Vogel Gryff

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The three decorations Leu, Vogel Gryff and Wild Maa on the Middle Bridge.

The bird Gryff is a heraldic figure from Kleinbasel , the right part of the Rhine on the city of Basel . The popular holiday organized by the three honorary societies in Kleinbasels ( 3 E ) is named after him.

Alternating every three years on January 13, 20 or 27 (if this falls on a Sunday: on the previous Saturday), Basel annually experiences the festival of the three honorary societies: Rebhaus, Hären and Greifen. On this day, the three personified sign holders Vogel Gryff , a griffin in heavy scale armor, the Wild Maa , a little barrel of wild man and the Leu , a lion , appear. They move through Kleinbasel and repeatedly perform their traditional dances.

procedure

Descent of the Wild Maa

The festival starts at 10:30 a.m. with the Wild Man's Rhine cruise . The exact time depends on the water level of the Rhine. The wild man dances downhill on a raft and is accompanied by drum rhythms and gunfire . Contrary to a widespread and popular opinion, he is not eager to turn his back on Grossbasel. Rather, as it should be, he keeps his eyes on the Kleinbasel to be honored, and so it is inevitable that he turns his back on Grossbasel. Below the Middle Rhine Bridge , the Vogel Gryff and the Leu appear with their companions, the three tambours and banner bearers, as well as the four fool figures of the Ueli , who collect money for the needy with clattering cans. The Wild Man jumps ashore at about 11 a.m. with a mighty leap , not without first having extensively wetted the fir tree in the water.

At 12 noon, the decorations dance on the Middle Rhine Bridge. During this dance, too, her gaze remains on Kleinbasel. Then the move is formed. Until late in the evening, with a few refreshing breaks, it goes all the way through Kleinbasel in front of the living or business offices of the masters and superiors as well as in the courtyard of the orphanage .

From 1 p.m., the 450 company brothers of the three honorary societies (150 per society) meet for an extended meal, the Gryffemähli , in the ballroom of the Basel fair . The event lasts the whole afternoon and is characterized by speeches on current political issues, musical performances and a visit to the parade (in the hall).

origin

The move has its origins in the annual weapons sampling that took place in the Middle Ages by the honorary societies responsible for guarding the city wall. These protests each ended with a march through Kleinbasel and a meal. The Vogel Gryff has nothing to do with the Basel Carnival . The honor societies are by the way not guilds; it is therefore possible to be a member of an honorary society and a guild at the same time.

The samples were carried out separately by each honorary society until 1838, on fixed dates: Gesellschaft zum Rebhaus on January 13th, Gesellschaft zur Hären on January 20, and Gesellschaft zum Greifen on January 27th. The three companies have been holding the event together since 1839, with the date rotating between the three dates.

The beginnings of the custom are in the dark. It is documented for the first time in 1304 in a certificate from the Ehrengesellschaft zum Rebhaus, long before the unification of Kleinbasel and Basel in 1392. In a chronicle from 1597, the parades of the three characters Vogel Gryff (Greifen), Wild Maa (Hären) and Leu (Rebhaus) are already described as an old custom.

The societies

The core of the Rebhaus Society originally consisted of the Kleinbasler Rebleuten, but farmers and gardeners also belonged to it. The vineyard that gave the company its name is its headquarters, which it acquired in 1397. The Rebhaus Society was first mentioned in a document in 1304. The Kleinbasler Ehrengesellschaft zum Rebhaus should not be confused with the Grossbasler Zunft zu Rebleuten .

The Hären Society originally united hunters and fishermen, later craftsmen and members of the lower nobility were added. One hair was a safety net for small poultry . The company coat of arms shows such a hair. The word hair is probably derived from the Latin "haerere", which means "to get stuck, get stuck, stick, stick". Another variant of the explanation refers to the adjective "heren", consisting of hair, since these bird traps consisted of willow branches and horsehair loops. The company was first mentioned in documents in 1384 when the former house at Rheingasse 6 changed hands.

The Gesellschaft zum Greifen acquired the Haus zum Greifen at the later Greifengasse 31 in 1429 , after which the house name zum Greifen became the company name . Before it was called Gesellschaft zum Baum , also after the house name of the headquarters at that time. The company was first mentioned in documents in 1409 in connection with its participation in the campaign to conquer the Istein fortress .

Nursery rhymes

Vogel Gryff mural (2001) by Freddy Oettli. Riehentorstrasse 27, Basel. With the inscription: Allewyl in cold January, meaning d 'Glaibasler Ehrezaiche draa, because dr Leu hops, dances proudly dr Gryff and segglet au dr Wildi Maa
Vogel Gryff with the inscription: Allewyl in cold January, meaning d 'Glaibasler Ehrezaiche draa, because dr Leu hops, dances proudly dr Gryff and segglet au dr Wildi Maa

The Vogel Gryff is sung in the nursery rhyme by Anna Keller, which Basel children learn in kindergartens :

Vogel Gryff

What glides? E shot! What does sy like?
Dert dances jo aine on em Rhy.
E Dannebaimli he swings
and ains, zwai, three he displaces.

Nai, nai, that might happen in the Wild
Maa.D'Kanone gracht. Now he can aa.
En-Ueli bättlet Batze.
Dr Lai wings with de Datze.

Bym Käppelijoch proudly and styff
gumpts Wilde Maa and Lai dr Gryff,
and dousy Basler laugh
from the Danish-n-old thing.

Event date

year date weekday Chair
2020 13th January Monday Rebhaus
2021 January 20th Wednesday Hardening
2022 January 27th Thursday To grab
2023 13th January Friday Rebhaus
2024 January 20th Saturday Hardening
2025 January 27th Monday To grab
2026 13th January Tuesday Rebhaus
2027 January 20th Wednesday Hardening
2028 January 27th Thursday To grab
2029 13th January Saturday Rebhaus
2030 January 19th 1 Saturday Hardening
2031 January 27th Monday To grab
2032 13th January Tuesday Rebhaus
2033 January 20th Thursday Hardening
2034 January 27th Friday To grab
2035 13th January Saturday Rebhaus
Etc.

1 If a Vogel-Gryff day falls on a Sunday, it is brought forward to Saturday.

Company to the bear

Since women were denied membership in the three honorary societies and they were considered by some to be too elitist and closed, some Basel residents founded the Society for the Bear in 1998 and have been holding Bear Day on January 12th every year since 1999. The heraldic animal, the big black bear, is said to represent the free, open and independent Kleinbasel. In an invented legend, direct reference was made to the Gryff bird.

Others

  • The three figures and Ueli are namesake for the four Basel ferries .
  • Upstream of the Kleinbasel next pillar of the middle bridge , a sculpture of the three figures, visible only at low tide, is sunk in the Rhine.
  • Vogel Gryff is also the name of a local newspaper in Kleinbasel.
  • In 1977 the PTT issued a definitive stamp of the folk customs series .
  • Charles Hindelang created eight Vogel Gryff tempera paintings in 1946

literature

Web links

Commons : Vogel Gryff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vogel Gryff in Basel. Retrieved May 10, 2017 .
  2. ^ UB Basel: Basler Literarisches Archiv: Authors: Keller, Anna. Retrieved May 10, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Calendar on www.vkb.ch ( Memento from January 14, 2020 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ The legend . In: Society for the Bear . October 26, 2014 ( baerengesellschaft.ch [accessed on May 10, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Daniel Gerny: Monday Face: How Basler Bears make the bird Gryff dance . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 21, 2013, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed on May 10, 2017]).
  6. ^ "Vogel Gryff" newspaper
  7. ↑ https://colnect.com/de/stamps/stamp/23007-Vogel_Gryff_Basel-Volksbr%C3%A4uche-Schweiz