Elferrat

Last updated July 10, 2019

The Elferrat (German for "council of eleven") is the council of a kingdom of fools in a carnival.

German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol in Italy, the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland. The languages which are most similar to German are the other members of the West Germanic language branch: Afrikaans, Dutch, English, the Frisian languages, Low German/Low Saxon, Luxembourgish, and Yiddish. There are also strong similarities in vocabulary with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, although those belong to the North Germanic group. German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English.

Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide. Carnival typically involves public celebrations, including events such as parades, public street parties and other entertainments, combining some elements of a circus. Elaborate costumes and masks allow people to set aside their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity. Participants often indulge in excessive consumption of alcohol, meat, and other foods that will be forgone during upcoming Lent. Traditionally, butter, milk, and other animal products were not consumed "excessively", rather, their stock was fully consumed as to reduce waste. Pancakes, donuts, and other desserts were prepared and eaten for a final time. During Lent, animal products are no longer eaten, and individuals have the ability to give up a certain object or activity of desire.

Development

The Elferrat was originally introduced in the Rhine carnival reform in 1823 and has its roots in the region in Germany west of the Rhine, from France after the French Revolution. French became the language of trade, and French laws were in use. In connection with the revolution, this helped develop civil and political rights, with a level of freedom of speech and equality of citizens in front of the law. With Napoleon's defeat, this came to an end, and Absolutism was restored. In Mainz, the Austrians and the Prussians formed the military authority in conjunction. Cologne, the first free imperial city, came to be ruled by the Prussians.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Rhine is one of the major European rivers, which has its sources in Switzerland and flows in a mostly northerly direction through Germany and the Netherlands, emptying into the North Sea. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps, forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German and then the Franco-German border, then flows through the German Rhineland and the Netherlands and eventually empties into the North Sea.

The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) has largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French.

The eleven in the Elferrat

The citizens robbed of their rights came to view the number eleven as a symbol of the French Revolution, because it symbolised equality among the people, that is to say one beside one.^{[ citation needed ]}

11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer requiring three syllables and the largest prime number with a single-morpheme name.

The German word elf (eleven) can be seen as an abbreviation "ELF" for the motto of the French Revolution: Egalité, Liberté, Fraternité - "equality, liberty, fraternity".

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. It consists of a group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr., abbrv., or abbrev.

A motto is a maxim; a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group or organization. Mottos are usually found predominantly in written form, and may stem from long traditions of social foundations, or from significant events, such as a civil war or a revolution. A motto may be in any language, but Latin has been widely used, especially in the Western world.

This abbreviation was subsequently frequently used in the French Revolution and by Napoleon as a logo. It first became a motto in the start of the French Third Republic in 1871, and later explained as the main motto of the revolution in retrospect. During the revolution, it was only one three-word motto among many, such as "health, might, unity" and "might, equality, justice", which are nowadays found in historical documents much more seldom than the famous motto "equality, liberty, fraternity".

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 after France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France.

The Elferrat thus thought of themselves as a council of citizen peers, hidden under fool's hats.

The Elferrat in modern carnivals

Although eleven male (in some places, also female) members of the Elferrat can be seen on stage in the official meeting in a carnival, it is mostly composed of a greater number of men. In some cities, there are special female councils, such as the Achterrat in Freiburg, because the traditionally male-dominated associations usually leave women only in the role of majorettes, not in these representative positions. In many associations, so-called honorary Elferrats are nominated, mostly consisting of distinguished association members or supporters such as politicians, businessmen and so on.^{[ citation needed ]}

A majorette is a baton twirler whose twirling performance is often accompanied by dance, movement, or gymnastics; they are primarily associated with marching bands during parades. Majorettes can also spin knives, fire knives, flags, light-up batons, fire batons, maces and rifles. They do illusions, cartwheels, and flips, and sometimes twirl up to four batons at a time. Majorettes are often confused with cheerleaders; baton twirling, however, is more closely related to rhythmic gymnastics than to cheerleading.

Duties

The Elferrat plans and organises various details of the carnival in its sessions, such as dances, carnival meetings and the move routes of the carnival. The Elferrat and their wives also participate in various festivities outside these sessions.

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References

External links

Where does the fool's number 11 come from? and the Elferrat on the website of the University of Mainz

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