Achetringele

The Achetringele is an old New Year's Eve tradition held in the municipality of Laupen. It takes place on 31 December at 8 pm in the historic town center of Laupen and attracts hundreds of locals and visitors from home and abroad. In a noisy procession, the masked "Besen- und Blateremannli", followed by the "Glöggelern", walk down from the castle and drive the evil spirits out of the town with their long juniper brooms and the loud ringing of bells. The leader says goodbye to the old year and welcomes the new one. At the end, the wooden masks are removed and the audience is teased with the inflated and dried beef bladders. This so-called "Brätsche" is loud, but painless.

History

The Achetringele probably has its roots in old pagan customs and traditions relating to the winter solstice. The first written records date back to the 19th century, when the Laupen council banned the "wild goings-on" in 1827, which originally took place on Christmas Day and was therefore a thorn in the side of the parish priest in particular. Despite this, the tradition continued, but from then on on New Year's Eve. The parade in its current form has been taking place since 1923. The painter Ernst Ruprecht from Laupen created the designs for the wooden masks of the Besenmannli, which were carved in Brienz, and also introduced the leader's motto. Some of the animal skins worn by the Besenmannli also date from this period.

Meaning

The Achetringele is part of a wide range of wintry noise parades. Prominent sibling traditions include the Silvesterchlausen in Urnäsch and the Tschäggätä in the Lötschental. Similar traditions are widespread throughout the Alps. What is unique is that the Achetringele is performed exclusively by children and young people.

Changing with the times

Whereas in the past only boys from Laupen were allowed to take part in the Achetringele, for some years now it has been a matter of course that girls and interested children and young people from the surrounding villages can also actively take part.

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.