by Hans
Gehl, translated by Nick
Tullius Article is a portion
taken from "Rosemary in the Life of the Danube Swabians" and photos
have been added for your pleasure.
In the Banat, the Kirchweih-parade took place with
the “maypole” ("Majebaum") being brought into the village,
and it was followed by the parade of the Kirchweih-couples carrying
a rosemary bouquet about one metre tall and decorated with ribbons,
which was the second symbol of the festivity. This bouquet,
usually with a quince as its base, was usually called (in Orzidorf
and Grabatz, for example) “main bouquet” (“Vorstrauß”)
because it was carried by the “first girl dancer” (“Vortänzerin”)
ahead of the Kirchwei-procession. If bouquets were auctioned
off on Saturday and on Sunday, then the first one was called
"evening bouquet" (“Owedsstrauß”) or "little bouquet" (“kleener
Strauß”) to which (for example in Billed) a "little Kerwei
poem" (kleener Kerweihspruch) was recited. To
differentiate it from the little bouquet, the Sunday bouquet was
called "large bouquet" (“großer Strauß”).
In Potsch (Southern Hungary) the boys marched around to
wish people a happy festivity and to invite them to participate. Every
invited person received a bouquet (“Kirmesstrauß”) made by the
“bouquet girls” (“Straußmädchen")
and contributed a donation of money. The bouquet was a branch of
rosemary decorated with ribbons of various colours, set into an apple.
In addition to these individual bouquets passed on to all guests as a
symbol of the Kirchweih, there was a large bouquet similar to the one in
the Banat, which was carried at the head of all processions & was
subsequently auctioned off.
A document from the nineteenth century describes the
Kirchweih in the Hungarian Lowlands of the Danube Monarchy and mentions
the Banat Kirchweih bouquet:
“After the mass they proceed to a specific house for
lunch and from there to the store, where they decorated the rosemary
bouquet with ribbons of all colours and formed themselves into a large
procession2.”
Following the procession, the “first dancer” (“Vortänzer”)
auctioned off the bouquet, sometimes also the small bouquets made from
the large one. In Nitzkydorf they were
called "loops" (“Schlepp”). In 1970 they auctioned off 315 loops.
Because that took much too long, they introduced the
"small bouquet dance“("Sträußleinaustanzen"). Whoever wished
to, would have a short dance with the “first girl dancer,” handed the
“first dancer” some money, and received from him a sprig of rosemary (it
could be a rose, as in Darowa) and a glass of wine. The despoiled trunk
of the large bouquet (called “Storze”) was also auctioned off and
the money received was given to the “first girl dancer.” In
some communities, such as Kleinsanktnikolaus, Liebling, Sackelhausen and
Wilagosch, the person obtaining the large bouquet auctioned off Sunday
by the barrel would become "first dancer“ for the following year2.
[Published at DVHH.org 02 Feb 2007
by Jody McKim, Translated by Nick Tullius]
Marichen Hermann & then future
husband
Karoly Székely
(Mercydorf Kirchweih)
Photos:
Mercydorf Kirchweih ~
Hermann Family Collection
Contributed by Jody McKim
