Zibelemärit
The Zibelemärit ( Bern German for standard German "onion market") is a fair with a folk festival character in Bern . It takes place on the fourth Monday in November. It extends over the main and side streets of the upper old town as well as the orphanage , Münster and Bundesplatz across Münstergasse .
history
Theories of origin
The historical background of the Zibelemärit is not officially guaranteed; there are various theories on this. According to recent research by Bernese folklorist Rudolf J. Ramseyer, the market was created in the mid-19th century. Since then, women farmers from the Seeland and the canton of Friborg have come to Bern with vegetables around St. Martin's Day (November 11); the martini mass lasted two weeks at that time.
Two other theories point to the beginnings of the Zibelemärit in the 15th century. One traces the market back to the city fire of 1405 ; The market is a thank you to the people of Freiburg, who had given great neighborly help after the great conflagration. The other assumes that the Friborg obtained the market rights due to the weapons aid from 1474 to 1477 during the Burgundian Wars . Both can neither be proven nor objectively comprehensible.
Martini fair
Since the late Middle Ages, the people of Bern, like the rest of the inhabitants of southern Germany, have celebrated St. Martin's Day or “Martini” as the transition between the summer and winter months. It was celebrated with festive meals and parades, in which mainly the youth took part. A market accompanied the festival. He offered everything for winter needs. In the course of time it expanded and was made a duty-free fair by the authorities in 1439.
However, the actual Zibelemärit didn't begin until the 19th century, when farmers from Mont Vully brought vegetables - especially onions - to the markets in Neuchâtel , Murten and Freiburg . (The area of Mont Vully - in English the "Wistenlach" - is a fertile area with many springs between Lake Murten and Lake Neuchâtel. Vines grew on the slopes. The white and light red "Vully" had a good reputation. But that The risk in viticulture was great, which is why the “Vullierain” also cultivated a lot of vegetables.) Around 1850, the farmers' wives also appeared in Bern at the Martinimesse. Soon the “Wistenlacher Wybli” were welcome in Bern because of their lively, cheerful and polite manner. The beautifully braided onion braids moved more and more into the foreground of their offer. The new onion market quickly blossomed.
Reasons for the emergence of the Zibelemärit
First, everything was sold at the Martini fair. Everything except onions. A look at the official price lists from back then shows that: Nowhere is the price of onions listed. This enabled the “Vullierains” to set the price themselves and to “haggle” (haggle) with the buyer, since they were the only ones who had onions on offer. In line with demand, onions were cheaper in the morning than in the evening. That should be the reason why the Zibelemärit starts at four in the morning.
Second, the onion vendors were each at the Martini fair a day earlier and actually only had to share the streets of Bern with the Heimberger “Chacheli” shopkeepers. So they did not dispute the stand of any Bernese farmer. In our time the big department stores of the Martini fair have breathed life out. The onions, however, stayed. The autumn fair was shortened to one day and the name "Martinimesse" was soon replaced and the Berner Volksfest was only called Zibelemärit .
present
The rest of the Martini tradition was retained:
- the feast with cheesecake , plus of course the onion cake
- the wild " confetti battle" (start at 4 p.m.)
- the two-week Chilbi on the Schützenmatte (at the Reithalle cultural center )
Even today, almost everything at the Zibelemärit revolves around the onion in its various forms: onion braids, onion tarts and pizzas, onion soup , handicrafts and ornaments made from onions and much more.
The Zibelemärit always takes place on the fourth Monday in November. It starts at 4 am (“officially” at 6 am) and ends after 6 pm. Although the Zibelemärit is not an official holiday, almost all shops in Bern's old town close at 5 p.m. on this day.
In 2020 the Zibelemärit was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Trivia
The lettering “Berner Zibelemärit” adorns the 2011 CHF 10 commemorative coin together with a bear and an onion braid .
literature
- Hans Erpf : Dr Zibelemärit. A little story about the onion and the Bernese Zibelemärit along with numerous tasty onion recipes. With a reflection on the “Day of the Onion” by Ueli the Schreiber . Association printing , Bern 1977, ISBN 3-7280-5053-9 .
- Hans Erpf, Mario Barisi: Dr Märit z Bärn . Stories, episodes, verses and pictures about the Bern markets. Erpf, Bern 1982, ISBN 3-256-00043-6 .
- Hans Erpf, Natalie Uhlmann (photos): Dr Zibelemärit and around the onion from A-Z . With over 100 recipes. Fischer, Münsingen 1990, ISBN 3-85681-223-7 .
- Rudolf J. Ramseyer: Zibelemärit, Martinimesse . Emmentaler Druck, Langnau 1990, ISBN 3-85654-915-3 .
- Edith Schweizer-Völker: Swiss folk festivals . Mondo, Vevey 1995, ISBN 2-88168-594-3 .
- Adrian Bänninger: Sechseläuten and Morgestraich . The most beautiful festivals and customs in Switzerland. History and present. Diederichs, Kreuzlingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-7205-3029-3 .
Web links
- Information about the Zibelemärit on the website of the city of Bern
- Bern - Zibelemärit ( memento of September 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) by g26.ch , platform for art, culture and society
- Zibelesounds
Individual evidence
- ↑ Artur K. Vogel : Goethe, Schiller and the onion, in: Der kleine Bund, Monday, November 25, 2013, p. 37, according to which the theory regarding 1405 "was born sixty years ago in a Bern school room".
- ↑ Zibelemärit canceled due to Corona. In: schweizerbauer.ch. August 14, 2020, accessed on August 15, 2020 .