Every night of December 5, as tradition dictates, women from Borkum are detained and beaten. Men in grotesque masks chase young women through the streets and woe betide anyone who gets caught! on this East Frisian island. It is the festival of ‘Klaasohm’, a term derived from Ohm (uncle) and Klaas (Klaus), which alludes to Saint Nicholas.
The ritual consists of six young men dressing up as mythical creatures, masked and covered in fur. They must have been born in Borkum and of native parents as well. They must belong to the All-male Borkum Youth Association founded in 1830. And they must be single, two of them ‘small’ between 15 and 16 years old, another two ‘medium’ between 18 and 20 years old, and two ‘older’ ones, who have passed the age of twenty, so that the younger generations collect the witness of the previous ones.
A fight between males with leaps into the void
Once disguised and masked, the head was covered with a kind of cube decorated with monstrous features, with holes. “to see and to drink”go to the stage of the Betriebshalle der Borkumer Kleinbahn, where a ritual fight takes place, a fight between males for leadership in which it is established that the oldest of the Klaasohm wins.
They then take to the streets armed with cow horns, sometimes filled with sand, which they use in their hunt for women. If they catch one, They hold her between several while one of them whips her with the horn on her buttocks.. There is another character, the Wiefke, who represents a woman and who at the end of the night is thrown from a pillar just over a meter high into the crowd.
The Klaasohm also throw themselves into the void to be welcomed in the arms of the townspeople, who are waiting below. The identity of all of them remains more or less secret until the end of the party. and beaten women receive a gingerbread or honey cookie as compensation.
Controversy over this “wild” party
This December, however, the party is in question. A group of women has written, anonymously, a letter in which they describe the party as “wild” and in which They denounce the aggressiveness of the attacks. They complain of “fear,” “pain and bruises,” “oppression,” and “shame.” «If you want to have your behind whipped with a horn, you can do it. But whoever does not want to must also be respected. On no day of the year should women stay at home and not dare to go out for fear of being hit,” they defend, and distance themselves from the idea of ”hitting women for fun.”
The reaction of the state government of Lower Saxony has been a warning message. The Secretary of State of the regional Ministry of Social Affairs, Christine Arbogast, has conceded that customs and traditions “generally have a high priority, must be respected and protected». “But it is clear that everything comes to an end when women feel insecure and fear corporal punishment,” she said.
“Here women talk about beatings”
From the Borkum Youth Association, also anonymously, the tradition is justified by its meaning. They refer the legend of the Klaasohmwho is buried under the Great Kaap throughout the year, from where he leaves on the night of December 5 on his hunt. The truth is that Saint Nicholas was the most important Christian holiday in December in East Frisia until the Reformation, which eliminated it and allowed the return of rites related to the Germanic god of the dead, Wodan, the leader of the mythical Wild Hunt, a party in his honor celebrated that same date.
“In order for Klaasohm to remain the most important festival that forms the identity of the inhabitants of Borkum, it is necessary to maintain a low level of consciousness,” says a statement from the Borkum Youth Association, in response to the ‘Panorama’ report, from the public television channel ARD, which has dealt with the tradition and accuses the islanders. «Here the women talk about beatings, and it doesn’t seem like a ‘fun custom’ at all. There is talk of ‘bruises’ and a lot of ‘pain’, caused by an oppressive, shameful and depressing custom for women,” the program that has raised controversy has maintained. This television crew, which recorded images with a hidden camera but was recognized during filming, had to flee and take refuge in the hotel.
“This cannot be used to mean that the island tolerates violence”
The independent mayor of the island, Jürgen Akkermann, has limited himself to stating that “in my opinion, the information is biased and dubious” because it focuses on “irregularities on the part of individual people” and this “can in no way be used as evidence.” that the island tolerates violence, as the program suggests.
The Leer/Emden police station, responsible for security on the island and its 5,000 inhabitants, has announced on Facebook that it will not tolerate any type of violence. “If we, as police, are aware of any attacks, we will pursue them consistently and holistically.”has warned ahead of this year’s celebration.
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