It is the Saturday after Ash Wednesday and we are in Weil am Rhein. The "Alte Fasnacht" also called "Burefasnet" (Bauernfasnacht) has just been ceremoniously opened at the village square. The entertainment now continues in the pubs and inns, as 8 different groups of Schnitzelbanksingers go from pub to pub and recite their stories, poking fun of things that happened during the last year or of persons of authority. Fasnacht groups from nearby and farther away are continuing to arrive for a last fling. Sunday afternoon there is the last parade with app. 15,000 active participants. The Waggis (Alsation Bauern) and the witches have a last chance to pester the bystanders.

Some of the towns and villages in the area around Lake Constance still hold to the old tradition of counting the Sundays as part of Lent, which brings it 6 days closer to Easter. The "Alte Fasnacht" begins on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday and ends with "Funkensonntag," the ceremonial burning of Fasnacht.

In Speichingen we witness such a ceremony, where Fasnacht is burned in the form of a straw witch. It is the final parade of Fasnacht. >From the "Dreifaltigkeitsberg" (Mt. Trinity), where the self-built torches are lit, the parade moves past the church to the Bleiche, a hill above the town. As the band plays, the pyre is lit and the witch, symbol of Fasnacht goes up in flames. Fasnet witches are desperately trying to save Fasnacht, but it is too late.

As we return to Weil am Rhein, we witness another fire custom, the "Scheibenschlagen." As the burning disk is thrown, the thrower sends along a wish.

In Liesthal near Basel, "Funkensonntag" is a veritable inferno with "Kienbesen" (broom torches) and fiery wagons, which are paraded through the old town. Even children and women build their Kienbesen and stack their wagons with wood. The Kienbesen and wagons are taken to the starting place of the parade. At 7:15 p.m. all lights in town are turned off. The children up front, the burning wagons are pulled through the city gate into the center of town. After one hours it is all over. The fire department, which has been standing by, extinguishes the fires. It is a miracle that this town still stands.

Those who still feel like celebrating will now move on to Basel, where the "Alte Fasnacht" is celebrated from Monday through Wednesday after Ash Wednesday. The three-day celebration is one of the oldest carnivals (recorded as early as 1376). Children's festivities are usually Tuesday evening, but children participate at all stages of the event.

The Alte Fasnacht in Basel begins Monday morning with the "Morgenstraich." At the darkest time of night, it is 4:00 a.m., and every light in the old city is turned off. At the stroke of the clock, the drumbeat of the "Guggenmusik" can be heard as participants begin to stream out of their quarter of the city. They come from all directions marching to the same cadence and playing the same tune over and over again on little penny whistles or piccolo-type flutes. The only lights are those that the marchers carry with them, a little bulb bobbing, down in front of them from a headdress or mask. The old festival tradition says that the beating drums are to drive away the spirits of winter and darkness so that springtime and sunshine needed for good crops can take over. All of them are in costume. There are app. 15,000 masked participants and 100,000 spectators. Over 200 large lanterns and many small ones are carried through town for 1 1/2 hours. The large lanterns display the subject of each individual "clique," as the societies are called here. Some groups are in uniform costume and others have varied dress. The masks, some very elaborate, represent animals, folklore figures, monsters, celebrities.

When the last group of marchers has passed the crowd of watchers, they follow the parade down into the city center. The next order of business is to go inside a restaurant and have a steaming bowl of "Mehlsuppe" (flour soup) or "Zwiebelkuchen" (onion quiche). Groups continue marching about the city all day long. Anywhere you go, you may encounter six or more costumed marchers with a drum and whistles, playing that same tune over and over. At noon there is the "formal" parade with even more wonderful costumes as well as floats depicting various themes from folklore and linked to the old roots of the festival. Each clique has its subject, something they will comment on or poke fun off. The people on the floats hand out poetry in the local dialect to onlookers who are "worthy"--that means those who have purchased and wear a commemorative pin sold by groups supporting the festival. If an onlooker without a pin approaches a float he gets a dump of confetti or other "negative" reaction from the riders. The lengthy poems given out, explain the floats subject, and may sometimes be worth a prize from a local merchant. But they are in the local dialect and you have to be able to read it. Eulis (Eulenspiegel), children as well as adults with caps and donkey ears, can be seen. They are in the tradition of Sebastian Brandt who published his Narrenschiff (Ship of Fools) for the 1494 Basel Fasnet and depicted fools in caps with donkey ears.

The music, including Guggenmusik continues in the alleys in small groups or individuals. Tuesday is the day for Guggenmusik.

This is video Order Nr. EB 24. For those interested in learning more about Fasnacht/Fasnet, "Treffpunkt," a German Television Series of SDR/SWF that broadcasts half hour programs on folklore subjects, made videos of several of these celebrations. All videos are in color, and in German, app. 30 minutes. Available from the
German Language Video Center
7625 Pendleton Pike
Indianapolis, IN 46226