Sep 5, 2012

Funny Franconian Hats and German Culture

This video clip shows the annual country fair (German style) in a small village in Lower Franconia. Traditionally, the two neighboring protestant villages of Sennfeld and Gochsheim have a proud display of local costumes.

This one is from Gochsheim, a village just about 12 km from my catholic hometown village of Hambach. After all these years of living somewhere else, I get to see the much talked about celebration on YouTube.

I enjoyed listening to the brass brand, but what got most of my interest are the unusual hats the guys are wearing. Those guys come into the clip at about 1:30.

The participants are wearing the Volkstracht (national costume; national representing Franconia in this case) and the significance of the hats is: rigid top hat with many colored bands, a.k.a. love bands or rosemary sticks, representing fertility and loyalty.

A bit more about their costumes in German at the Gochsheimer Plantracht.

[youtube XppnLd-9bMc&feature=player_embedded]

Oct 5, 2011

German Thanksgiving Parade

In Germany, Erntedankfest (Thanksgiving) is celebrated on the first Sunday in October. It is only a religious holiday and while growing up in a catholic village, it meant going to church, just like every Sunday.

Besides being a regular Sunday in church, on Erntedankfest though, the church gets decorated with the year’s harvest of vegetables.

Protestants however, celebrate Thanksgiving in style. The neighboring villages of Sennfeld and Gochsheim (near Schweinfurt) are both mainly protestant. Both have a Erntedanksfest Umzug (Thanksgiving Parade) with a big fest afterwards. The most popular food items on the list are Zwiebelsplootz and Federweißer.

Zwiefelsplootz and Federweisser

Here are some pictures taken in Sennfeld (Lower Franconia) on their Thanksgiving Day parade.

Thanksgiving Parade, German style

Men in feathered hats

Some little German helpers

Advert for renewable energy

Thanksgiving Parade participants

Thanksgiving Parade

bountiful harvest

It was a rather short parade, but worth attending. Sadly enough, the number of participants keeps shrinking as interest in traditions is slowly fading.

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