{"id":9464,"date":"2018-01-03T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9464"},"modified":"2017-12-29T13:59:53","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T13:59:53","slug":"the-swiss-silvesterklaus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-swiss-silvesterklaus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Swiss Silvesterklaus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Guten Tag und <strong>Prosit Neujahr!<\/strong> Hope you\u2019ve all had a good rest and had a fantastic start to 2018! In my last post I talked about the origins of the German word for New Year\u2019s Eve: Silvester. I also mentioned the Swiss character known as <strong>Silvesterklaus.<\/strong> Today I\u2019d like to tell you a little more about this unusual character and the traditions associated with it!<\/p>\n<h3>Everybody is familiar with the name Santa Claus. So what is a Silvesterklaus, exactly?<\/h3>\n<p>Silvesterklaus (Silvesterchlaus in Swiss-German) is a character that you will see on New Year\u2019s Eve in the<strong> Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland.<\/strong> People dress up in costumes and masks and go from door to door, wishing the locals a happy new year! They do this by singing a traditional Appenzeller yodel known as a <strong>Z<span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00e4<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">uerli.<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">They also wear massive bells, so you can hear them coming.<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Here is how a\u00a0<strong>Z\u00e4uerli<\/strong> sounds:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Appenzeller Z\u00e4uerli&quot; by www.freisinn.org authentic ethic singingers in switzerland appenzell\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VvWTp3bO-Cs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">There are three different types of Silvesterklaus: the <strong>Sch<\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>ne<\/strong> (\u2018the beautiful\u2019), the <strong>Sch<\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">-W<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00fc<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>eschte<\/strong> (the \u2018ugly-beautiful\u2019, or \u2018pretty-ugly\u2019) and the <strong>W<\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00fc<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>eschte<\/strong> (\u2018the ugly\u2019). <\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Sch<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>ne<\/strong><br \/>\nThese Silvesterklaus costumes are very beautifully embroidered and often take hours and hours of work to complete. The masks are painted and extremely doll-like. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">These costumes are modelled on the Tracht of the region (the traditional dress). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2.jpg#\/media\/File:Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2.jpg\" aria-label=\"Urnaesch Alter Silvester 2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  alt=\"Urnaesch Alter Silvester 2.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/6d\/Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nBy nofnof &#8211; <span class=\"int-own-work\" lang=\"en\">Own work<\/span> (Eigenes Bild), Public Domain, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=9303649\">Link<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Sch<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">-W<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00fc<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>eschte<\/strong><br \/>\nThe \u2018pretty-ugly\u2019 Silvesterklaus wears a costume that resembles a fir tree. It is made using twigs, moss, bark and other, natural materials. Its mask is similar to that of the Sch<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">ne, but also made using natural materials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_1.jpg#\/media\/File:Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_1.jpg\" aria-label=\"Urnaesch Alter Silvester 1\"><img decoding=\"async\"  alt=\"Urnaesch Alter Silvester 1.jpg\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/27\/Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_1.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nVon <a title=\"User:Nofnof\" href=\"Nofnof\">Nofnof<\/a> &#8211; <span class=\"int-own-work\" lang=\"de\">Eigenes Werk<\/span>, <a title=\"Creative Commons Attribution 3.0\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\">CC BY 3.0<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=8999071\">Link<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">W<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00fc<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>eschte<\/strong><br \/>\nThe \u2018ugly\u2019 Silvesterklaus looks similar to the Sch<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00f6<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">-W<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00fc<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">eschte, but its costume is bigger, rougher, and its mask and headgear more scary-looking. Take a look at the video below to see the\u00a0<strong>W\u00fc<\/strong><strong>eschte<\/strong> (at 1:16)!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">The female characters are called <strong>Rollewiiber<\/strong> (Rolli for short). However, because of the size and weight of the costumes, traditionally it is only men who wear the Silvesterklaus outfit. Children also take part, but they do not wear masks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">This tradition happens twice: <strong>December 31<\/strong><\/span><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">st<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>,<\/strong> the modern new year, and <strong>January 13<\/strong><\/span><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">th<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>,<\/strong> in accordance with the ancient Julian calendar. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">The one on January 13<\/span><sup><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">th<\/span><\/sup><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"> is known as <strong>Alter Silvester<\/strong> (\u2018Old New Year\u2019).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">It is not completely certain why or how this tradition emerged, but one theory is that it wards off evil spirits of the year gone by, so that the year ahead may be successful. <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Here is a clip of the Silvesterklaus at work!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Silvesterklaus\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vMxZ3CbmAkY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">There are similar traditions in other German-speaking countries. My mum grew up in Lower Bavaria, Germany, and when I mentioned the Silvesterklaus to her she said they had a similar thing but in the form of a band that would go door to door on New Year\u2019s Eve and play music for all of the residents, <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">who would give them a Bier or Schnaps in return! You could even request a song from them! This band was known as the <strong>Neujahrbl<\/strong><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">\u00e4<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"><strong>ser.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Quite interesting, I think you&#8217;ll agree! I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this post! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\">Bis bald<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Liberation Serif,serif\"> Constanze<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"263\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2-263x350.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2-263x350.jpg 263w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/12\/Urnaesch_Alter_Silvester_2-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/><p>Guten Tag und Prosit Neujahr! Hope you\u2019ve all had a good rest and had a fantastic start to 2018! In my last post I talked about the origins of the German word for New Year\u2019s Eve: Silvester. I also mentioned the Swiss character known as Silvesterklaus. Today I\u2019d like to tell you a little more&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-swiss-silvesterklaus\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":9468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,7,8,108,913],"tags":[376022,13285,965,376025,1166,13219,503943,503942,2534,33080,987,10668,358430,306297],"class_list":["post-9464","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-holidays","category-language","category-music","category-traditions","tag-culture","tag-happy-new-year","tag-languages","tag-music","tag-new-year","tag-silvester","tag-silvesterchlaus","tag-silvesterklaus","tag-song","tag-swiss-german","tag-switzerdeutch","tag-switzerland","tag-traditions-2","tag-yodel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9464"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9470,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9464\/revisions\/9470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}