2023-11-10 13:38:50
Even people who tend to stay away from schnapps know what a schnapps number is: it consists of a single number repeated several times. 33 is a crazy number or 222, and the smallest is, of course, eleven.
In the Middle Ages, a schnapps number was also called a “fool’s number”, and eleven seemed particularly strange back then, between the holy numbers ten (because of the Ten Commandments that Moses received from God for the people of Israel) and twelve, the number the apostles who, according to the Christian faith, were directly commissioned by Jesus to further spread his teachings.
On November 11th, 11/11, this smallest number of fools doubles, and on 11/11. It comes together so often at 11:11 a.m. that you don’t have to be surprised if that’s exactly when the councils of eleven come together in the carnival and carnival areas of the country and proclaim their foolish people’s claim to power. Many carnival clubs have a council of eleven at their head, and this is not just a numbers game with the date, but also with other city or community councils, which used to often consist of ten or twelve men.
Our column “How do I explain it to my child?”: Image: FAZ
What exactly happens varies from place to place. In Düsseldorf, for example, on this day Hoppeditz emerges from a huge mustard pot and gives a speech in the market square, to which the mayor then has to respond from the town hall balcony. In Mainz, at the beginning of Carnival, the “Foolish Basic Law” is announced from the balcony of the magnificent Osteiner Hof on Schillerplatz and a general assembly of fools is held. In Cologne, the Jecken countdown together with the mayor at the Heumarkt; there and elsewhere in the city the celebrations take place all day long.
But that is still no explanation for this date, nor the number of schnapps or fools, nor what is taking place there. There are even several explanations as to why it starts on November 11th, even if Carnival, Fastnacht or Fasching only reaches its climax between Weiberfastnacht – this time on February 8th – and Ash Wednesday on February 14th, 2024.
At least a decent start
Lent then begins before Easter, or at least it began when fasting played a larger role for pious people. But devout Christians used to fast not only before Easter, but also, for about forty days, before Christmas. And November 11th is just in time for this now lesser-known second Lent.
Lena Bopp and Manon Priebe Published/Updated: Recommendations: 17 Gina Arzdorf Published/Updated: Recommendations: 21 Fridtjof Küchemann Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 29
The Prussians made sure of that, says a carnival researcher from Bonn am Rhein, but the carnival in the Rhineland has a completely different tradition and meaning than back then in Prussia. But when Germany was not yet its own country, but consisted of a multitude of kings and principalities, there was once a “Rhine Province” that belonged to Prussia. And all the cities that are still called carnival strongholds today were in this province. Two hundred years ago, the Prussians wanted the carnival to at least have a proper beginning, even if the order is usually turned upside down at this time, and they did 11.11. set.
By the way, there is also something related to the day. Not as St. Martin’s Day, where lantern parades commemorate a Catholic saint who once divided his cloak in half so that a poor man wouldn’t freeze. But rather as the day on which the farming year used to end for the farmers, maids and servants on the farms. The harvest was not only harvested, but also processed, and you could then drink the new wine. If that is not a reason to celebrate!
Even more answers to curious children’s questions
An illustrated selection of articles from our column “How do I explain it to my child?” has been published by Reclam.
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