while reading sp.on, i stumbled over a strange german easter tradition, called schwengellangziehen. apparently extincted in 1962, it apparently was revived this year. the idea is to take a group of young men (probably drunk or half-drunk), let them run in a circle next to a river, faster and faster, until the first ones fall into the river. then, continue with alcohole and partying. sounds… fascinating. what was really fascinating me is that this tradition is taking place in my hometown, lüdinghausen. and believe me, i’ve never heard about that before. never ever. anyway, if you’re curious, want to see some pictures, or read more, take a look at these links.
posts about tradition.
yesterday, we had the third rendition of the try to bring the north western german tradition kohlfahrt (literally: cabbage tour; a description in english can be found here) to switzerland. (actually i missed the two previous renditions…)
i’d guess that for everyone except the people living in north west germany, it must seem utterly strange to see a group of people going around with a hand cart, playing a strange game involving two balls rolling around, and drinking hard and soft booze all the time. whatever. we had fun.
actually, this was probably the first kohlfahrt featuring a view on the alps! (at the first rendition, one couldn’t see the alps from the place where it took place, and even though the second was at the same place than this time, the weather was too bad apparently…) here are two shots of our view on the alps:
finally a view on the beautiful sunset we were able to watch:
