Sechseläuten


The Sechseläuten is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich celebrated in its current form, usually on the 3rd Monday of April, since the early 20th century.

Burning of the Böögg

Following the parade of the Zünfte, the climax of the holiday is the burning of Winter in effigy, in the form of the Böögg, a figure of a snowman prepared with explosives. The custom of burning a rag doll called Böögg predates the Sechseläuten. A Böögg was originally a masked character doing mischief and frightening children during the carnival season.

History

The roots of the festival go back to medieval times when the first day of summer working hours was celebrated in the guildhalls across the city. City ordinances strictly regulated the length of the working day in that era. During the winter semester the workday in all workshops lasted as long as there was daylight, but during the summer semester the law proclaimed that work must cease when the church bells tolled at six o'clock. Sechseläuten is a Swiss German word that literally translates into "The six o'clock ringing of the bells". Changing to summer working hours traditionally was a joyous occasion because it marked the beginning of the season where people had some non-working daylight hours.
Burnings of Böögg figures in spring are attested in various places of the city from the late 18th and early 19th century, without direct connection to the Sechseläuten. The combination of the Sechseläuten parade and the burning of an official Böögg was introduced in 1902.
From 1902 until 1951, the holiday used to be held on the first Monday following vernal equinox. On that day, the Fraumünster bell, for the first time in the year, tolled to mark the end of working hours at 6 p.m..
The holiday was moved to the third Monday of April in 1952. Because of the later date, and because of summer time introduced in 1981, the lighting of the Böögg's pyre at 6 p.m. has now moved to several hours before nightfall. Additionally, because of its present date, the holiday is often within a week of 1 May, leading to a stark contrast between the upper class dominated Sechseläuten and the working class holiday of May Day. This proximity of the major festivals of two political poles of the society of Zürich has led to various interferences in the past, for example the abduction of the Böögg in 2006 by leftist "revolutionaries" a few days before the Sechseläuten. Since then, several Bööggs are held in reserve with the main one stored at a bank nearby the Sechseläutenplatz. Since 2010 the guilds of Zürich allow the women of Gesellschaft zu Fraumünster to practice Sechseläuten, usually just being guests of the guilds respectively the Constaffel society, but still not being as an official guild in Zürich.
In 2020, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Sechseläuten parade, that was supposed to occur on 20th April, was cancelled for that year. This was the first time in almost 100 years that the paraded did not happen. It is expected the Sechseläuten parade, will operate normally from the next year, 19th April, 2021.

Weather oracle

Popular tradition has it that the time between the lighting of the pyre and the explosion of the Böögg’s head is indicative of the coming summer: a quick explosion promises a warm, sunny summer, a drawn-out burning a cold and rainy one. The shortest time on record is 5:07 minutes in 1974 and the longest is 43:34 minutes in 2016. The 2007 explosion of the Böögg’s head took place 12:09 minutes after the pyre was lit, promising a medium warm summer. On 14 April 2008, heavy rains soaked the Böögg and the wood pyre materials so much that "firemen" in the style of Fahrenheit 451 had to spray the pyre with kerosene or fuel oil after initial ignition in addition to 15 liters of fire accelerant which was initially thrown on the pyre. It took 26:01 minutes for the Bööggs head to explode which indicates a poor weather summer.

Sechseläuten in recent years

The Sechseläuten of 2008 took place on 14 April. Officially, the head exploded only after 26 minutes and one second, promising a rather poor summer.
The fact that the head, instead of traditionally exploding, burnt down very quietly caused a lot of confusion. After approximately 20 minutes the head had burnt away completely, but leaving a large piece of the neck hanging from the stake. It was the explosion of that piece that ended this year's event.
In 2012, it took 12 minutes and 07 seconds, and in this year there was some confusion if both firecrackers in the neck of the Böögg had exploded. It was determined that 12 min 07 secs was the mark.
In 2014, the head exploded quite quickly but it ended up being a poor summer.
In 2015, the head exploded quite quickly and it ended up being a very good summer.
In 2016, the head exploded after 43 minutes and 34 seconds, setting a new record.
In 2017, the head exploded after 9 minutes and 56 seconds. A quick time and there was a good summer
In 2018, the head exploded after 20 minutes and 31 seconds.
In 2019, the head exploded after 17 minutes and 44 seconds.
In 2020, Sechseläuten was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional events

Additional events of the holiday nowadays also include:
  1. A 'Kinderumzug' in historic and folkloristic costumes on the Sunday preceding the Sechseläuten.
  2. A very colorful afternoon parade of the 26 guilds in their historic dress costumes, each with its own band, most with a sizable mounted 'Reitergruppe', and horse drawn floats, to the 'Sechseläutenplatz' at the lakeshore where the Böögg is burnt.
  3. A ceremonial galloping of the mounted units of the guilds around the bonfire.
  4. Lunch and dinner banquets for the guildmembers and their guests.
  5. The 'Auszug', the nighttime visits of delegations of each of the 26 guilds to several other guilds in their guildhalls to exchange greetings, toasts, witticisms and gifts.

    Sechseläutenmarsch

During this festival the popular march known as the Sechseläutenmarsch is played. It has no known composer but likely originated in Russia.

Gallery

Date

With a few exceptions, the date is fixed to the third Monday in April.
Dates are: