{"id":9411,"date":"2017-12-14T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9411"},"modified":"2017-12-08T17:18:29","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T17:18:29","slug":"a-strange-tradition-soester-wippen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/a-strange-tradition-soester-wippen\/","title":{"rendered":"A Strange Tradition: Soester Wippen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every country has its traditions, whether that is\u00a0Krampus<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Oktoberfest<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Richtfest<\/a>, <\/em>or\u00a0Maib\u00e4ume<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>Some regions also have their very own traditions. And one of these, I want to discuss today:\u00a0The\u00a0Soester Wippen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Rocking stairs of punishment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The Soester Wippe<\/em> in a 14th century illustration (Image from Commons.wikimedia.org, public domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Soester Wippe\u00a0<\/em>is a rocker with stair steps in the city of Soest. It was used as a means of humiliating punishment from the 14th up until the 18th century for\u00a0Gartendiebe\u00a0<\/em>(“garden thief” – somebody that stole something from a garden\/crops from a field)\u00a0and\u00a0Felddiebe<\/em>\u00a0(“field thief” – somebody that\u00a0stole something from a field\/hunted illegally). They were pushed onto the steps, and they had to keep walking, until it would tip towards the water. The\u00a0Diebe\u00a0<\/em>would fall into the Gro\u00dfer Teich\u00a0<\/em>(big pond)\u00a0and had to get back to the\u00a0Ufer\u00a0<\/em>(riverbank) by themselves. Not everyone could swim in those times, so it would make quite an embarrassing sight in those times!<\/p>\n

The use of the\u00a0Wippe\u00a0<\/em>today<\/strong><\/h2>\n