Herbstein

Shrove Monday procession with the traditional Springerzug

Galerie (1)

In the small town of Herbstein in Vogelsberg, the Carnival festival has been celebrated since the Middle Ages. In the 1920s, “organised” carnival jumping became popular, actually called a penitent “Foaseltbitten”. This custom is practiced in the course of the Shrove Monday procession through the “mountaintop town”, to which thousands of visitors have flocked from near and far every year.

It should be explained why the Herbstein Shrove Monday Procession in this small town requires almost five hours before it ends in the Haus des Gastes (public event venue) for the Shrove Monday Ball. Although this traditional Springerzug (literally “jumping parade” where participants jump and hop continually throughout the parade) is in fact the focus of the Shrove Monday Procession, there are still many other participants such as outriders, flag wavers, prince guards, Elf Council, a band, traditional figures, dance guards, ‘bigheads’, groups on foot and a train of decorated floats.