Good Friday or Karfreitag is the sixth day of the Karwoche (Holy Week) and one of the days of the triduum sacrum, the three holy days in the Christian church. It is the day when Jesus was crucified (gekreuzigt). In Germany, it is a public holiday as well as a stiller Feiertag (still or quiet holiday) when no dancing or public events are allowed.
What does Karfreitag mean?
While it is not clear why the Thursday before Karfreitag is called Gründonnerstag, we do know (or at least are pretty sure) where the name Karfreitag comes from. Kar is derived from the Old High German word kara which means Trauer, Klage, Kummer (grief, sorrow, misery). In Middle High German, Good Friday was called ‘der kare vrítag – der traurige Freitag‘ – the sad, sorrowful Friday which developed into Karfreitag.
If you are wondering why we call it “Good Friday” in English, then it gets a little trickier. Some say it’s derived from “God’s Friday”, others think that ‘good’ was used meaning ‘holy’, while some feel the day of Jesus’ crucifixion is indeed good because Jesus died for people’s sins.
But it might actually be Martin Luther (16th century) who is to blame for the term. The reformer and founder of the Protestant church used to call Karfreitag “Guter Freitag” which literally translates to Good Friday. He used the term because the day was a good day. God took the people’s place and died for their sins on the cross. The name came from the German into the English language and also the Dutch language where it is called goede vrijdag.
Customs on Karfreitag
Because Karfreitag is an important day in the church year, services are held in every Christian church. Interestingly, Karfreitag wasn’t always a holiday or considered as important as it is today. Martin Luther and the Protestant church really pushed for the day of the crucifixion to be an important day in their church year.
Passion of Christ Processions
The focus in many church services is the passion of Christ (Leidensweg Christi) and there are cities and congregations who don’t only tell the story but stage a procession that follows Jesus’ way of the cross.
One of such procession is the Wiedenbrücker Kreuztracht in eastern Westphalia. The word Kreuztracht comes from Kreuz tragen – to carry the cross. Another term for these processions on Good Friday is Karfreitagsprozession.
In Wiedenbrück the procession has been a tradition since 1663 when the convent of Franciscan monks established it. The convent is no longer there, and the church association Reckenberg took over the organization in 2020.
The procession in Wiedenbrück is an ecumencial event, members and clergy of the Catholic, the Protestant, and the Syrian-Orthodox church come together to commemorate the sufferings of Jesus. Together they read from the gospel of John before the procession actually starts.
The crossbearer and his helper Simon von Cyrene are anonymous and only a handful of people know who they really are. You can see in the photos that they wear masks. It may be people, possibly criminals, who want to do penance.
The person enacting Jesus falls to his knees (Kniefall, genuflection) seven times during the procession. While the order in which the participants walk through the town has changed a little over time (as well as the route), the following groups accompany Jesus: altar boys and girls, choirs, seven men traditionally dressed in black men carrying sticks with mourning bands (Trauerflor), children dressed as the people and Roman soldiers.
When Jesus falls to his knees, the choir (a mix of singers from the different congregations) sing litanies like “Crux ave, spes unica” and “Vater von dem Himmelsthron”.
Karfreitagsratschen
The church bells stand still for Good Friday and the Saturday before Easter. They are said to “fly to Rome” for confession (or to eat rice pudding). That’s also why sometimes it was the church bells who brought the Easter eggs.
Whether or not bells can fly, the problem for Catholics is that they are not called to mass on Friday and Saturday and those days are important days in the Christian faith. In order to prevent anybody from missing a church service, the ministrants are in charge of letting people know when they should come to church.
They do so by making noise with the so-called Ratschen, a ratchet. It is a wooden instrument that functions like a barrel organ; it comes in different shapes and sizes, most are barrel organs that you turn (Ratschen), others are pushed (Schubratschen), some are swung around, and some have a wooden knocker or multiple (Klapper, Klepper). They all have in common that they are loud, loud enough to wake people for morning mass at 6 or 7am. They also alert people to services throughout the day. The person who is leading the group (often the oldest) is called Klappermeister*in or Vorklapperer*in.
The ratchets you swing around are also used to scare birds away from fields and vineyards. During World War I, a ratchet alerted soldiers to a gas attack, or civilians of an air raid. But you can find those ratchets also during Karneval and other celebrations.
Ratschen is already mentioned in the 1534 Weltbuch by Sebastian Franck: da fert man mit einem klopffenden karren vn vil tafeln in der statt herumb / beruͤfft das volck inn die kirchen zū Passion. Da fährt man mit einem klopfenden Karren und vielen Tafeln in der Stadt herum / ruft das Volk in die Kirchen zur Passion. There you drive/walk around with knocking carts and many tablets in the town / calling the people to church for the Passion.
This custom takes place in Austria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, parts of Italy, and in Germany in the following regions: Bavaria, Rhön, Palatinate, Eifel, Saarland, Rhineland, at the Moselle, Hunsrueck, in parts of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Depending on the region, different rhymes are said while ratsching. Some are in Standard German, others in dialect.
den jeder katholische Christ beten muss.”
We rattle, we rattle the angel’s greeting, that every Catholic Christian must pray.
In Austria, it is followed with “Fall down, fall down on your knees, pray one Lord’s Prayer and three Hail Marys.”
betet ein Vaterunser und drei Avemarie.”
In some regions, when the children are walking the streets on Saturday calling people to church, they ask for small gifts, like (Easter) eggs, sweets or money, for their service. A common saying for that is “We have rattled/clattered for the holy grave and are asking for a pittance/donation.”
und bitten um eine milde Gab’."
Ratschen in der Karwoche was added to Austria’s UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage in 2015.
Here are some words that are used for Ratschen: Rätschen, Räppeln, Karsingen, Rappeln, Klappern (also Kleppern, Kliäppern), Raspeln, Schledern, Kläpstern, Klibberen, Karren, Lören, Garren, or Klacheln.
Food
Many people eat fish on Fridays during Lent and especially on Good Friday but that’s not the case everywhere.
In the region around Münster and the lower Rhine area in Westphalia, the traditional dish on Karfreitag are Struwen, also known as Püfferchen or Ollikräppkes . It is similar to a pancake (the crepes-like ones eaten in Germany) but it is made with yeast giving them a fluffier consistency. Most people add raisins and serve them with applesauce or cinnamon sugar.
Struwen have been around a long time and are first mentioned in a document from 1090 when the bishop of Münster and the abbess of the nearby cloister Freckenhorst were arguing about the food served to the nuns (I know!). Anyway, it was decided that the nuns were allowed to have what the common people referred to as “struva” on holy days like Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. No mention is made of Good Friday specifically but that’s what it is eaten today.
Sources and Resources
- Wiki – Karfreitag
- Wiki – Good Friday
- Mein Rheda-Weidenbrück: Wiedenbrücker Kreuztracht – Photo Gallery
- Die Glocke – Kreuztracht 2023
- Youtube Playlist – Kreuztracht
- Wiki Lexikon – Ratschen
- Youtube Playlist – Ratschen
- Wiki – Struwen
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