As of: February 16, 2024, 8:00 a.m
By: Anatol Kraus
Comments
Press
Split
At the Allgäuer Funken a “witch” is usually burned.
But how historical is the Spark Witch anyway?
© Jörg Spielberg
At the Moving Thursday in the Kempten Museum, the tradition of sparking in the Allgäu was explained and the burning of a female figure was questioned.
Kempten – Every year on the first weekend after Ash Wednesday, over a hundred sparks light up the late winter Allgäu night sky.
Most people value the custom and the togetherness.
For some time now, however, there has been an increasing number of voices that have particularly critically questioned the burning of a female figure on this occasion.
The Kempten Museum therefore brought together three representatives from science, public relations and local heritage as part of an eventful Thursday to discuss the background of the tradition with the audience.
Sparks in the Allgäu: A discussion on the origin and practice of the custom
Right at the beginning of the evening it becomes clear: Spark has many faces in our region.
For example, the “Buschler” still played a special role in the 1950s, says local curator Wolfgang Sutter from Niederstaufen in West Allgäu.
These were arm-long bundles of fagots that were used to light the ovens.
At that time, children collected these in the village with ladder carts and used them to build a three to four meter high spark on the nearest hump.
With the advent of oil heating, the spark temporarily degenerated into waste incineration: mattresses, tires, pallets - everything ended up in the fire.
Discussion about the burning of a female figure and the tradition of sparking in the Allgäu
“In the Lower Allgäu the spark is not as beautiful as in the Oberallgäu,” says Simone Zehnpfennig from Kronburg, who, as press spokeswoman for Allgäu GmbH, has a significant influence on the public image of the region.
My news
A house for refugees is being converted in Durach - because more space will probably be needed in the future
Kempten is giving away vouchers: Reduce heating costs with a stove license read
Free voters get the all-round blow from read
7 mins ago
Event calendar: festivals, concerts, training courses around Kemptenlesen
Double award for Maria Ward School Kemptenlesen
Babies of the week at the Kemptenlesen Clinic
The latter is made of pallets and is therefore more like a pyre, whereas in the Lower Allgäu poles are used.
In their homeland there is also the tradition of hitting disks: a burning tree disk with a hole is spun on a stick, a saying is recited and the disk is then thrown away: “Slice, slice out, slice over da Rai, the slice.” ' should be for Matthäus Wölfle!"
Now everyone knows who the disc is dedicated to.
If the connection to the addressee is not obvious or spicy, village gossip makes the rounds.
You find out what else happened, says Zehnpfennig with amusement.
In his homeland, the spark is now an intangible cultural heritage, reports the historian and expert on witch hunts in Vorarlberg, Dr.
Manfred Tschaikner.
Spark guilds there now organize the spectacle and some have their own spark building techniques, such as in Montafon.
And of course there has to be a proper witch at the top with a lot of explosives: “It has to really bang through the whole valley, otherwise there won’t be a spark.”
Does the spark witch have to go?
Vote!
Origin of the spark
Dr.
Veronika Heilmannseder, who moderated the evening, wanted to know more: “Do you know how historic these forms are?” When the railways and machines came along with industrialization in the 19th century, “people no longer wanted to burn a fire and hopping around,” says Tschaikner.
Industrialists from Bludenz therefore looked for a way to preserve the tradition and came up with the idea of performing Grimm's fairy tales for children at Funken.
Also included: The witch who treated Hansel and Gretel.
Sutter offers another explanation for the spark witch with a reference to the Wangen town center caretaker and archivist Stephan Wiltsche.
He sees this as the burning of the carnival, which one wanted to get rid of after a period of moral transgressions in order to restore godliness.
However, there is no historical evidence for the often erroneously assumed Celtic-Germanic origin of sparking in general; rather, a Christian origin in connection with hitting disks can be assumed.
Is the witch taboo?
The spark witch plays no role in marketing the custom, explains Zehnpfennig.
She is specifically looking for photos in which no witch can be recognized.
For her, the essence of Funken is that people go out with music, meet around the fire to tell each other that there are Funkenküchle and that the custom connects the generations.
The image of a witch, on the other hand, triggers a lot of discussion.
For example in Vorarlberg.
According to Tschaikner, the fronts there have already hardened: some see the burning of the spark witch as “a call to violence” and are suing the European Court of Human Rights against it, while others absolutely do not want to allow the custom to be taken away.
There was also a heated debate about the Altusrieder Funken last year.
Traditionally, a person dressed as a witch was pulled in a chariot to create a spark and then a female figure dressed in the same clothing was burned.
“Before, no one thought anything of it,” admits Zehnpfennig, but now some people asked themselves: “What’s happening here and is it allowed to happen?”
Critical voices
Former Kempten city councilor and feminist Elisabeth Brock speaks from the audience.
The topic of spark witches has been affecting her for decades, and she is by no means unemotional and neutral about it.
The Spark Witch is reminiscent of real witch burnings, which should no longer be dismissed as mere jokes, and the associated persecution of women.
“There is no need to burn a human figure at all,” since this would brutalize.
A visitor from Vorarlberg was similarly indignant: There the discussion about the spark witch arose again when a witch who looked like Greta Thunberg was burned in 2023.
“It is unacceptable that such inhumane actions are sold as customs!” In general, she strongly condemns the burning of a female figure and criticizes the fact that people always act as if they want to preserve customs, “even though it is quite clear that the witch will die later Since she lived in Switzerland for 20 years, she knows that there is another way: with the “Böögg” they also want to drive away the winter.
However, he is gender neutral and not recognizable as a person.
It doesn't make sense to her why, given the many violent images in the media, a society cannot develop the sensitivity to refrain from additional production of such images.
She also appeals to the Allgäu region to critically question the customs of the Spark Witch.
The group “WE Women for Niederstaufen” has a different opinion about the Spark Witch.
Sutter specifically asked about it there: “It's a symbol that we don't care about.
Of course there can be a witch, that’s just called a witch.”
You can find an overview of dates for the Funken at www.kreisbote.de/lokales/allgaeu.
Stay up-to-date on the most important stories with the Kreisbote newsletter every day at the end of the day or with the new “Kreisbote” app.