Entanglement

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Knobelung in the Dorpmuseum Münkeboe .
Invitation to knot in a supermarket.

The Verknobelungen are in East Friesland widespread custom . They traditionally take place on December 5th - the Sünnerklaas Festival - on the eve of St. Nicholas Day. The Nikolaus or Sünnerklaas festival is very important in East Friesland. As the patron saint of seafarers, Nicholas was venerated in the region from an early age. It was only after the Reformation that he was ousted by Santa Claus as a bringer of gifts .

History and gameplay

The knots developed from an old Dutch seafaring custom more than 100 years ago. This is said to go back to a Germanic festival in honor of the god Wotan , which was later replaced by the Christian Nikolausfest.

On the eve of St. Nicholas' Day, gaming tables are set up in retail stores, in restaurants and at various organizations and associations. Cakes, baked goods as well as poultry, meat and sausage products are rolled on these. Each player places their stake, which is usually around one euro , and then has a roll. The stakes are based on the winnings. The dice are therefore rolled in groups of different sizes and generally with three dice in a leather cup. The player who throws the highest number wins one of the named prizes. If several players have the same number, there is a playoff. In an instruction of the presidium of the district of Aurich from October 23, 1974 it says: "The display of alcohol is forbidden", but this only has an impact on the profits. However, consumption is allowed.

Originally, cubes were made in a shallow zinc or wooden tub, which was previously used to hold milk. Today this is only practiced in a few places such as Leer .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martina Fleßner: Holiday farms in East Frisia. Tourism and identity in the context of “Farm Holidays” (PDF; 2.5 MB), dissertation, Münster 2004, p. 212
  2. ↑ a b Karl-Ernst Behre; Hajo van Lengen: East Frisia. History and shape of a cultural landscape . Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Aurich 1995, ISBN 3-925365-85-0 , p. 335 .
  3. ↑ a b Hamburger Abendblatt of December 4, 2002: Ostfriesland knobelt , accessed on February 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ www.fulkum.de: Verknobelung