, vt liberius cum eis fornicetur; ne dum iocari se putat, honoribus matrimonialibus se astringat . In some places, the straw wreath is placed on dissolute women as a sign of shame when they are in despair . After ennoblement, the designation straw widower or straw widow is an allusion to the straw wreath as a symbol of shame or punishment.

Du scholt kainn kranz mer auf tragen,
wan du bist kain junkfrau nit.
waistu wol, heur im haberschnit
das der Hainrich pei dir lag
und der lieb mit dir pflag?
In der wisen, do du scholst grasen,
Da lag er pei dir auf cim grünn wasen
In der Stauden pei dem zäun, daft sah ich eben;
und wilt dich dennoch für ain junkfrau hin geben
und laichst die leut mit den krenzen?⁺

These women or fallen girls were also referred to as straw brides ( mhd. Strôbrût ) because they were only allowed to wear the straw wreath instead of the usual myrtle wreath (bridal wreath) at the wedding. Under the Adam portal of Bamberg Cathedral there is still an uncut stone on which adulteresses had to repent . In mourning dresses with burning candles in hand and a wreath of straw on their heads they had to let the churchgoers throw rotten apples at them. This was not an isolated case of exclusion and discrimination. In Fürstenberg places on the Danube, every "fallen" girl had to stand in front of the church door on three Sundays in succession with a wreath of straw around her arm; all the church people passed her. Her seducer stood opposite her, when he was from the same place, with a wreath of straw around his knee.

As a result, the straw wreath became more and more a sign of mockery and contempt and exclusion . In some cases, "rampant" prostitutes (not the suitors !) Were punished with large bat wipes on their backs and had to wear these straw wreaths on their heads when they were expelled from the country.

In the Middle Ages and modern times , putting on the straw wreath (such as putting it in the pillory , flipping the neck violin or lascivious stone or the bell jar ) was only particularly damaging if this was done by the executioner . Otherwise this could also be done by the court usher or Weibel .

Superstition

In Westphalia , the straw wreath indicated bad luck. Ivy is said to have been used as an oracle plant on February 24th ( Matthias name day ), with the girls dancing by torchlight at night and throwing ivy and straw wreaths into the water. They had to try to set a wreath behind their backs . Grasping an ivy wreath meant happiness in love, it was supposed to be a wedding that same year, but grasping a straw wreath meant bad luck.

Quotes

... a virgin or maid who is still walking in hair and wreath and has not become a fraw . Martin Luther 8, 129ᵃ;
... if a maid loses iren wreath, she will never find her again . Ludwig Uhland , folk songs, 67;
... didn't he take your wreath from you, all maiden honor and splendor? Georg Greflinger , Celadons Secular Songs, 77.

literature

Der Strohkranz is a work published in 1889 by Bertha Hoffmann ( German writer , 1816-1892).
Hans Moser, Jungfernkranz and Strohkranz , in Customs Research, Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, pp. 321-350.

Web links

Commons : Wreaths of Straw - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ See: Section 6 (2) Vienna Buschenschankgesetz.
^ German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz
↑ Zeno.org .
↑ Oekonomische Encyklopädie , Volume 47, pp. 703 f.
↑ See also: German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of All Arts and Sciences , Volume 22, P. 745, Zeno.org , search word: Strohkranz.
↑ Also: Marienbad, Balneum Mariae, Balneum maris, called, whereby the straw wreath was placed in a kettle with boiling water and the inner vessel was weighted down on it and with lead rings. See Zeno.org , search term: Marienbad.
↑ Gert Ueding in Historical Dictionary of Rhetoric , Tübingen 2009, Max Niemeyer Verlag, p. 192.
^ German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz
^ Johann Christoph Adelung in the grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect , Vienna edition 1811, search term: straw wreath .
^ Grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect (Vienna edition 1811), search word: Der Kranz .
↑ "Grazing" is used here in the sense of: "Cutting grass with a sickle"
↑ You shall no longer wear a wreath if you are no longer a virgin . Tells you well this year in oats average , than Henry was with you, and the love used to you? In the meadow in which you were supposed to graze, he was lying with you on the green lawn . In the bushes by the fence , I saw it, and still want to pretend to be a virgin and cheat the people with the wreath?
^ Adelbert von Keller , Fastnachtspiele from the fifteenth century, 4 volumes, 1853–1858, Volume II, pp. 586, 14. See also the German Dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Weller Lieder 227, Leipzig 1854–1961.
↑ Graswedewe for a girl who was seduced on the grass.
↑ The Greeks and Romans already adorned the virgin bride with a myrtle wreath and in the 16th century this wedding custom was also adopted in Germany, whereby the bridesmaids were sometimes also adorned with a myrtle wreath. The myrtle ( Myrtus communis ) is also known as the bridal myrtle .
↑ Church punishments for those killed in action in Fürstenberg places on the Danube .
^ German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz
↑ Wolfgang Scheffknecht, The Vorarlberger Scharfrichter - Punishments and Exclusion in the Early Modern Age , pp. 373, 374. See also: German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of All Arts and Sciences , Volume 22, p. 748.
^ Ludwig Uhland - Volkslieder , online.
↑ Celadon's Secular Songs , online.

[1] See: Section 6 (2) Vienna Buschenschankgesetz.

[2] German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz

[3] Zeno.org .

[4] Oekonomische Encyklopädie , Volume 47, pp. 703 f.

[5] See also: German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of All Arts and Sciences , Volume 22, P. 745, Zeno.org , search word: Strohkranz.

[6] Also: Marienbad, Balneum Mariae, Balneum maris, called, whereby the straw wreath was placed in a kettle with boiling water and the inner vessel was weighted down on it and with lead rings. See Zeno.org , search term: Marienbad.

[7] Gert Ueding in Historical Dictionary of Rhetoric , Tübingen 2009, Max Niemeyer Verlag, p. 192.

[8] German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz

[9] Johann Christoph Adelung in the grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect , Vienna edition 1811, search term: straw wreath .

[10] Grammatical-critical dictionary of the High German dialect (Vienna edition 1811), search word: Der Kranz .

[11] "Grazing" is used here in the sense of: "Cutting grass with a sickle"

[12] You shall no longer wear a wreath if you are no longer a virgin . Tells you well this year in oats average , than Henry was with you, and the love used to you? In the meadow in which you were supposed to graze, he was lying with you on the green lawn . In the bushes by the fence , I saw it, and still want to pretend to be a virgin and cheat the people with the wreath?

[13] Adelbert von Keller , Fastnachtspiele from the fifteenth century, 4 volumes, 1853–1858, Volume II, pp. 586, 14. See also the German Dictionary by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Weller Lieder 227, Leipzig 1854–1961.

[14] Graswedewe for a girl who was seduced on the grass.

[15] The Greeks and Romans already adorned the virgin bride with a myrtle wreath and in the 16th century this wedding custom was also adopted in Germany, whereby the bridesmaids were sometimes also adorned with a myrtle wreath. The myrtle ( Myrtus communis ) is also known as the bridal myrtle .

[16] Church punishments for those killed in action in Fürstenberg places on the Danube .

[17] German dictionary by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Strohkranz

[18] Wolfgang Scheffknecht, The Vorarlberger Scharfrichter - Punishments and Exclusion in the Early Modern Age , pp. 373, 374. See also: German Encyclopedia or General Real Dictionary of All Arts and Sciences , Volume 22, p. 748.

[19] Ludwig Uhland - Volkslieder , online.

[20] Celadon's Secular Songs , online.