The Fifth Season-Fastnacht/Carnival in Baden-Württemberg

Abstract

This article discusses the Fastnacht Carnival celebrations in the village of Büßlingen in Baden-Württemberg (Southern Germany) which has both a rich local tradition and a multi-faceted history. The authors present the social practice of German Carnival from four perspectives: the first one shows the historic-religious background of Fastnacht, the second presents the social-political aspect, the third one is the music that people listen to during the celebration of Fastnacht and which is an important element of the celebrations. Finally the fourth and the last perspective deals with the Fastnachtsvereine, the associations which plan and execute the celebrations. In times of globalism Fastnacht keeps its traditional local character as the participants speak in their regional dialect in all the activities which take place, as well as identifying strongly with the region they live in. The authors gathered the ethnographic data in February and March 2019 in Büßlingen and in Singen, Germany, through participant observation and in-depth interviews.

Keywords

• carnival
• Fastnacht
• ritual
• Germany
• local communities