Waggis

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Waggis (2010)

The Waggis is a traditional figure of the Basel Carnival with an imposing larva depicting an Alsatian day laborer .

Word origin

Waggis - mostly written Wackes outside of Basel - is a word known in large parts of the Upper and Central German- speaking area, which often means "dissolute person, ruffian, bullshit, useless, good-for-nothing, loitering, louting, rascal"; regionally occurring meanings are "small or fat child, (stocky) strong fellow, clumsy man, railroad worker, Saar boatman", and it is also known as a dirty word for the Alsatians and Lorraine .

There are various explanations for the origin of the word. Probably the most likely one was postulated for the first time in 1902 by the folklorist Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer from Basel , and it was further elaborated in 1963/4 by the Freiburg German scholar Otmar Werner . According to this, Waggis, Wackes, the extinct German, dialectally still lively wagge (n), wacke (n) "move back and forth, wiggle, sway". A Waggis, Wackes is therefore someone who "wags", that is, moves about, loitering or wobbling. The transfer of this meaning to the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine is clearly pejorative.

Costume and character

The Waggis wears a blue shirt, white trousers, a red foulard ( scarf ), an oversized white shirt collar, (too) large "zoggeli" ( wooden shoes ) and sometimes a pointed cap (which is put on when the larva is not being worn). In the classic version, the larva (mask) has a blond head made of yellow bast . Traditional accessories are the rosette ( cockade ) in the colors of the French tricolor (blue-white-red) as well as a shopping net with vegetables, possibly also a huge leg bone or comparable stick made of wood. Originally it was the " Munifisel ", a cut, dried and twisted bull's ureter that was used to drive the cattle. The traditionally red nose indicates the excessive consumption of wine by the satirized . The nose, which was originally only slightly enlarged to emphasize it, has in the meantime become a monstrous structure, just as the larva itself has grown larger and larger over time. The Waggis is a coarse habit and as such is carried by groups of wagons and single larvae . The "Waggis" is also popular as a mask for children. For drummers and pipers, however , the Waggis larva is unusual.

Waggis presents himself as a Luusbueb who likes to play jokes , but does not want to be understood as a clown . His most important tool is his voice, with which he “intrigues”, which means loudly mocking, provoking and cracking jokes. The Waggis is popular thanks to the distribution of small gifts (formerly fruit and vegetables, now often sweets ), but it is also feared by stuffing Räppli ( confetti ) under the clothes of the audience.

Web links

Commons : Waggis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Christoph Landolt: Waggis. Word history from March 30, 2015, ed. from the editors of the Swiss Idiotikon . An overview of further proposed explanations can be found in the note on the article Waggis des Schweizerischen Idiotikons, Volume XV, Column 985 ( digitized version ).
  2. ^ Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Suffix -is, -s in Swiss dialects. In: Zeitschrift für Hochdeutsche Mundarten 3, 1902, pp. 26–46; Otmar Werner: The noun suffixes -es / -as in the East Franconian dialects. On the importance of the dia- and synchronic approach in word formation theory. In: Zeitschrift für Mundartforschung 30, 1963/64, pp. 227–275.