Aperschnalzen

"Seid´s gschickt?" Are you ready - because it is time for another pre-Christian "frightening away winter and welcoming Spring" custom – APERSCHNALZEN.

Whipcracking with a "Goassl" - Austro-Bavarian dialect for "whip" where the tradition has its roots. 

The whip's loud cracking drives away the cold and darkness...or, according to an alternative piece of folklore, wakes up seeds lying dormant under snow.

"Aper" means "free from snow" in Austro-Bavarian and "Aperschnalzen" competitive whip cracking.

"Ufdrahd, oane, zwoa, drei dahin geht’s!" Then the four meter, 13 ft, whips crack one after another. 

A small group and always an uneven number, 7, 9, 11. In a round each man will crack the Goassl nine or eleven times, with the most powerful and impressive "Knall" the finale.

Here is a one minute impression: Aperschnalzen - ein uralter Brauch im Rupertiwinkel - http://bit.ly/2F56j00

A tradition in this form since at least 1730, Aperschnalzen takes place at different times in villages and towns around the Alpine foothills, from St. Stephen's Day, the second Christmas Day, until Carnival Tuesday, and the "Passen" (group) making the most spectacular series of cracks wins the contest.

The groups can not be seen by the panel of "experts", and are judged only by the sound produced.

Winning teams receive a Beer Krug for each Passen member, together with a "Wandergoassl", Wandering Whip, which is theirs to keep until Aperschnalzen comes around again...sometime after next Stephanitag.

Photo credit: Aperschnalzen im Rupertiwinkel by Rosi via Berchtesgadener Land Tourismus GmbH