The ''Sechseläuten'' (

Zürich German Zürich German (German: ''Zürichdeutsch'', natively ''Züritüütsch'' ) is the High Alemannic dialect spoken in the Canton of Zürich, Switzerland. Its area covers most of the canton, with the exception of the parts north of the Thur and th ...

: ''Sächsilüüte'', "The six o'clock ringing of the bells") is a traditional spring

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

city of

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

celebrated in its current form, usually on the 3rd Monday of April, since the early 20th century.

Burning of the Böögg

Following the parade of the Zünfte (

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

s), the climax of the holiday is the burning of Winter in

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

, in the form of the ''Böögg'', a figure of a

snowman A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture of a man often built in regions with sufficient snowfall and is a common winter tradition. In many places, typical snowmen consist of three large snowballs of different sizes with some additional ...

prepared with explosives. The custom of burning a rag doll called ''Böögg'' predates the ''Sechseläuten''. A ''Böögg'' (cognate to '' bogey'') was originally a masked character doing mischief and frightening children during the

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 typi ...

season.

History

The roots of the festival go back to medieval times when the first day of summer working hours was celebrated in the guildhalls across the city. City ordinances strictly regulated the length of the working day in that era. During the winter semester the workday in all workshops lasted as long as there was daylight, but during the summer semester (i.e. starting on Monday following vernal equinox) the law proclaimed that work must cease when the church bells tolled at six o'clock. Sechseläuten is a Swiss German word that literally translates into "The six o'clock ringing of the bells". Changing to summer working hours traditionally was a joyous occasion because it marked the beginning of the season where people had some non-working daylight hours. Burnings of ''Böögg'' figures (the Swiss German term for " bogey", in origin scary-looking ragdolls) in spring are attested in various places of the city from the late 18th and early 19th century, without direct connection to the Sechseläuten. The combination of the Sechseläuten parade and the burning of an official ''Böögg'' was introduced in 1902. From 1902 until 1951, the holiday used to be held on the first Monday following vernal equinox. On that day, the

Fraumünster The Fraumünster (; lit. in en, Women's Minster, but often wrongly translated to urLady Minster) is a church in Zürich which was built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for h ...

bell, for the first time in the year, tolled to mark the end of working hours at 6 p.m. (historically the time of sunset on vernal equinox). The holiday was moved to the third Monday of April in 1952. Because of the later date, and because of summer time introduced in 1981, the lighting of the ''Bööggs pyre at 6 p.m. has now moved to several hours before nightfall. Additionally, because of its present date, the holiday is often within a week of 1 May, leading to a stark contrast between the upper class dominated ''Sechseläuten'' and the working class holiday of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

. This proximity of the major festivals of two political poles of the society of Zürich has led to various interferences in the past, for example the abduction of the ''Böögg'' in 2006 by leftist "revolutionaries" a few days before the ''Sechseläuten''. Since then, several ''Böögg''s are held in reserve with the main one stored at a bank nearby the Sechseläutenplatz (the open area in front of the Opernhaus near Bellevue where most Zürich open air activities take place). Since 2010 the guilds of Zürich ''allow'' the women of

Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster is a guild–like organisation in Zürich, Switzerland, not yet associated with the Zünfte of Zürich as of 2015. History of Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster In medieval times, in Zürich all female and male ''B ...

to practice Sechseläuten, usually just being guests of the guilds respectively the ''Constaffel'' society, but still not being as an ''official'' guild in Zürich. In 2020 and 2021 the Sechseläuten parade was cancelled owing to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

; 2020 was the first time in almost 100 years that it had not taken place. It returned as normal on 25 April 2022.

Weather oracle

Popular tradition has it that the time between the lighting of the pyre and the explosion of the ''Böögg''’s head is indicative of the coming summer: a quick explosion promises a warm, sunny summer, a drawn-out burning a cold and rainy one. The shortest time on record is 5:07 minutes in 1974 and the longest is 43:34 minutes in 2016.

Sechseläuten in recent years

In 2007, the explosion of the ''Böögg''’s head took place 12:09 minutes after the pyre was lit, promising a medium warm summer. In 2008, heavy rains soaked the Böögg and the wood pyre materials so much that firemen had to spray the pyre with

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

after initial ignition ''in addition'' to 15 liters of fire accelerant which was initially thrown on the pyre. It took 26:01 minutes for the ''Bööggs'' head to explode which indicates a poor weather summer.The fact that the head, instead of traditionally exploding, burnt down very quietly caused a lot of confusion. After approximately 20 minutes the head had burnt away completely, but leaving a large piece of the neck hanging from the stake. It was the explosion of that piece that ended this year's event. In 2012, it took 12 minutes and 07 seconds, and in this year there was some confusion if both firecrackers in the neck of the Böögg had exploded. It was determined that 12 min 07 secs was the mark. In 2014, the head exploded quite quickly (7 Minutes and 23 seconds) but it ended up being a poor summer. In 2015, the head exploded quite quickly and it ended up being a very good summer. In 2016, the head exploded after 43 minutes and 34 seconds, setting a new record. In 2017, the head exploded after 9 minutes and 56 seconds. A quick time and there was a good summer In 2018, the head exploded after 20 minutes and 31 seconds. In 2019, the head exploded after 17 minutes and 44 seconds. In 2020, Sechseläuten was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the head exploded after 12 minutes and 57 seconds. Sechseläuten was again cancelled but the Böög was still burned. To avoid crowds that could spread COVID-19 the Böögg was relocated to

Schöllenen Gorge Schöllenen Gorge (german: Schöllenenschlucht; Schöllenen) is a gorge formed by the upper Reuss in the Swiss canton of Uri between the towns of Göschenen to the north and Andermatt to the south. It provides access to the St Gotthard Pass. ...

in the

canton of Uri The canton of Uri (german: Kanton Uri rm, Chantun Uri; french: Canton d'Uri; it, Canton Uri) is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territ ...

and burned outside Zurich for the first time in its history. In 2022, the head exploded after 37 minutes and 59 seconds.

Additional events

Additional events of the holiday nowadays also include: #A 'Kinderumzug' (children's parade) in historic and folkloristic costumes on the Sunday preceding the Sechseläuten. #A very colorful afternoon parade of the 26 guilds in their historic dress costumes, each with its own band, most with a sizable mounted 'Reitergruppe', and horse drawn floats, to the 'Sechseläutenplatz' at the lakeshore where the Böögg is burnt. #A ceremonial galloping of the mounted units of the guilds around the bonfire. #Lunch and dinner banquets for the guildmembers and their guests. #The 'Auszug', the nighttime visits of delegations of each of the 26 guilds to several other guilds in their guildhalls to exchange greetings, toasts, witticisms and gifts.

Sechseläutenmarsch

During this festival the popular

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

known as the Sechseläutenmarsch is played. It has no known composer but likely originated in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Gallery

File:Böögg-Explosion - Sechseläuten 2011-04-11 18-11-08 02.JPG, The ''Böögg 2011'' File:Sechseläuten 2010 - Böögg IMG 6468.JPG, The ''Böögg 2010'' File:Sechselauten 2007 Boegg Burning.JPG, Sechseläuten 2007 File:2006-Saechsiluete boegg.jpg, The ''Böögg 2006'' File:Sechseläuten 2010 - Lindenhof IMG 6158.JPG, Funfair at

Lindenhof hill The Lindenhof (lit.: ''courtyard of the lime'') is a moraine hill and a public square in the historic center of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the site of the Roman and Carolingian era Kaiserpfalz around which the city has historically grown. The ...

(April 2010) File:Sechseläuten 2010 - Limmatquai - Sicht vom Grossmünster Karlsturm IMG 6416.JPG, Parade at

Limmatquai ''Limmatquai'' is a street in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is named after the Limmat, and it follows the right-hand (eastern) bank of that river for about through the '' Altstadt'', or historical core, of the city. The street was once important ...

(2010) File:2014 Sechseläuten - Sechseläutenplatz-'fäscht' - Böögg 2014-04-26 18-54-44 (P7700).JPG, The ''Böögg's'' smiling face ... File:Kämbel - Sechseläuten 2010 - Grossmünster IMG 6354.JPG, Members of the ''Kämbel'' guild preparing for the parade (2010)

Date

With a few exceptions, the date is fixed to the third Monday in April. Dates are: *16 April 2007 *14 April 2008 *16 April 2012 *15 April 2013 *28 April 2014 *13 April 2015 *18 April 2016 *24 April 2017 *16 April 2018 *08 April 2019 *20 April 2020 * 19 April 2021 * 25 April 2022

References

External links

* http://sechselaeuten.ch/