Modern Fasnacht costume from Basel. Fasnacht, a mixture of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, is a pre-Lenten Carnival.
Swiss folklore describes a collection of local stories, celebrations, and customs of the alpine and sub-alpine peoples that occupy Switzerland. The country of Switzerland is made up of several distinct cultures including German, French, Italian, as well as the Romansh speaking population of Graubünden. Each group has its own unique folkloric tradition.
Switzerland has always occupied a crossroads of Europe. While Switzerland has existed as an alliance and country since 1291, the Swiss as a culture and people existed well before this time. Before the Swiss, the region was occupied by Pagan and later Christian Germanic tribes, which would become the Swiss. Before the Germanic peoples, the region was occupied by Roman and Gallo-Roman populations. Finally, before the Romans the Celtic Helvetii lived in what would become Switzerland. In addition to conquest, Switzerland has been a crossroads of Europe since at least the Roman Empire. Constant movement of cultures and ideas into Switzerland has created a rich and varied folklore tradition.
The study of folklore (Folkloristics) is known as Volkskunde in German.
The study of Swiss folklore originates in the 19th century. The central figure of its academic development is Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer, who founded the Swiss Society for Volkskunde in 1896.
Swissfolklore describes a collection of local stories, celebrations, and customs of the alpine and sub-alpine peoples that occupy Switzerland. The country...
French folklore German folklore Modern/Ancient Greek folklore Portuguese folklore Italian folkloreSwissfolklore Folk Catholicism Albanian folklore Hungarian...
German-speaking parts of Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Italy. It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to their origins...
French, German, Hungarian, North-Italian, Polish, Slovak, Slovene and Swissfolklore. In parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the period from May 12 to May...
(1783–1830) who contributed greatly to Swissfolklore in the early part of the 19th century also added to the knowledge of folklore of the Stollenwurm. Although...
through the air. The popular conception of Santa Claus originates from folklore traditions surrounding the 4th-century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas...
(22 May 2016). Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. McFarland. ISBN 9781476622682. Marcle Jacquat, director of the Natural...
the same Germanic goddess as Holda and other female figures of Germanic folklore (see Frija-Frigg). According to Jacob Grimm and Lotte Motz, Perchta is...
Unterwalden, marking the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy. Tell was considered the father of the Swiss Confederacy. Set in the early 14th century (traditional...
legendary hero of Swiss history. According to 16th-century Swiss historiography, Winkelried's sacrifice brought about the victory of the Old Swiss Confederacy...
German: Kaschberle, Swiss German: Chaschperli) is a famous and traditional puppet character from Austria, German-speaking Switzerland, and Germany. Its...
on the horn by the Swiss Alpine herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture. The Kuhreihen was linked to the Swiss nostalgia and Homesickness...
traditional spring festival in Romansh-speaking and Italian-speaking parts of the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It is celebrated on, and named for, the First of March...
traveling Swiss performer named "The Yodeling Fool" in a nearby town. Carter sang in the "singing cowboy" style and developed a yodel with a Swiss-sound sometimes...
A notable concept in Swissfolklore is the Alpsegen (Alpe(n)sëgeⁿ, Alpsëgeⁿ 7,451), a folk religious custom in Alpine Switzerland where every night a prayer...
Steinstossen (translated to 'stone throwing' in English) is the Swiss variant of stone put, of throwing a heavy stone overhead for the longest distance...
Appenzell, Switzerland, and thus contributing to maintain the Chlausen tradition. A Silvesterklaus or New Year's Mummer (Chlaus in Swiss German) is dressed...
suffering from a skin condition, or a survivalist. In September 2013, a Swiss French-language newspaper Le Matin published the first known photograph...
"Schelle"[full citation needed] The importance of the cow bell is highlighted in Swissfolklore, which reflects a period when a great Trychel, or large cow bell, was...
Tolkien's writings, companion of Thorin Oakenshield Oin-Oin, a character of Swissfolklore Open Invention Network, a company specialising in patent with Linux...
Netherlands and Flanders is called Zwarte Piet or Black Pete, and in Swissfolklore Schmutzli, (schmutz meaning dirt). In the Czech Republic, Saint Nicholas...
Montbarrey, Joux, Dole, in France as well as in the Swiss canton of Jura and in the Bernese Jura. In Switzerland, the horse gallops through villages and abducts...
Dactyls. The gnomes of Swissfolklore follow this template, as they are said to have caused the landslide that destroyed the Swiss village of Plurs in 1618...
A Narrenmarsch is a composition of march music that is exclusively played at Fastnacht. Especially in the traditional Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, nearly...
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