Fasching, Maschkera, Oimrausch: pre-Lent shenanigans in southern Germany
This ain’t no Hallowe’en1.
In southern Germany, this is Fasching, known also as Werdenfelser Fosanacht, to go along with the masks for Maschkera. It’s also about about distinctions and differences by comparison with Karneval on the Rhein.
Festivities take place before Catholic Lent, and the key idea behind the wild colourful costumes and wooden masks is the very pagan origin and ritual of driving out or driving away evil spirits of winter lurking inside people and their homes and welcoming the friendly spirits of spring for a productive growing season.
Winter Festival
Here in the Werdenfelser Land of southern Bavaria, Fasching begins on the first Sunday after Heilige Drei Könige (Epiphany) and ends on the night of Faschingsdienstag (Shrove Tuesday) at midnight. Important dates for Fasching and Maschkera include:
- 1st Sunday after Heilige Drei Könige (Epiphany).
- Unsinniger Donnerstag: Crazy Thursday; a.k.a. Fat Thursday, 6 days before Ash Wednesday.
- Fastnachtssamstag: Carnival Saturday, 4 days before Ash Wednesday.
- Fastnachtssonntag: Carnival Sunday, 3 days before Ash Wednesday.
- Rosenmontag: Shrove Monday; a.k.a. Carnival Monday, Frolic Monday.
- Faschingsdienstag, Fastnachtsdienstag: Shrove Tuesday; a.k.a. Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras.
- Aschermittwoch: Ash Wednesday, the 1st of 40 days for Lent, leading to Easter.
1 Hallowe’en follows the Celtic ritual of appeasing spirits with sweets on the night before All Saints’ Day.
“Tour de Badakurch”, Partenkirchen
German Alpine towns on Sunday are supposed to be quiet. But on this Faschingssontag (Carnival Sunday), the crowd noise from down the street is something entirely different.
Around 1pm, the “Tour de Badakurch” bicycle race is in full effect, but the “Maschkera Radl Rennen” is no ordinary race. To mark the annual Fasching festival here in the Loisach river valley, the Sunday bike race through Partenkirchen involves decorated bicycles and riders outfitted with garish colourful costumes. There are race judges: it’s not about best speed, but completely about the costume.
Maschkera, Mittenwald
It’s Faschingsdienstag (Shrove Tuesday) and a cry pierces the daytime murmur in town: “YOO-hoo-hoooo!”
Some time passes, and there it goes again, as a second voice begins when the first voice ends. It sounds like “yodelus interruptus”, pinned between inquiry and declaration. It seems as if each cry is stuck between a question of timing to call out and a statement of intent to let loose.
Mittenwald is a town best known for its history of violin-making, but it’s not surprising people apt at shaping wood would also create masks for the season. It’s the time of year for residents to dig out the Holzlarven (wooden masks). Some masks and costumes are available in local shops, but the tradition is carried out by residents with inherited masks and costumes some of which have been passed down over generations. The masks are supposed to hide the true identity of festival participants who might also change their speaking voice and regular gait to enhance their disguise. Whatever mischief occurs and whatever happens during Maschkera stays inside Maschkera. Letting loose also means making fun of authority, which makes the disguise an important part of past tradition to mock without threat or penalty.
The exact history of Maschkera, masks, and customs is lost in history. But with some masks centuries old, every hand-carved and -painted wood mask has its own story: so many masks, so little time. And as for the colourful patchwork “Fleckerl” costume, if you guessed its construction with odds and ends and bits and pieces from whatever was found around the house, you’d be correct. The old tradition has the costume passed from father to son; I prefer to think that any parent will pass their beloved traditions to their daughters and sons.
Short 1-Minute Video Below
I made all photos and the video on 26 and 28 February 2017 with a Canon EOS6D mark1. I’m grateful to Alpenwelt Karwendel for their advice. Die Fotoaufnahmen sind mit Wasserzeichen versehen worden. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-aYX. Last edit: 9 Feb 2024.
More
• My pictorial examination of Mittenwald, in winter & spring.
• Tour de Badakurch, auf BR24/ARD, 27.02.2017: “na ja, dumm gelaufen!”
• Unsinniger Donnerstag in Mittenwald, Merkur, 8.2.2024.
• Maschkera-Gehen: Fasching in Mittenwald, Schwarz auf Weiss Reisemagazin.
8 Responses to “Fasching, Maschkera, Oimrausch: pre-Lent shenanigans in southern Germany”
Love it, love it and love it.
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Hah, I’m glad you liked seeing the pictures! I had a lot of fun witnessing Fasching-Mashkera, and I hope to see more of Karneval throughout the country in the future.
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Have you ever been in Venice for the Carneval, a feast for the eyes and lens.
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Unfortunately, I’ve not been to Venice, although I’ve read about and seen the pictures from the festivities there.
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[…] By the way, if you would like to learn more about the Fasching/Karneval in these parts, and the ancient traditions associated with the casting out of bad spirits after the winter months, and welcoming the good spirits for a productive spring, look no further than this wonderful post from Fotoeins… […]
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Thank you for the referral, Emma!
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[…] The trio of Bacardi, Tequila, and Whiskey are set and ready to go. For the pre-Lent festival of Maschkera or Fasching, people dress up in wildly colourful costumes, and there’s a playful bicycle race in Partenkirchen on Carnival Sunday – 26 Feb 2017 (HL, 6D1); more here. […]
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[…] southern Germany, an entertaining aspect of the Fasching carnival season is the wearing of “Holzlarven” masks which are individually hand-crafted from wood. A […]
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