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| Pont Adolphe Straddling the Petrusse Valley - Built 1903 |
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Now, this is how you celebrate the end of Winter!
The Beurgbrennen is a Luxembourg tradition dating back to Celtic times. Originally a bonfire was lit on the solstice to welcome spring. Now, the first Sunday of Lent is used to mark the end of winter and the eminent arrival of spring...thank Esther! What better way to celebrate the changing seasons than with FIRE! Since the Ville is replacing / repairing the Pont Adolphe, the official celebration took place in Beggen this year rather than the usual site in the Petrusse Valley. The temporary bridge footings make it difficult to host a bonfire down there - yeah, they're building an entirely new bridge to make way for the repairs! We don't do anything half-way here in Luxembourg.
Jeni and I bundled up and headed up to Beggen to see this Rite for ourselves. Apparently the original bonfires were lit and attended only by the men of the village. Now the convention is to have the children light the fire as a symbol of the new replacing the old...kinda morbid, but please watch the video below to see how the evening unfolded.
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How very cool! I can't imagine a single place in the US that would let that many young kids walk anywhere, much less that close through a group of people, with flaming sticks in order to light a massive bonfire. I also was struck by the lack of (visible) firetrucks and security keeping people away from the bonfire.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm betting that not a single person got hurt! Life is so much more fun and interesting when you don't have ridiculous rules getting in the way. I need to raise my kids in Europe!
-Rebecca
Nope...no one was injured, and the Fire Fighters were safe and warm at the station. Life here is, well, quite Libertarian in a lot of ways. Guard rails, for example, are mostly symbolic...city walls and bridges do have them, but I wouldn't count on them saving anyone in "push came to shove". :-) Leashes on dogs are optional, for the most part the drinking age is 16, etc.
DeleteCheers,
Brian.