Räbeliechtli

This holiday is celebrated on (or near) the second Saturday in November and has similar Celtic origins to Halloween.  A Räbe (the Swiss word for rutabaga or a swede) is carved out, lit with a candle, and strung for carrying it through the dark streets in a procession.  In some communities they even turn out the street lights on a specific night.

I went to Elisabet's school this morning to help her carve out two Räbe.  We cut off the top and scooped out the flesh with a melon baller.  Then we used little cookie cutters to make shapes on the outside and carefully scraped the skin so the light could shine through.  The final step was to put 3 strings through it (and the top) so it can be carried tomorrow night through the neighborhood.  It was similar to carving a pumpkin, although the skin was definitely easier to cut through.  And apparently they did not have a 'zero tolerance' rule for sharp objects in the school as it was necessary to use a large knife for cutting the top and paring or pocket knives for scooping.  Even the tools we used to poke the holes for the string would not have been allowed in most American schools!  We had lots of fun and Elisabet was quite pleased with the finished product.  I'm not sure that was as important as that I was sitting next to her in school AND she got to leave a little early.

The song we will sing tomorrow night goes like this:

Ich gaa mit myner Laterne

und myni Laterne mit mir.

Am Himmel lüüchted d Stärne,

da unde lüüchted mir.

De Güggel chräät und d Chatz miaut.

Eh, eh, eh, la pimmel, la pimmel, la pumm.

I'm walking with my lantern,

and my lantern is walking with me.

The stars are shining high above

 and we're what's shining down here.

The rooster crows, the cat meows,

Eh, eh, eh, la pimmel, la pimmel, la pumm.

For those of you who know "hoch Deutsch" you can see the similarities and differences in the Schwytzertüütsch dialect in this song.  Since it's a dialect and varies so much even within the German speaking parts, there is also not a standard way of writing it.  Hanna has already memorized the song from her CD of Swiss songs.  We were looking at a book about the festival and she immediately recognized it as one she knew.

The parade or procession turned out to be quite an event.  We met at Elisabet's school and there was a band and a huge group of parents and children, all carrying their lit lanterns.  There were even firemen to help out with the street crossings.  The band marched in front playing a variety of marching tunes, traditional Swiss songs, and popular songs like "just beat it".  We walked for over an hour going up and down all the little streets in our neighborhood.  Lots of people came out of their apartments to watch us.  When we finished up back at the Kindergarten, the band passed out chocolate bars for the children and there was hot punch and Glühwein for adults (red wine heated with spices).  Around 8pm we headed back to our apartment and Elisabet commented "this is the latest I have ever stayed up".   It must have felt so late after walking outside in the cold and dark for 2 hours.

Räbeliechtli