Kirchweihfestfeuer

Got a call this morning from MrsMY asking if we would like to come over in the afternoon for a “Kirchweihfestfeuer” – “Church-Consecration-Festival-Fire”. Only too pleased to accept as I had never attended one before. And jolly nice it was too.
 
I have already posted a 1000+ word sermon on the FB page of my former Catholic school ex-inmates which details all on the strange and wonderful things about this religious high feast in Bavaria and it is also celebrated at various times all over Europe and even South & Latin America.
 
In simple terms, it is an annual joyous feast, started in the Medieval Ages, to celebrate the consecration of one’s local church on the weekend closest to the day the bishop consecrated the building or the Saints Day of which the church is named after. However, things got out of hand in Bavaria!
 
For those who know Bavaria, there is at least one church and one chapel in every five-soul hamlet and it is only good manners to help neighbouring villages to celebrate the event. As time went by and more churches were built,  the practice of year-round partying was leading to “Kirchweih Tourism” and in the eyes of the establishment, was leading to excess alcohol consumption. In 1866 the Bavarians introduced a law making the 3rd Sunday in October the one and only Kirchweih Fest.
 
All religious high feasts are actually started a day or two before the actual event, as in Christmas Eve mass, Good Friday etc. And so it was with Kirchweih which coincidentally was now about the same time as the Harvest Festivals and thus a time of plenty and very good for eating and drinking the excess produce - Roast Duck is a speciality for Kirchweih Sunday lunch, the geese have to wait until 11th November and St Martin’s Day.
 
The “Fire” bit is another chance to eat and drink and comes from a tradition of the youth of the villages forming groups to produce the most noticeable bonfire judged by a neutral person perched on a vantage point. The fire must be lit at exactly 14:00 (2:00 pm), the reason for which alludes me at the moment. However smoke was almost the only way of being “noticeable” at that time of day and so damp straw/hay would be used.
 
As can be seen, our fire at 14:03 was doing quite well on the smoke front but you may just see our beer table and benches with all the food and drink was also being smoked. Not just for the environment but also for our own health, the bonfire was thereafter only fed dry wood and we also moved the seating arrangements. There copious amounts of food, drink and laughter and the sun blessed us for most of the 4 hours we were there before having to leave to attend to our animals. The pleas to stay and help devour the homemade pizzas which were nearly ready were very tempting but as we know: animals first.  
 
The festival has been dying out over the last decades but now slowly, as with many such events, it is regaining some interest from the youth, part of the move to seeking one’s homeland and tradition, a place of safety in these troubled times. Luckily we have sensible youth here that don’t see that in any nationalistic way but simply as a chance to come together and have some fun.
 
Thank you, the Miller/Müller team who organised it – they have got quite a bit of coverage this week!


NB Bonfires are normally only allowed with special permission from the parish council. Getting rid of your garden rubbish and leaves in this manner is certainly not allowed and a blind eye turned to such small events with a religious/tradition background. One can with some right claim it was just a BBQ as we did indeed eat lots of baked potatoes cooked in the ashes - no foil, simply blackened and delicious too.