Laupen BE celebrates 100 years of “Achetringele”
Published: Saturday, Dec 30th 2023, 14:10
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On New Year's Eve in the canton of Bern, the people of Laupen celebrate the custom of "Achetringele" in its current form for the hundredth time. With bells and jingles, juniper brooms, pig's bladders and scary masks, evil spirits are driven out and the new year is welcomed in.
After the last bell rings at 8 p.m., the sound of bells and carillons can be heard from Laupen Castle, which towers high above the town. A procession sets off in the darkness. The leader leads the procession with a five-meter-high pole to which a juniper broom is attached.
He is followed by the twelve "broom men", all wearing fearsome wooden masks. The procession stops on Läubliplatz and the leader announces the New Year's Eve proclamation.
Then the bells ring again. The broom men lower their brooms and drive them into the audience. A little later, the leader announces the New Year's proclamation.
Wilde Hatz
Then a wild chase begins. Parade participants equipped with "Söiblaatere", i.e. inflated pig bladders, chase the spectators and beat them with the balloon-like pig bladders in order to put an end to the last ghosts. This is great fun for young and old alike.
The parade as we know it today first took place a hundred years ago, as the organizers write on their website. The wooden masks used today were made in Brienz BE in 1924. Three of the masks bear names: the leader, the "Hörnligödu" and the "Zibelegring". The leader's motto also dates from this time.
However, the custom itself is probably much older. One interpretation links the "Achetringele" to the Yule festival of the Germanic tribes. It was celebrated on the winter solstice. Noisy processions as a folk custom exist almost everywhere in the world.
Against devils, witches and demons
Incidentally, "Achetringele" means something like "ringing down". The old year is therefore rung down. Juniper, which the "broom men" carry with them, is believed to ward off devils, witches and demons.
There are numerous Old Year's and New Year's Eve traditions with masks and trycheln in the canton of Bern. For example, the Ubersitz in Meiringen, the Harderpotschete in Interlaken and the Pelzmartiga in Kandersteg.
www.achetringele.ch
©Keystone/SDA
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