Torste

Cake on a detail of the Passion Altar by the master of the house book , around 1480. Freiburg, Augustinermuseum .

Wettringer Torsten - traditionally twelve in number

Torsten the Nottulner Antoni Brotherhood in use at a procession

Schöppinger Torsten - They are turned rods with a cross of approx. 70 cm in length, which are also wrapped with box tree branches and flowers.

A Torste or Torsse (from late Latin / church Latin torqua, torca, torsa , mhd. Torze / tortsche - "torch, long candle"; cf. French torche , English torch , Dutch toorts , mnd. Tortse / torticie "twisted wax candle / Wax torch ... for solemn occasions “) has been passed down figuratively in many areas of Central Europe as such a long, mostly spiraling, multi-wick light source made of tallow or wax since the Middle Ages .

The name and usage have changed until the present day processional custom in parts of the Münsterland . Today it is mostly a wooden stick with a flower arrangement, but occasionally also a candle holder. The Torsten are decorative accessories and are carried by the male communion children in the Corpus Christi procession . They have a length of around 1.60 meters, with about 60 cm being used for the flower arrangement. The current use of Torsten in Wettringen and Schöppingen is proven , in both cases the Torste has developed away from the candle holder to the pure carrier of the flower arrangement. In Schöppingen, carrying a gate was revived in the 1930s, ended after the Second Vatican Council and was resumed on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of Schöppingen in 1988. The Wettringer Torsten used to be worn by the 8 to 14 year old school boys. These went in procession directly in front of the canopy. The flower arrangement traditionally consisted mainly of "Bickbeeren" branches ( blueberries ), but also of boxwood. The flower blossoms were incorporated into it. At the top the arrangement ended in a "crown" made of the leaves of the iris, which were shortened accordingly. The creation was the responsibility of a specific person (group of people?) In each neighborhood. The current type of Torsten in Wettringen can already be found in the 1830s or even at the end of the 18th century.

Carrying Torsten in the form of a flower arrangement was widespread in the Münsterland until the 1920s. In Alstätte (today the city of Ahaus, Borken district, North Rhine-Westphalia; Münsterland) there is a photograph of a procession from the first half of the twentieth century in the local home. This also shows the type of flower arrangements on sticks described for Wettringen, which are also carried along by schoolboys in the procession. Only the flower arrangements are not so lush, the diameter smaller and the iris leaves are missing in Alstätte. The length of the carrying pole is roughly comparable. In Hiltrup (St. Clemens) there was also torsten wear. They are described as "colorfully decorated flower pores" .

In the Steinfurt district of Borghorst , wooden candlesticks of comparable length, which were held by altar servers in solemn high offices of the pre-conciliar liturgy during the conversion , were also referred to as Torsten in the local history museum .

Another designation of candles / candlesticks or torches as Torsten comes from the year 1821, where the burial (one?) Of the last canoness of Metelen Monastery is reported.

Upper German-speaking area - Tortsche

In the Alemannic and Bavarian language areas, the word "Tortsche" today means "candle on candle holder". In Freiburg im Breisgau, for example, it is the word for the altar servers' candlesticks, otherwise known as flambeaux , for solemn church services; similar in Vienna and in the Upper Palatinate (Regensburg).

Web links

Commons : Torste (Customs)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cantilever
• Procession pole
• Picture of Torsten with a bouquet of flowers at the Corpus Christi procession in Wettringen on www.st-petronilla-wettringen.de
• Article " Torch " in the English language Wikipedia; "Etymology" section
• Article " Torch " in the English language Wikipedia; Uses of torches section; Subsection "In Roman Catholic liturgy"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "The Torsse or Torste is a [e] very typical Westphalian development: a most elaborately turned wooden Stan [g] e is attached to the particularly solid wax candle so that the visual impression extremely long one and arises particularly beautiful light." ( St. .-Antoni-Brotherhood Nottuln ) Retrieved January 24, 2014.
2. ↑ Glossary ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Glossary
4. ↑ Middle Low German Dictionary
5. ↑ "Communion children hold the traditional, colorfully decorated Torsten and girls throw flowers on the way." ( Münsterländische Volkszeitung ( Memento from February 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )).
6. ↑ "Pastor Christoph Backhaus said humorously: 'I have never celebrated mass on a climbing castle, but from up here it is a great picture: the many colorful flags, the festive clothes of the communion children, the gate bearer - who is Tie-Esch already a special piece of earth with a great ambience. '" ( St. Petronilla Wettringen ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove that notice. ) Retrieved January 24, 2014. 
7. ↑ "All children are invited, the current first communion children enrich the path with flower petals and the traditional 'Torsten'." ( Westfälische Nachrichten ). Retrieved on January 24, 2014.
8. ↑ "The redesigned town hall square offered a wonderful motif, which the numerous First Communion children with their Torsten and the petals had a lot of fun with." ( Grenzland Post ). Accessed on January 24, 2014.
9. ↑ Bernd Dircksen: Traditions and Stories from Wettringen; ReckelsDruck Wettringen 2017; P. 110 Quotation from the Easter parish letter 2006 (author of the article Clemens Voss, quotation from the records of Pastor Böcker)
10. ^ Brockpähler, Wilhelm: Wettringen. History of a community in the Münsterland; Wettringen, self-published by the municipality, 1970.
11. ↑ Bernd Dircksen: Traditions and Stories from Wettringen; ReckelsDruck Wettringen 2017; S. 114 Quotation from the report of the local history researcher Franz Brüning to the Folklore Commission of the LWL 1953 (A 1953 95-year-old author reports from Torsten of his youth (consequently born in 1858; youth around 1870) which his father (born in 1820) made for him This 1820 born (youth 1830s) had already taken over the design of Torsten from his father (whose youth around 1790-1800?))
12. ↑ Bernd Dircksen: Traditions and Stories from Wettringen; ReckelsDruck Wettringen 2017; P. 110 Quotation from the Easter parish letter 2006 (author of the article Clemens Voss, quotation from the records of Pastor Böcker)
13. ↑ Enlarged view of the photograph exhibited in Heimathaus Alstätte
14. ↑ https://www.sankt-clemens-hiltrup.de/fileadmin/user_upload/pfarrei/Kirchen-Einrichtungen/Festschrift-75J-StClemens.pdf PDF of the Festschrift 75 Years of St. Clemens Church, page 16 of 71
15. ↑ Information board in Heimathaus Borghorst (Nota bene: notice board removed since renovation work)
16. ↑ “Torsten, that is torches or torches, were carried by 24 men. The Torsten were also six weeks after the death of Canoness [s] lit in the church at all "singenen Measure". " ( Damenstift (PDF) by Norbert Lammers S. 34/35) Retrieved on January 24, 2014.
17. ↑ http://www.muemis.de/start.php?nav=lexikon&subnav=special&art=tortschen
18. ↑ https://www.fr.ch/tradifri/de/pub/gesellschaftliche_praktiken/fronleichnam_in_freiburg.htm
19. ↑ http://www.onetz.de/grafenwoehr/kultur/glaeubige-vertrauen-auf-die-fuerbitte-des-heiligen-blasius-das-x-symbol-aus-dem-segen-mit-den-schraeg-gekreuzten -candles-d30347.html