As of: February 14, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Timo Aichele
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The Wartenberg fire brigade had their hands full with their car during the foolish begging wedding mission.
© Timo Aichele
The Wartenbergers had waited five years for the begging wedding.
When the weather was nice, 150 “rags and beggars” marched in the parade.
Hundreds cheered them on the side of the road.
Wartenberg – Soot-blackened faces, threadbare coats, baggy hats – rather ragged figures took over the streets of Wartenberg on Shrove Tuesday.
What the spectacle was about, the vagabonds shouted to the onlookers: “In Wartenberg, the rags and the beggars rule.” Hundreds waited on Obere Hauptstrasse and the market square for the poor figures to pass them by.
Some joined in the carnival call.
Finally a begging wedding again - the Wartenbergers had been waiting for it for five years.
Since 1980, this fun event has taken place regularly on Shrove Tuesday in the beautiful market town on the Strogen - usually every four years, but this time the break was a little longer.
The joy was even greater now.
The whole market square was full of people, everyone had their eyes on the stage in front of the ice cream parlor after the little parade.
“Clementine” (Julia Bohus) married her “Gaudenz” (Moritz Zink) there.
At the end there was a kiss in which the young man threw his virgin bride backwards in Hollywood style.
The delegation from Henaheisl eV around Michael Deimel (r.) looked quite ragged.
© Roland Albrecht
The wedding ceremony was led by two personalities who stood out from the crowd due to their fine attire: Gmoaschreiber Stiftl, the gigantic Franz Ganslmaier in a medieval-looking doublet, and the registrar Hingerl: Michael Gruber in tailcoat and top hat.
As court marshal of Narrhalla, he was truly in charge of the whole thing.
District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer and Mayor Christian Pröbst were completely assimilated into this somewhat dubious baggage.
They rode along in the correct begging wedding outfit in a horse-drawn carriage that was clearly labeled “12 Schnaps”.
Small stamps were handed out in rows, and many of the beggars also had a pint of beer in their hands.
Often it was a “Reiter Hell” in a very local patriotic way.
And so that no one in the audience could feel too safe, whole feather beds were thrown out over the audience.
The scene was partially shrouded in feather clouds and clouds of smoke from the goulash cannons on the handcarts in the train, which were fired with wood or other dubious fuels.
The Wartenberg firefighters went one better and extinguished the fire with powerful jets from the bucket sprayer.
When they heard the battle cry “Water march,” some people didn’t know whether they should take cover or whether they would get a free beer the next moment.
The bride and groom drove the first few meters from Café Härtl in a two-man vehicle driven by Werner Kalinetz.
His mighty steeds are used to major events, and the animals have even been tried and tested at Landshut weddings.
But they seemed very nervous, so Kalinetz shortened the round.
“De Lumpen und de Bettelleit”: With this Wartenberg carnival cry, the people of Thenn made their way through the masses.
© Roland Albrecht
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The other 150 vagabonds on the train walked the full distance from the “Härtl” to the “Reiter” and back to the market square.
Some pulled wagons with liquid marching provisions behind them, for example the Thenner or the Henaheisl eV.
Representatives from SC Auerbach were also there, in keeping with climate change but preferring to go without skis.
They were led by musicians around Anton Gerbl, the musical rearguard was a Nigerian-Japanese-Bavarian trio: drummer Ifeanyi Christian Okolo, Wartenberg bagpipe maker and player Toru Sonoda with church organist Marianne Wiesheu on the squeegee.
Later on stage, Okolo led the audience in a chorus: “You're awesome, I'm awesome, we don't have any old leagues.”
Some of the wedding guests, who had dragged their gnarliest clothes out of the cellar, could hardly believe it.
The celebration continued on the market square for some time.
Folk costume association, Dance United and the cultural market ran catering stands.
Gmoaschreiber Stiftl looked at the whole thing with quiet satisfaction.
“I’m glad that I don’t have anything to do with cleaning up tomorrow,” revealed Franz Ganslmaier, who retired as a community worker in 2020.
The rainfall forecast for Wednesday would make feathers and straw on the pavement a task for the construction yard.