The tower players at Schrannenplatz are playing for the 50th time on Christmas Eve this year

Created: 12/21/2022 2:09 p.m

The musicians can be heard on the Schrannenplatz at Christmas from 5 p.m. © Loechle

Erding – The traditional Erdinger tower blowing on Christmas Eve at 5 p.m. at Schrannenplatz is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Soon after the founding and development of the district music school in Erding in 1971, its founding director Reinhard Loechle introduced the tradition of tower horns.

Loechle was modeled on the Petersturmbläser in Munich, whose leader Friedrich Sertl (trombonist of the Bavarian State Opera) provided the sheet music for the tower.

The first tower blowing took place in 1972 at the foot of the Erdinger campanile because there was ankle-deep pigeon droppings in the tower rooms and the windows could not be opened.

The first instrumental cast was only a wind quartet with music school teachers, the audience was limited to about 30 people.

In the meantime, the district folk music administrator has been able to use documents in the Weilheim town archive to prove a long tradition of tower horns in Erding going back to the 16th century.

The Erdinger Tower Musicians played, for example, around 1653 together with the Tower Music of Landsberg and the Electoral Court Trumpeters from Munich on New Year's Day on the town tower of Weilheim im Pfaffenwinkel.

The folk music curator hands over the management

After 50 years, Reinhard Loechle will hand over the management and organization to the town and city band of Erding, with the wind players of the district music school continuing to participate.

The traditional Christmas carols from Bavaria, Germany and Europe are played by: the town band from the town tower (directed by Martin Hirsch), the brass band from the district music school in the pavilion on Schrannenplatz (directed by Kurt Müller) and the Alltbairische brass band in the town hall (directed by Reinhard Loechle).