FIFTY YEARS OF NARRENZUNFT KAPPEL (Satis Shroff, Freiburg-Kappel)

(The Fifth Season in Switzerland and Germany)

In the old days Rose Monday was an old tradition during which petals were strewn by the costumed knaves and witches,  with roses thrown to the spectators gathered in the cobbled streets of European towns and hamlets. But today it has been replaced by the ubiquitous confetti that rains upon the heads of all and sundry.

Since the winter is long, cold, bitter and melancholic in the northern hemisphere the people rejoice and engage in merriment its banishment. Even in ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used to greet the season of Spring, with celebrations  and processions. The Celtic people drove away winter with rites and we retained the masks of the Alpine spirits (Berggeister), rattles, clubs and other trappings to this day such as the swine’s bladder in Elzach, long sticks with feathers or animal’s tails and big bells of the Feathered Hannes in Rottweil and Schramberg.

The biggest Rose Monday parades undoubtedly take place in Berlin, Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf, with millions of jolly visitors rejoicing in the streets, taverns, inns, bistros and cafes. In big cities  the carneval takes on a commercial character but in smaller towns and hamlets old customs and traditions still play an important role.

The word carneval is derived from carne vale which means adieu to meat-eating. The word ‘Fasching’ comes from ‘Vaschang,’ an old German word: Fastenschank. The people in Southern Germany celebrate the Allemanic Fasnacht (Fasnet) and in Northern Germany we have the Rhein carneval. Every village has its own Fasnet custom and tradition. Fasting on religious days is also practised in other religions like the Ramadan and Bairan among the Islamic communities in Europe and elsewhere. In India and Nepal fasting is done regularly in the weekends. I remember my Mom fasting on Sundays and meditating, carrying out rituals and reading religious texts from her copy of the Vedas.

It was the church under Pope Gregor which brought a forty-day fasting period till Easter in the year 600, but in 1091 the commencement of Fasnet was brought back to Ash Wednesday. Forty days without meat became the rule, which led to a lot of creativity in the kitchens and bakeries and delicious sweet meat and fatty food became a tradition. In Basle (Switzerland) we have the flour-soup (Mehlsuppe) to strengthen yourself after the Morgenstraich, in Schramberg the Brezelsegen, which is a blessing with its salty bread rings.

What the carneval is to the Rheinländer, the Schwabian-Allemanic Fasnet to Germany’s Southerners, are ‘drey scheenste Dääg,’ three beautiful days to the Swiss. And they prefer piccolo flutes, drums and narrow lanes: pfyffe, drummle und gässle. But this time they also an official disco for young people with dancing space for 800 persons in Basle. The dance floor will be full of, litres of alcohol in the blood to the sound of DJ LukJLite, with Guggemusik in between, which is a tremendous combination of brass and purcussions for your tympanic delight. Finger-food is also ‘in.’ Willi Borner of the Seibi Clique and Andreas Zappala of Pfluderi Clique say in unison that ‘the Swiss Fasnacht has an entirely other culture and tradition.’ We have to remember that Switzerland was always a free country, without the involvement and trauma of war, refugees, misery, poverty and rampaging occupation troops. For a slab of chocolate you’d even sell your soul if you knew what hunger was in those days. The Swiss were aloof from the rest of Europe with their unique policy of neutrality.

In Basle a mask is called a Larve and confetti is Räppli. Don’t you call it otherwise when you’re in Switzerland, and you don’t take part in a procession. The Swiss word for it is cortege. The Gugge musicians appreciate it if you wear a ‘Larve’ instead of just putting on fancy make-up. Even private persons are obliged to wear masks instead of a clown’s scarlet plastic nose. Don’t forget to eat a Mehlsuppe when the sun comes up and the cortege is over.  It’s the done thing. And please don’t make a fool out of yourself by shouting ‘Narri!’ when in Switzerland. The Swiss won’t reply with a ‘Narro!’ They’ll just shake their heads from left to right with disgust.

On January 17, 2010 the Narrenzunft-Kappel, which is just another name for the Schauinsland Berggeister (Spirits of the Mountains) celebrated their 50^th anniversary by inviting 105 cliques with their bands. The procession was led by Musikverein Kappel, followed by Guggenmusik Krüzsteigguggis Oberried, Kolbädrescher Gündlingen, Sioux-West with native Indian drums and authentic costumes, Spielmannszug Kirchzarten, Latschari Clique, Schmuggelergilde Fanfarenzug Warmbach, Fanfarenzug Alpirsbach, Musik Freunde, Guggenmusik Mühlbach, Musikverein Buchenbach, Guggenmusik Bläch Fezza Kirchzarten, Fanfarenzug Karsau and the Musikverein Lenzkirch Kappel.

The participants had developed cold feet because it was a cold wintry day and there was still snow in the nearby Schwarzwald hills. They were glad to have drinks, brezel and other Fasnet delicacies in the warmth of the big town hall and school rooms. We, from the Männergesangsverein did our share by selling drinks to the costumed revellers and did a brisk business. There they were: the people sans masks, pardon Larve. Actually very polite and nice to get along with. After all that beer drinking some male witches started watering the lawn of the Festhalle, not due to lack of toilets but as a matter of habit. My friend Klaus Sütterle shouted at ‘em but they couldn’t care less. This doesn’t happen in Switzerland, you know. When the writer Ephraim Kishon tok a walk with his wife and dropped a piece of chocolate paper a Swiss gentleman came up to him with his thrown paper in the hand and said, ‘Sir, you’ve dropped something.’ Kishon was embarrassed indeed. However, the cleanest country in Europe isn’t Switzerland, but Finland.

About the Author: Satis Shroff is a prolific writer and teaches Creative Writing at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. He is the published author of three books on www.Lulu.com: Im Schatten des Himalaya (book of poems in German), Through Nepalese Eyes (travelogue), Katmandu, Katmandu (poetry and prose anthology by Nepalese authors, edited by Satis Shroff). His lyrical works have been published in literary poetry sites: Slow Trains, International Zeitschrift, World Poetry Society (WPS), New Writing North, Muses Review, The Megaphone, The Megaphone, Pen Himalaya, Interpoetry. Satis Shroff is a member of “Writers of Peace”, poets, essayists, novelists (PEN), World Poetry Society (WPS) and The Asian Writer.

Satis Shroff is a poet and writer based in Freiburg (poems, fiction, non-fiction) who also writes on ecological, ethno-medical, culture-ethnological themes. He has studied Zoology and Botany  in Nepal, Medicine and Social Sciences in Germany and Creative Writing in Freiburg and the United Kingdom. He describes himself as a mediator between western and eastern cultures and sees his future as a writer and poet. Since literature is one of the most important means of cross-cultural learning, he is dedicated to promoting and creating awareness for Creative Writing and transcultural togetherness in his writings, and in preserving an attitude of Miteinander in this world. He lectures in Basle (Switzerland) and in Germany at the Akademie für medizinische Berufe (University Klinikum Freiburg) and the Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen (University of Freiburg). Satis Shroff was awarded the German Academic Exchange Prize.

Due to his very pleasant personality and in-depth experience in both South Asian, as well as Western workstyles and living, Satis Shroff brings with him a cultural sensitivity that is refined. His writings have always reflected the positive attributes of optimism, tolerance, and a need to explain and to describe without looking down on either his subject or his reader.  (Kanak Mani Dixit, Himal Southasia, Kathmandu)

Satis Shroff  writes with intelligence, wit and grace. (Bruce Dobler, Associate Professor in Creative Writing MFA, University of Iowa).

‘Satis Shroff writes political poetry, about the war in Nepal, the sad fate of the Nepalese people, the emergence of neo-fascism in Germany. His bicultural perspective makes his poems rich, full of awe and at the same time heartbreakingly sad. I writing ‘home,’ he not only returns to his country of origin time and again, he also carries the fate of his people to readers in the West, and his task of writing thus is also a very important one in political terms. His true gift is to invent Nepalese metaphors and make them accessible to the West through his poetry.’ (Sandra Sigel, Writer, Germany).

'The manner in which Satis Shroff writes takes the reader right along with him. Extremely vivid and just enough and the irony of the music. Beautiful prosaic thought and astounding writing.
'Your muscles flex, the nerves flatter, the heart gallops,
As you feel how puny you are,
Among all those incessant and powerful waves.'
“Satis Shroff's writing is refined – pure undistilled.” (Susan