European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Story and photos by Linda White travel editor h is .1 mad time in did when the City fathers Tirres up As frogs to he serenaded by an Oul-ot-tunl1 kind of thickens Ai 4 j.m., no less. But then a snarl in Lucerne Switzerland defies Gravity. Groups of creatures l nth earthly and unearthly make their Way around town. Organized Parados break Down into Small profusion then into wanderings at last into pairs or individuals tramping through the streets playing i r Limpet or drum. These arc the Ifuku to i Hnulik groups playing frenetic off key music bring Down the rafters music Lek arms and a Inre music. They dress As pigs As hands of Angels As. Scarecrows As a Jungle is manners and spirits i very year they dress As something different except Lor the Cha Uclusin club which always comes As cats and has a one song . The madness begins the thursday before Ash wednesday and ends officially with the beginning Raf Lent. This year the Dales Are feb. 6-12. Within thai week almost no one sleeps almost everyone dresses in costume shops close and restaurants stay open around the clock. But there is method to the madness. Fasnacht is ruled by four guilds. The oldest Zundl a Safran founded in m17 open the festivities on sch Mutziger Donnerstag thursday with a 5 . Parade and a Parade again that afternoon. Chief of the Safran Guild is the Fritschi Fathera descendant of an old old Lucerne family whose death masks adorn the Fountain on the Kapel Platz. It 1$ from these masks that the faces of the1 modern Fritschi couple arc taken. Promptly at 6 . On thursday the Parade a Rucks us Way to that Fountain and the Fritschi father and his cohorts toss blood oranges to the crowd. By Daybreak the revellers arc seated in cafes having Meh Suppe porridge or breakfast and watching the musicians wander by. When the players get tired or cold they join the crowds in the cafes playing for their drinks. The afternoon Parade gives a Daylight View of he groups who often use the occasion to satirize officialdom or an went of the year. Las year one group spoofed the United Stales dressing up in red White and Blue with a Flag waving Mickey mouse leading the troop. Bosom majorettes were followed by a football player decked out in coca cola shoulder pads and athletic supporter. Trailing behind was a chorus toting a Banner proclaiming we want maskers invited a steady Stream of spectators an Board a Beer Wagon another club handed our Welcome dollops at hot Broth to those who lined the route. There is no age limit on masking. Children March in the parades almost As soon As they can walk and hold a noise maker. After thursday the weekend offers a semblance of normality although straggling groups wander the streets playing music and the cafes overflow again and again. Each evening there Are masked balls More than 500 take place in Lucerne and the surrounding villages during the season. At each Ball one or More Guggen Musik groups interrupt the dance bands with the penetrating reverberating music that defies anyone to stand still. The delighted guests join hands and climb onto chairs and tables and Sway. Monday is the Day of the we Zunft the Guild that adopted the Frog As its Crest. Last year it began with a 4 . Invitation Only breakfast at the local steamship works. An hour later the Guild master and his Froggy followers boarded a ship for a Short ride across the Lake a Guggen Murfik band blaring on the Bow to the Start of the Parade route. Again in the afternoon the Parade took to the streets with the we Zunft master tossing oranges from his horse drawn Carriage at the Tail end of the cortege. is the big night far balls and the biggest is the masked Ball .11 the Casino five dance bands ill going at once sponsored by the Fidelita Guild. Most of the women come masked there is a fair sprinkling of Tux does men and it is ladies Choice dancing. The Ball winds Down in the wee hours but the Call s in Mill ablaze with Light and the goes on past Sunrise. So far fasnacht has favored the guilds but on tuesday night the groups arc in their glory. Last year 30,000 spectators jammed the streets of the old town in 15-Dcgrce f cold to watch the musicians March past for 2vi hours. It s the last fling and a big one. The streetlights illuminate the papier mache faces set in permanent kisses or grimaces As the cacophony of Drums and brass goes on and on each band drowning out the one that proceeded it. Once again the cafes offer Refuge doing a rousing musings in the schnapps spiked Coffee Lucerne to help Law the fingers and drown the decibels. Ash wednesday Downs Over a few diehard remnants of bands in costume on the Quay four masked musicians Are playing a carnival song but As a Dirge while two dancing figures twirl languidly in the Snow. This year the City tourist office has carnival packages to include Bod and breakfast attendance at a masked Ball the carnival program and documentation about the City s sights. The cheapest package costs 66 Swiss francs about $3j per person in a double room or the first night and 32 francs about $16 for additional nights with a single supplement of 6 francs about $3 per night. Prices go up to the deluxe package at 137 francs about $63.50 per person in a double for the first night 103 francs about $51.50 for additional nights and a 22-franc about $11 per night single supplement. For More information or to Book one of the packages Contact Lucerne tourist promotion Board pilatus Strassl 14, ck-6002 Lucerne Switzerland. Tel. 041-517171 Don t forget to add the country code when you Are dealing. It Nuiry 16,19$s stripes Imp Amine 7
