Fasching Karneval in Bregenz, Austria

Fastnacht is related to the Germanic word “fasten” (to fast, abstain from eating). Karneval is related to the Latin word “carnem levare” (to remove meat).

We went to a meaningful and very colorful parade today in Bregenz. Fastnacht or Fasching, has a spiritual meaning to the Austrians and is quite interesting. It's the celebration before the fasting or Lent begins. Below are some details regarding this event.

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A Brief History on Fasching by Robert A. Selig

Germany has, so the saying goes, five seasons – Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter – and another season sandwiched between Winter and Spring alternately called Fasting, Fasenacht, or Karneval. This season begins some time after 11 November and culminates and ends on Faschingsdienstag, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Especially in the predominantly Catholic areas of Germany, in the towns and cities along the Rhine, in much of Bavaria, and in parts of Austria, schools, banks, and most businesses will be closed, a Faschingsprinz takes over the reigns of government, and all “normal” activity comes to a standstill. Between Sunday and Tuesday, parades with floats mocking everyone and everything will wind their way through the streets of the cities, children and grown-ups will dress up in fancy costumes and the guest houses and dance halls will be filled with revelers. In all this revelry, dancing and merrymaking leading up to Faschingsdienstag, the origins of this merrymaking are easily forgotten.

Dancing, processions, and the wearing of masks either because of the need to scare evil spirits away or driven by the desire to be someone else, to assume the role of some entity or a person more powerful than oneself, is a desire as old as mankind itself. As such, Fasching stands at the root of the Saturnalia, when the relationship between rulers and ruled, masters and slaves, men and women, was reversed. The usual order of society was temporarily suspended as men dressed as women and masters waited on their slaves. As the commonwealth was ruled by an elected regent, the forerunner of Prince Carnival, the Faschingsprinz, communities seemed full of fools.

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Karneval is associated with festivals of the Christian church (wild partying before Lent begins). However, it goes back to pagan times, and was a way of driving out the evil spirits of winter and encouraging the coming of spring and good crops. Ugly masks worn for this purpose are still worn in carnival festivals in southern Germany. Karneval can be traced back to pagan Roman festivals, which may explain why Köln and Mainz, two ancient cities with Roman history, have such big carnivals. In the Middle Ages, Karneval gave the people a break from the tightly structured class system, as they were able to hide their social background behind imaginative masks and costumes. Poor people were able to mix with all other levels of society and share fun with them. In those days people would dress up as knights, damsels and even priests, as a way of making fun of them. In a similar way, people these days sometimes wear masks, which make fun of well-known politicians or celebrities.

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Well we had quite the adventure today at the Fasching Karneval. Darcy's co-worker explained that the witches in the parade (in the past) would kidnap the kids in the crowd on parade day. They would beat them and then put them in a cage to be retrieved by their parents later. This tradition was intended to teach the children to stand strong against evil and keep their faith in God. In this day and age they still do mock kidnappings and put the child in a cage, but they let them out after a short while. That was enough to scare Jerret, so he wasn't sure if he even wanted to go. When he found out that they throw candy from their floats he changed his mind and we all dressed up for the Karneval. I wore a witch hat, Darcy wore a pumpkin hat, Jerret was a pirate, Sharice was a princess, Brittany was a cat, and Brittany's friend Karin was a black goth.

It was so much fun seeing all of the costumes today. There were hippies, clowns, Pippi Long-stockings, princesses, witches, etc. Just like on Halloween everyone that dressed up got into the spirit of the event. There were so many great floats in the Karneval parade, that the community put a lot of work into. Some of the participants were dressed up as vikings, pirates, medieval characters, owls, ghosts, and of course witches. They would throw candy out to you when you shouted a special German phrase.

At the end of the parade the witches appeared. They all wore these ghastly masks with long black braids and swept the street with their brooms. Some of them had cages with a stool in the middle that they pulled behind them. They were quite menacing and came right up to the children. This one particular witch came over to us and grabbed Sharice right out of the crowd. The witch ran away with her and then fell and they all piled on top of her. The cage was already taken up by a little girl, so Sharice managed to get free. It was kind of scary, but we managed to snap a few photos of it.

I love that we are in a country so rich in tradition and filled with these fascinating rituals that we are privy to. I hope you enjoy our website!

Lisa Allen

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