The last few days of the carnival period are celebrated through merry rituals in quite a few parts of Transylvania. It is said, that many of these carnival customs, like the processions of masks and costumes, the chanting of witty and mocking rhymes, the jokes and pranks, the lighting of fires have their origins in belief-systems pre-dating Christianity.
Joy and happiness are usually emphasized excessively during carnival, these being actually celebrations of life over death, of spring over the passing winter. One of the representative eventsis called the burial of the carnival, a symbolic way of putting winter to its end.
The ceremony and its practices vary in the different regions of Transylvania. Saxons living in the former Királyföld (Königsboden, Saxon land, Pământul Crăiesc) also have their specific ways of celebrating; their word for the carnival period is Fastnacht. The carnival rituals of the Saxon communities of Transylvania are deeply influenced by the ways of functioning of their former guilds and of the different associations that had shaped the life of the whole community.
For instance there were the associations of the young, unmarried men, that of married women, that of the married men or that of the neighborhoods’; once a Saxon neighborhood comprised 10 to 60 households,and families belonging had helped out each other in various chores. Some Saxon settlements, like Nagysink (German: Gross-Schenk, Romanian: Cincu) – where our photos were taken –, or Szentágota (Agnetheln, Agnita), which were once famous for their artisanal products and were important market places, still practice forms of carnival which were largely popular in the 19th century, and even in the first half of the former century.
In the 17th and 18th century the custom became closely linked to the ritual of handing over the guild box to the new town judge. The parade is usually lead by the chiefs of the most important guilds, usually the shoemakers’ guild, that of the tailors’ guild, the furriers’ guild, the coopers’, the butcher’s.
A characteristic costume and mask used in the carnival is called the Urzeln. The Saxon word could not be translated accurately, but it is assumed that it derives from the name of their ragged clothes made from pieces of textiles. Those who wear the suit, made of coarse cloth, transform, dissimulate and become the Urzeln.
In Nagysink the whole community becomes involved in the carnival: those who ride in the carriage of the fools can formulate opinions about what happened in the settlement and people can interact with them. Actually, they are kind of a moving court, and sentence every wrongdoing that has been done in the community.
The costume is sewn out of black fabric cords in transversal lines, and the white fabric under it reveals as the Urzeln moves. The painted mask covers the whole face, on the sides it is covered with fur. A scarf with black tassels covers part of his back, and it ends with a hemp-knitted braid decorated with colored bands. Around his waist he wears a wide belt which has one or two large bells attached to it, and the leather whip is an important element as well.
Carnival celebration were and are about eating and drinking, dancing, feasting.
Refuelling with donuts: The wooden clamp is used for handing out the donuts the Urzeln share. People who recognize them get a donut as a reward.
Distinctive figures of the carnival are the guild-leaders, and the Eirer, or the men with the eggs, who are wearing cylinder hats, and are responsible for gathering donations. The musician is an important figure as well.
The gathering witnessing the handing over of the guild box was accompanied by the mask-wearing funny characters whose role was to protect the boxes from the neighbourhoods.
The carnival procession ends with the Urzeln running in groups on the streets to chase away everything that is evil. They are lashing their whips and rattling their cowbells to scare winter and darkness.
Aerial view of Nagysink. The story behind the carnival custom of the Urzelnlaufen, translated to Romanian as “fuga lolelor”, the run of the lole, is said to be based on a legend that is several centuries old. This legend and the ritual actually relate to the town of Szentágota, but it is practiced in Nagysink as well. It is said, that when Turkish invaders sieged Szentágota, a young girl named Ursula disguised herself in a scary costume, went out of the burg and produced scary noises with her whip, thus chasing away the scared Turks.
