Plum potato
The Pflaumentoffel (etymologically probably based on Toffel meaning "stupid, clumsy person") is an edible figure made from dried or prunes , which is produced by bakeries, confectioners and gingerbread makers for children. The candy became known through its sale on the Dresden Striezelmarkt .
In Franconia, similar figures are called plum men , in other areas plum men or plum men . In Austria they are known as Zwetschgenkrampus .
Variants and Distribution
Plum potato
The Pflaumentoffel is designed like a chimney sweep . It consists of about 14 dried or baked plums , wooden sticks, a painted paper ball as a head, a cardboard cylinder as a head covering, as well as a shoulder cape and a ladder made of paper, which are covered with metal foil.
Zwetschgenmännla and Zwetschgenweibla
In the case of the plum men, the head is represented by a walnut and the body by figs - only the arms and legs are represented by plums . The framework is made up of two wires. They used to wear a pointed hat and carry a tray, now they are clad with scraps of fabric. In addition to the chimney sweep, there is hardly a topic that is not presented and there has long been a plum wedge .
Zwetschgenmännla are the main souvenirs for the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt . The small figures are produced throughout the year and then sold to market guests in the run-up to Christmas. On St. Nicholas Day 2000, a plum male dance was performed on the stage in front of the Frauenkirche .
Zwetschgenmännla are also traditionally sold in the rest of Franconia and Bavaria at Christmas markets. They are usually around 15 centimeters tall and represent chimney sweeps, kings or fairy tale characters.
Plum crampus
In Austria, e.g. B. at the Christmas market in Salzburg, these males are offered as plum jelly. Here they represent the Krampus .
history
The Pflaumentoffel is based on the model of the seven- to eight-year-old boys, mostly coming from orphanages, who could be employed by the master sweeper thanks to the permission of the Elector of Saxony in 1653 . The task of the children was to crawl through and clean the tall and narrow chimneys of town houses. This is an early example of government-tolerated child labor .
The plum potato is documented as a “little man made from prunes” at Christmas 1801. In the 19th century it was again children, the “Striezel children”, who, equipped with a tray, offered homemade plum potatoes at Christmas markets in Saxony and the Ore Mountains. In 1910 child sales were prohibited.
The Pflaumentoffel as a symbol of happiness corresponds to a reinterpretation of what is currently a bad topic of child labor through popular humor and various Christmas customs . It is reminiscent of the chimney sweeps as symbols of luck and the parallel in customs that in some parts of Europe St. Nicholas comes through the chimney or chimney or stockings are attached to the chimney that are to be filled with sweets. The pedagogical intention is also conceivable to remind children of the so-called black man in the event of behavioral problems .
"Pflaumentoffel" as a dirty word
In the 19th century, the word Pflaumentoffel was colloquially given the broader meaning of “ idiot ” or “Stoffel”, especially for children (as an insult or as a joke).
literature
- Roland Hanusch: Pflaumentoffel in the Ore Mountains. In: Erzgebirgische Heimatblätter 26, No. 6, 2004, pp. 24-27, ISSN 0232-6078 .
Web links
- Handicraft instructions: Dresdner Pflaumentoffel
- Handicraft instructions: The Nuremberg “Zwetschgermoh” ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Bayerischer Rundfunk, text version from November 20, 2009
Individual evidence
- ↑ tuff, tuff. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 22 : Treib – Tz - (XI, 1st section, part 2). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1952, Sp. 1547 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
- ↑ Pflaumentoffel. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 13 : N, O, P, Q - (VII). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1889, Sp. 1731–1732 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).