Feiertage in Schweinersdorf - Geschichten_en_v3

Schweinersdorf  Easter  Memories

During the holidays, there was a lot going on at the farm and in the house, because we often had relatives over and the room was filled with a lot of like-minded people.

Lunch was a real pleasure, and in the afternoon there was also coffee and various cakes. We hadn't even finished the cake when a snack was served. Aunt Resi did much of the work, with Grandma helping while she was alive; but later Aunt Resi did it all by herself. The older the girls grew, the more they helped. Hospitality, in any case, was a priority. House and home were always open for the many relatives. God will reward this.


Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, the last one out of bed was called the Palm Donkey. The Palm Donkey was mocked and laughed at, and had to carry the pussywillows from the farm to the procession and Consecration in the chapel.

In the early days, the carrying of the pussywillows was the task of the ''guardian boy'' or ''peasant Mitter''.
Pussywillows were bound together with ''Thuya''  branches. In other areas, other greenery was added. A section of pussywillow about 40cm was cut. It was used for the so-called „burn". This piece was grooved on both sides to allow you to make a cross, which you could hold into the fire without getting sooty or burning yourself, because the wood burned easily. A thick wire was attached to the middle so that it could be put into the sacred fire and retrieved. The sacred fire was lit at the church for Resurrection Sunday late Saturday or very early on Sunday morning. It was guarded and kept burning until sunrise. This was definitely more exciting than the Palm Donkey's role.


Easter
On Easter, we always set off right after the Easter breakfast to arrive in time for the field blessing. We brought colorful eggshells from our blessed eggs and headed off with Grandpa, Uncle Schoß and the other children to the various wheat fields. We put a piece of the crossed pussywillows in the middle and at the corners of the fields and added the blessed eggshells. Sometimes we even buried a whole egg. Then we sprinkeld the cross and the shells with Holy Water that Uncle Schoß had brought in a beer stein. Some people brought the remains of their Easter breakfast ham with horseradish. The crossed pussywillow branches were tied to the ''Thuye'' branches. God's protection was thus invoked to bless the work and the harvest.

On the way, we often saw Easter bunnies streak across the fields, losing their little chocolate eggs and sometimes even coins, which we excitedly gathered. Oddly enough, they were exactly the same chocolate eggs which had been in my mother's coat pocket, and the coins were found in precisely the path Grandfather or Uncle Schoß had followed. So it was best to follow close behind them!

A few of the blessed pussywillow branches were always put behind the Holy Cross in the kitchen, for both protection and decoration. Likewise, a small branch and a little piece of the burnt branch were fixed to the doors of the stable to ensure fertility and protection from misfortune.

When my father was a child, there were still peasants on the farm. At Easter, the maids had some eggs. Some they colored red for their lovers. It was customary in the evening for the lovers to receive a red egg. I knew that one of my cousins, at the appropriate age, had a few young men come by to get a red egg, along with a promise to go out together one day.

Field blessing, Schweinersdorf 1973[JWM73]


Feldweihe, Inzkofen 2013 [JWC13]

Fair time
We always went to the fair at Schweinersdorf. There was something very special for us children: ''Kirtahutsch.'' That was a long ladder with two boards attached, mounted horizotally, and hung from the roofbeams of the cow shed with long iron chains. There were many children seated next to each other on the boards, which swung not only back and forth, but also from side to side. The neighborhood kids were often there too. We even had music from the old turntable; songs like, ''Heart-ache is not Worth it'', ''My Friend the Tree,'' or ''Rose Garden.'' Sometimes the adults joined us; at least the men had a turn on the ''Kirtahutsch.''

For the women, the convesation at the fair revolved around ''Kirtanudeln.''
It was like an unspoken competition. Each woman's ambition was to make the most beautiful ''Kirtanudeln,'' and Aunt Mali and Aunt Pat, my father's two sisters, also brought some with them to Schweinersdorf. Grandma and Aunt Resi had, of course, also baked. Finally the ''Kirtanudeln'' were all examined and compared secretly. The four corners of the ''Kirtanudeln'' should be as uniform as possible. On appearances, Aunt Mali's always won. It didn't matter to me what they looked like. They all tasted excellent! I've never liked raisins, but I'll eat the ones in a ''Kirtanudeln''. When we left, we were all given some as a gift.

Kirtahutsch, Schweinersdorf [JWM70]

Each time we visited Grandmother or Aunt Resi, we were given something: a cake, ''Schmalznudeln'', "Schuxen", ''Fensterkiache'' or eggs and if it was really early, we also took home fresh milk. There was also freshly butchered meat, blood sausage and ''Leberwürscht'' or head cheese.


Written down in November, 2012 by Irmi Schaffer, born Wiesheu (*1961), Moosburg
Translation by Maximilian Grötsch and Peggy Chong

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