Halloween in Hard
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Halloween in Hard |
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Here in
Austria almost nobody knows anything about Halloween, but my being an American I decided
to introduce the custom in my neighbourhood. Seven years ago when our son was about 1 ½
we cautiously asked y few of our nighbours if we ( our son and about five other
neighbourhood children) could come in costumes and „trick and treat" at their
homes. After giving them a short description of the celebration, the neighbours were glad
to play along. Since then the activities have become more elaborate every year. We started
having parties and included more neighbours. Some of our friends liked the idea so much
that they turned the basements into haunted chambers where the children had to decipher
secret codes to get to their little treasure (treat). This year some of our neighbours , the Wörz
family and the Kepplinger family
decided to help the ghosts in a wooded area near our home that has always been a little
spooky on Halloween night. 
They set up a smoke bomb along the wooded path that was lighted only with a
few candles to produce a truly eerie atmosphere . Then suddenly a ghost appeared from the
right! Then frightening sounds attracted our attention to the other side and another ghost
appeared. We started to run away when suddenly a net come down on us. We were screaming
and couldn´t free ourselves until a huge dark figure with a large cross appeared and we
were able to get out of the net. The children were then able to recognize some of the
ghosts and were glad that the spook was over.
Niko Berberoglu in action.
After that we went to another friend`s house, the home of the Berberoglu family, who greeted us in a frightening costume and told us
a story of a whole village of people who disappeared under very mysterious circumstances
hundreds of years ago. The villagers were buried in the very ground they were standing on
and appeared every year to lament their unjust banishment. The children then had the
assignment to count the unhappy souls by following a scary path through his garden and
through a tunnel down to his basement where he some of the wretched souls were depicted in
paintings on the walls. He had used fluorescent paints that lit up eerily in the blue
light. Each of the children tried to figure out the sinister plan behind the village´s
disappearance.
The children
certainly had a lot to tell when they got home and I think you can see that the spirit of
Halloween is really appreciated here . Each year I talk to the children and adults about
the probable origin of the celebration. What is interesting, is that this area around
Bregenz was a Celtic city until 15 BC when Romans conquered the area. The Roman name
„Brigantium" derives from the Celtic word „Briga" meaning mountain. I
assume that some of the traditions can be connected with the Celtic heritage. For example,
some farmers believe that the animals in the barns have the ability to speak and are in
possession of other magical powers during what is called die „Rauhnächte". This
can be translated as the „rough nights" or „harsh nights" and is the
time between Christmas Eve and the 6th of January, the day of the three holy kings, the
end of the Christmas holidays. I have read that the 31st of October was the last day of
the Celtic year, so this would somehow correspond to our „Rauhnächte." It
certainly would be interesting to study the similarities, and if you find any information
we would be glad to hear from you.
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Our huge Jack-o-lantern |
| The two pumpkin carving artists Christoph Rohner and Matti Fuchs |
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Matti in his costume as Quasimodo |
| Besucher Visitors |
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