The title link goes to a page about Christmas markets. I keep hearing, wherever I go, about things you can "only get at Christmastime", like special mulled wines, baked goodies, and all kinds of great crafts to give as gifts or decorate your home with. I haven't been this excited about Christmas since I was a kid.
From what I hear, winter is very cold and very long here. So far, it's not too bad. It's chilly outside, and I am having to buy heavier clothes, mittens, gloves, scarves, etc. I may be a Florida girl, but I can handle this! Maybe I'll change my tune when there's been snow on the ground for a month straight...
Lately the big news is that I am now working for the FRG - Family Readiness Group - for my husband's unit. I volunteered to do a newsletter and web site. I love projects like that. It's part do-gooding and part bully pulpit. Yes, that's right, as editor I get to scout out info that I think is beneficial to me & the families. So far, I'm scrounging up info about how to contact spouses when they are downrange via the American Red Cross, putting together a "watch your budget" kind of thing for the holidays, and assembling an enormous list of places to go for free or cheap in Europe.
Here's the Big Windy link. So far it's just design and placeholders while I figure out what-goes-where. Part of it will have to be password protected for Operational Security. I know... not my call, though. You want to hear something ironic? Eventually that page should live HERE, but nobody seems to know where the domain login/pw is. Army Dorks!@#$!@#$
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Richtfest in our village
The title link today points to pictures of a Bavarian/German ceremony John and I were invited to some weeks ago. I did a little research online, and here is what I found out:
The Richtfest (topping out) is a traditional part of any building construction in Germany. As soon as the Rohbau, the shell of the house including the roof structure, is finished, it is decorated with a fir wreath or fir tree and everybody involved with the building gets together for a celebration with lots of drinking and heaps of amazing German food.
This goes back to the traveling Gesellen on the Walz. Carpenters traditionally travelled with their tools and went from site to site looking for work. They labored for months on a project with little time off, and the Richtfest was a suitable time for them to celebrate. It was also the time to move on, because their work on this building had been done and they were supposed to go and find work somewhere else. So apart from celebrating a milestone in the construction of the building, it was also a goodbye party.
The Zimmerman (master carpenter), dressed in the national costume of his trade, traditionally recites an ode to the carpenter. During this he drinks three glasses of champagne, toasting the new owners, the site supervisors, and the workers. He then tosses the empty flutes from the scaffolding, shattering them against the ground. He then places a decorated evergreen tree upon the completed roof. This German ritual is practiced to wish health and prosperity to a building’s future occupants.
If the owner of the building was less than generous and didn’t host an appropriate farewell party, then instead of kind remarks and the raising of a tree, the carpenter would place an upside down broom on top of the roof. This broom served as a statement to all that the host is essentially a pretty cheap guy. According to folklore, if you do not hold a party, it could bring some bad luck upon the facility or hardship upon the family that lives there.
The American equivalent is... well, there isn't one. The framers in the states were typically on the low income side of things, with sunbleached hair and clothes and usually a few missing teeth. They do a lot of hard work in a fairly thankless trade, and I thought it was nice to see their labors celebrated.
The Richtfest (topping out) is a traditional part of any building construction in Germany. As soon as the Rohbau, the shell of the house including the roof structure, is finished, it is decorated with a fir wreath or fir tree and everybody involved with the building gets together for a celebration with lots of drinking and heaps of amazing German food.
This goes back to the traveling Gesellen on the Walz. Carpenters traditionally travelled with their tools and went from site to site looking for work. They labored for months on a project with little time off, and the Richtfest was a suitable time for them to celebrate. It was also the time to move on, because their work on this building had been done and they were supposed to go and find work somewhere else. So apart from celebrating a milestone in the construction of the building, it was also a goodbye party.
The Zimmerman (master carpenter), dressed in the national costume of his trade, traditionally recites an ode to the carpenter. During this he drinks three glasses of champagne, toasting the new owners, the site supervisors, and the workers. He then tosses the empty flutes from the scaffolding, shattering them against the ground. He then places a decorated evergreen tree upon the completed roof. This German ritual is practiced to wish health and prosperity to a building’s future occupants.
If the owner of the building was less than generous and didn’t host an appropriate farewell party, then instead of kind remarks and the raising of a tree, the carpenter would place an upside down broom on top of the roof. This broom served as a statement to all that the host is essentially a pretty cheap guy. According to folklore, if you do not hold a party, it could bring some bad luck upon the facility or hardship upon the family that lives there.
The American equivalent is... well, there isn't one. The framers in the states were typically on the low income side of things, with sunbleached hair and clothes and usually a few missing teeth. They do a lot of hard work in a fairly thankless trade, and I thought it was nice to see their labors celebrated.
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