reblog

Everything you wanted to know about Basel Fasnacht but were afraid to ask.

What is Basel Fasnacht?

Fasnacht is a festival that takes place each year in Basel starting the Monday after Shrove Tuesday and finishing on Thursday morning. Although “Fasnacht” is the Swiss-German word for “carnival”, the Basel Fasnacht is quite unlike the carnivals taking place in other places around the start of Lent. For a start, the “Carnival” that many people know is a Roman Catholic event - and RCs are far and few between here in Basel.

The participants (known as “Fasnächtler“) dress up in weird and wonderful costumes and masks, play music, carry around pictorial lanterns depicting satirical themes (known as the “Sujet“) and perform and distribute satirical poems (Schnitzelbängväärs) and do so for three days back-to-back.

In spite of its outward appearance of frivolity, Fasnacht can at times be a serious pastime for the participants. This is not entertainment for outsiders, it is actually for the insiders. But outsiders are welcome to watch.

Who are the Fasnächtler?

The Fasnächtler can be divided into two main groups, the Cliquen and the Guggemusige. Both groups have in common that they wear colourful costumes and masks. Where they differ is in the kind of instruments and music that they play.

As the name suggests, a Clique is a kind of club whose purpose is to participate in Fasnacht. Their instruments of choice are the piccolo and the drum and they play marching music. The tunes are drawn from a variety of countries - some Swiss but also British and American so expats may well hear tunes that are familiar to them.

The Guggemusige (called Gugge - local dialect for ‘paper bag’ - for short) are a big brass band who play popular songs but deliberately off-key. The way it works is that one or two members will play the actual melody and the rest of the band will play any old thing. The drums and beaten up instruments are so loud that they often drown out the Cliques - which the Cliques don’t like but the tolerate. Also, the Gugge sometimes take their masks off while playing and are known to drink alcohol during the rest periods - something that the Cliques claim not to do.

Not all Fasnächtler take part in official Cliques and will walk around in mask and costume in their own small bands of maximum half a dozen. These are known as “Wild Fasnächtler”. Added to that are the Schyssdräggziigli (ask a Swiss friend what this word means) who are even less formal.

What about the costumes and masks?

The whole outfit - mask and costume - are known as the Maasge. The mask on its own is the Larve or dr Kopf. The masks are generally made out of papier-mâché and can depict a variety of different faces and expressions. Many Cliques will have more than one costume for the three days and this together with the mask is used to depict the Clique’s theme or Sujet.

There are also certain “characters” who turn up each year. The best known of these are the Waggis who have large teeth, a big nose and wear wooden clogs and a red, white and blue costume. The Waggis were originally a caricature of the Alsatian farmers who would sell their wares at the Basel street market. The Waggis are the ones who throw confetti - Räppli - and oranges at you.

Other characters include the Alti Dante (old spinster), Ueli (the court jester), Harlekin (Harlequin), and the Pierrot.

What is the order of events?

Monday - Morgestraich

The opening shots of Fasnacht take place at 4am on the Monday morning in an event called Morgestraich which is a kind of wake-up bugle-call. In the time leading up to 4am, the groups of Fasnachtler (known as “Cliques”) gather at various points around town as do the spectators who cram in to get a good view. Everybody is supposed to hush while the church clocks start to chime 4am, and as they reach the last chime, the streetlights and shop lights are all supposed to be switched off.

At this very moment, somebody shouts, “Morgestraich! Vorwärtsmarcsh!”, at which the Clique bands spring into life, playing marching tunes on their piccolos and drums and carrying their huge painted lanterns (Stäggeladäärne) on long poles. Some Clique members carry smaller lanterns on their heads (Kopfladäärne).

The lanterns are constructed by stretching canvas over a frame and are illuminated from the inside by gas or battery-powered lamps. They depict the theme or Sujet that the Clique is presenting and this is normally something satirical about events of the past year. The recent Iraq war and the financial woes at Swiss are examples of the Sujets in 2003. Painting the lantern is a professional job and can take upto six weeks to complete.

The Cliques continue to march around however the crowds start to thin after an hour and a lot of people either go home or to restaurants for Määlsuppe (flour soup) or Ziibelwaije (onion tart) and as the sun rises a lot of people go home to catch up on sleep. Some people even go to work although a lot of shops and offices close for the duration.

Monday - The Cortége

This starts at 1.30pm and it is a procession of the Cliques, Guggemuusige and decorated floats or wagons or Wääge. From the floats, teams of Waggis hand out sweets and oranges and they cover everybody with buckets full of confetti. No matter how thoroughly you wash your clothes afterwards, you will find bits of confetti in your washing machine for about six months after Fasnacht has ended.

The different bands march in and out of each other and the whole thing becomes a frenzy of colour and sound.

The best places to observe the Cortége are Claraplatz, Mittlerebrucke, Marktplatz, Wettsteinbrucke and Barfüsserplatz though you are advised to watch your pockets as pickpockets are known to operate on these occasions.

Tuesday - Gugge, Kinderfasnacht, Ladäärneusstellig

Tuesday is the big day for the children. This is when the younger Clique members get to strut their stuff and march through the streets with instruments, costumes, masks and all.

Also, on the Tuesday the Cliques make a static exhibition of their lanterns on Münsterplatz so you can try and figure out the ones you missed.

Tuesday is also the big day for the Gugge, and in the evening there are concerts held on Marktplatz, Barfüsserplatz and Claraplatz.

Wednesday

If you missed the parade in Monday, there is a repeat one on the Wednesday afternoon. Then the real work begins as the Cliques and the Gugge work up to the climax which is when the clocks strike 4am on the Thursday morning. At this point everything stops dead. The reverse of Morgestraich!

The Fasnächtler take their masks off and collapse in the nearest restaurant.

What are the Cliquekäller, Zeedel and Schnitzelbängg?

The Cliquekäller are the clubhouses of the Cliques and these are opened up to the public during the Fasnacht period. It is here that the Cliques discuss their plans for things like Sujet and costume. The Cliquekäller are marked with a small lantern outside and it is in these that the real fun is to be had.

The Clique’s poets write poems based on the Sujet which are printed on strips of paper known as Zeedel. These are handed out by the cliques as they march around town. The poems are written in Basel dialect.

In the Cliquekäller groups of people known as Schnitzelbänggler will sing or recite funny verses known as Schnitzelbängg using a flipchart to illustrate the joke. Again these will often be about news items of the day and can be extremely cutting. The humour is not crude but very subtle and in many ways is much like British humour. The best Schnitzelbängg can be quoted years after they were first uttered.

The weeks after

On one of the three Sundays after Fasnacht, the Cliques and Gugge will travel to a nearby town or village to eat, drink and play music. This they will do in plain clothes - no masks, costumes or lanterns.

How is it all organised and paid for?

The Comité is the organising body of Fasnacht and its 10-15 members are duty bound to look after the interests of Fasnacht and the Cliques. They raise money by selling the Blagedde - metal badges - and they hand out subsidies to the Cliques, Gugge and Wääge.

In order to get a subsidy, the Cliques, Gugge and Wääge must satisfy the Comité that they have reached a sufficient quality with their processions and music.

What is the origin of Basel Fasnacht

The Fasnacht as it is celebrated today has been going for about 80 years. There had been carnival-like events before this which were staged by the guilds and mainly resembled military parades with boys dressed according to the army ranks of their fathers.

Such events were only really open to native Baslers and not to outsiders such as the communities of immigrants from Southern Germany, who were excluded from the various political, social and economic activities of the city.

As a reaction to this the immigrants took to forming their own clubs and societies which had their own festivities which included introducing many elements of the carnivals celebrated in German Catholic towns including the masks and the costumes but still retaining much of the military feel of the Basel event. The various ingredients such as the masks, costumes, lanterns and poems evolved during the nineteenth century.

The Gugge concept came into being in the late 1800s however they remained quite rare until after World War II - during which Fasnacht was suspended.

Are there any dos and don’ts I need to be aware of?

1. Buy a Blagedde and wear it visibly. This indicates you have made your contribution to the event. Expect to be confetti-ed if you are without.
2. Don’t block the way of the Cliques and Gugge.
3. No flash photography.
4. No fireworks.
5. If you are not a Fasnächtler, leave your fancy dress at home.
6. Don’t throw confetti or other objects at the participants. If confetti is thrown at you, take it in good humour and do not return fire.
7. Come early if you want to see Morgestraich
8. Take care with prams and pushchairs and keep an eye on your children.
9. Beware of pickpockets.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 23rd, 2005 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Fasnacht. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.