Friday, April 15, 2011

Sechseläuten

15 April 2011

Sechseläuten is a traditional spring festival in Zurich. The largest of the Zurich festival's, it is a public holiday in Zurich but not the rest of Switzerland. Its name means ringing of the six oclock bells. In medieval times, working hours were controlled by the city of Zurich. In winter, workers toiled as long as there was daylight but in summer the church bells rang at six o'clock to signal an end to the working day. Back then, anyone wanting to pursue a craft had to apprentice with a guild and so guilds wielded a lot of power. They celebrated the first day of summer with parties in their guild houses - I'm guessing alcohol was involved.

The guilds lost much of their power when Napoleon invaded and gradually became social, rather than political, organizations. The Sechseläuten is a way for the guilds to remind us they're still here and has been going on since the 19th century.

The party - and it is one long party - begins on Friday evening when the guilds invite important guests (each year from a different canton) to hear brass bands ... and alcohol is definitely involved.


Couple on their way to Friday party. Our invitation must have been lost in the mail, along with our invite to the Royal Wedding. Sigh. The postal service.

On Sunday, alcohol is replaced by candy floss and huge balloons as children - anyone dressed in period costume is welcome but I think most of the groups of children were associated with a guild - parade through the old part of town.  There are also floats and animals - my favorite were the long haired camels.

Isn't he cute?










Part of the parade features children from countries of the world.


The main festivities occur on Monday and here alcohol - and plenty of it - reappears. In fact, many of the participants of this parade walk the route drinking beer or wine. Some of the participants even go along with a flagon of wine and plastic glasses and pass out booze to the parade watchers. Sigh. All I got was a bunch of flowers.  Only members of the 26 guilds- and their children - are allowed to take part in this parade. The parade is HUGE. 







Here are the flowers I was given - a whole bouquet! The parade participants hand out flowers and candy. The bakers guild throws dinner rolls and the wine guild shares wine. Somebody else handed out packaged cookies.






throwing candy







0ver 7,000 participants in historic costumes representing the city's 26 guilds, 500 horses, 28 music corps, as well as 50 horse drawn vehicles - nothing motorized is allowed - and carriages form one of the biggest processions of its kind in Europe. About 100000 people show up to watch the parade, with the festivities broadcast all over Europe.

The parade ends in a large square in front of the Opera House. Here is a towering pyre topped by the Böögg, a cloth snowman figure representing winter who was paraded through the streets at the end of the children's parade. The pyre is lit at exactly six o'clock and  the horsemen from various guilds take turns riding wildly around it.  As the fire licks upwards, loud bangs signal its progress. Soon, sparks and flames are shooting up and out: I don't know how the horses do it.  How long it takes for the flames to reach the Böögg's explosive filled head predicts the length of summer (sort of a Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Day thing). The shorter the time it takes for the poor guy to lose his head, the better summer will be.










This year, the Böögg's head blew off in 10 minutes and 56 seconds, a very short time. Summer should be long and beautiful: just as the rest of the seasons have been since we moved here.  The party doesn't end with the Böögg's demise. Many people hang around, using shovels to gather up some coals and then have their own bar b que parties. 

Greg and our friend Dottie and I were able to snag a table in an Italian restaurant where we had a wonderful meal as we watched brass bands go by, still playing merrily along. When Greg and I got off the tram outside our local tavern - which also happens to be a guild house - we found our guild's band playing away.









It takes stamina to be a guild member in Zurich.



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Guilds in In Zurich, the guilds used to be powerful, economic, political and military organisations. If one was not a member of a guild, one was not allowed to work as a craftsman.

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