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Swabian–Alemannic Fastnacht
The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg. Etymology Popular etymology often links ''Fastnacht'' (in Mainz also ''Fassenacht'', in Switzerland ''Fasnacht'', in Swabia ''Fasnet'', ''Fasent'') with ''fasten'' ("to fast") – allegedly from celebrations on the eve preceding fasting. In the beginning of the 20th century it was a common assumption that the tradition had its roots in pre-Christian ritual. Comparison of dialect variants, however, yields an Old High German ''*fasanaht'', with an element ''fasa-'' of unclear meaning. A likely derivation looked to Proto-Indo-European ' "purify" (cognate to '' pava-mana''), or alternatively to Middle High German ''vaselen'' "prosper, bud", and interpreted the festival as a fertility rite. Historians around Werner Mezger refuted those theories, and showed that the name derives from '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice, as well as eating pancakes and other sweets. Shrove Tuesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and Roman Catholics, who "make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with." This moveable feast is determined by Easter. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word ''shrive'', meaning "absolve". As this is the last day of the Christian liturgical season historically known as Shrovetide, before the penitential season of Lent, related popular practices, such as indulging in food that one might give up as their Lenten sacrifice for the u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fastnacht Mask
The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg. Etymology Popular etymology often links ''Fastnacht'' (in Mainz also ''Fassenacht'', in Switzerland ''Fasnacht'', in Swabia ''Fasnet'', ''Fasent'') with ''fasten'' ("to fast") – allegedly from celebrations on the eve preceding fasting. In the beginning of the 20th century it was a common assumption that the tradition had its roots in pre-Christian ritual. Comparison of dialect variants, however, yields an Old High German ''*fasanaht'', with an element ''fasa-'' of unclear meaning. A likely derivation looked to Proto-Indo-European ' "purify" (cognate to '' pava-mana''), or alternatively to Middle High German ''vaselen'' "prosper, bud", and interpreted the festival as a fertility rite. Historians around Werner Mezger refuted those theories, and showed that the name derives from '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1984. ''Rabelais and his world''. Translated by H. Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Original edition, ''Tvorchestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaia kul'tura srednevekov'ia i Renessansa'', 1965. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent. Traditionally, butter, milk, and other animal products were not consumed "excessively", rather, their stoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perchta
or (English: Bertha), also commonly known as and other variations, was once known as a goddess in Alpine paganism in the Upper German and Austrian regions of the Alps. Her name may mean "the bright one" ( goh, beraht, bereht, from Proto-Germanic *''berhtaz'') and is probably related to the name , meaning the feast of the Epiphany. Eugen Mogk provides an alternative etymology, attributing the origin of the name to the Old High German verb , meaning "hidden" or "covered". Perchta is often identified as stemming from the same Germanic goddess as Holda and other female figures of German folklore (see Frija-Frigg). According to Jacob Grimm and Lotte Motz, Perchta is Holda's southern cousin or equivalent, as they both share the role of "guardian of the beasts" and appear during the Twelve Days of Christmas, when they oversee spinning.Motz according to Hilton 1984. Grimm says Perchta or Berchta was known "precisely in those Upper German regions where Holda leaves off, in Swabia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schmalz
Schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) is Kitchen rendering, rendered (clarified) Chicken (food), chicken or goose adipose tissue, fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, latkes, matzah brei, chopped liver, matzah balls, fried chicken, and many others, either as a cooking fat, spread, or flavor enhancer. Etymology Schmaltz is a noun derived from the German verb ''schmelzen'', meaning "to melt". The verb can be traced back to the Germanic root "smeltan", which survives in the Modern English verb "to smelt". The term entered English usage through Yiddish language, Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews who used "schmaltz" to refer to kosher poultry fat; the word ''shmalts'' is the Yiddish word for rendered chicken fat. The English term "schmaltz" is List of English words of Yiddish origin, derived from Yiddish and is cognate with the German language, German term ''S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard German
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety of the German language used in formal contexts and for communication between different dialect areas. It is a pluricentric Dachsprache with three codified (or standardised) specific regional variants: German Standard German, Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German. Regarding the spelling and punctuation, a recommended standard is published by the Council for German Orthography which represents the governments of all majority and minority German-speaking countries and dependencies. Adherence is obligatory for government institutions, including schools. Regarding the pronunciation, although there is no official standards body, there is a long-standing ''de facto'' standard pronunciation (Bühnendeutsch), most commonly used in fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Roman Rite, Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans, Methodists, Nazarenes, as well as by some churches in the Reformed tradition (including certain Congregationalist, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterian churches). As it is the first day of Lent, many Christians begin Ash Wednesday by marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and making a Lenten sacrifice that they will not partake of until the arrival of Eastertide. Many Christians attend special church services, at which churchgoers receive ash on their foreheads. Ash Wednesday derives its name from this practice, which is accompanied by the words, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The ashes ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous city and state. A landlocked country, Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The country occupies an area of and has a population of 9 million. Austria emerged from the remnants of the Eastern and Hungarian March at the end of the first millennium. Originally a margraviate of Bavaria, it developed into a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1156 and was later made an archduchy in 1453. In the 16th century, Vienna began serving as the empire's administrative capital and Austria thus became the heartland of the Habsburg monarchy. After the dissolution of the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany. With over 13 million inhabitants, it is second in population only to North Rhine-Westphalia, but due to its large size its population density is below the German average. Bavaria's main cities are Munich (its capital and largest city and also the third largest city in Germany), Nuremberg, and Augsburg. The history of Bavaria includes its earliest settlement by Iron Age Celtic tribes, followed by the conquests of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, when the territory was incorporated into the provinces of Raetia and Noricum. It became the Duchy of Bavaria (a stem duchy) in the 6th century AD following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. It was later incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, became an ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a total area of nearly , it is the third-largest German state by both area (behind Bavaria and Lower Saxony) and population (behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria). As a federated state, Baden-Württemberg is a partly-sovereign parliamentary republic. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Ulm. What is now Baden-Württemberg was formerly the historical territories of Baden, Prussian Hohenzollern, and Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg became a state of West Germany in April 1952 by the merger of Württemberg-Baden, South Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alemannic German
Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (''Alemannisch'', ), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alamanni ("all men"). Distribution Alemannic dialects are spoken by approximately ten million people in several countries: * In Europe: ** Switzerland: all German-speaking parts of the country except Samnaun ** Germany: centre and south of Baden-Württemberg, Swabia, and certain districts of Bavaria ** Austria: Vorarlberg, Reutte District of Tyrol ** Liechtenstein ** France: Alsace region ( Alsatian dialect) and in some villages of the Phalsbourg county, in Lorraine ** Italy: Gressoney-La-Trinité, Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Issime, Alagna Valsesia, Rimella and Formazza, in some other villages almost extinct *Outside Europe: ** United States: Allen and Adams County, Indiana, by the Amish there and also in their daughter settlements in Indiana and other U.S. states. ** Venezuela: Colonia Tovar (Colonia Tovar dialect) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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