Aperschnalzen (

Austro-Bavarian Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian. Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peop ...

''Apaschnoizn'') is an old tradition of competitive

whipcracking Whipcracking is the act of producing a cracking sound through the use of a whip. Used during livestock driving and horse riding, it has also become an art. A rhythmic whipcracking belongs to the traditional culture among various Germanic peoples ...

revived in the first half of the 20th century in

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 lan ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

. The word "aper" means "area free of snow" in the Bavarian language. The Aperschnalzen involves the rhythmic snapping and cracking of a whip up to 4 m in length (called "Goassl" in Austro-Bavarian) and takes place at the end of January and early February. It is performed in small groups ("Passen" in Bavarian) of 7, 9 or 11 members each.Aperschnalzen (austria-lexikon.at)
/ref> It has been thought that this tradition had a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

meaning of "driving the winter away" by whipcracking. File:Whipcracking Aperschnalzen.jpg, The whip File:Whipcracking Aperschnalzen Detail.jpg, Different whip models File:Whipcracking Aperschnalzen the Cracker.jpg, The cracker

References

* Andrea Euler-Rolle: ''Zwischen Aperschnalzen und Zwetschkenkrampus. Oberösterreichische Bräuche im Jahreskreis''. Landesverlag, 1993. {{ISBN, 978-3-85214-591-4
Why Whips Crack

External links

Aperschnalzen

''Burschen beim Aperschnalzen'' (Video)

Culture of Altbayern Whip arts