With a parade through the village, music and funny sayings: that was the Kernser Älplerchilbi
The harvest festival of the Kerns Alpine Brotherhood this year had the motto “Wildheywä”.
<img alt="Alphorn players also performed at the Älplerchilbi.” data-nzz-tid=”article-image” width=”4928″ height=”3264″ src=”https://img.chmedia.ch/2024/10/19/e2ad4f65-6a44-40fc-9668-fb94d43265e9.jpeg?width=654&height=433&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=4928,3264,x0,y0″ loading=”eager” srcset=”https://img.chmedia.ch/2024/10/19/e2ad4f65-6a44-40fc-9668-fb94d43265e9.jpeg?width=680&height=450&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=4928,3264,x0,y0 680w, https://img.chmedia.ch/2024/10/19/e2ad4f65-6a44-40fc-9668-fb94d43265e9.jpeg?width=1360&height=901&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=4928,3264,x0,y0 1360w, https://img.chmedia.ch/2024/10/19/e2ad4f65-6a44-40fc-9668-fb94d43265e9.jpeg?width=327&height=217&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=4928,3264,x0,y0 327w, https://img.chmedia.ch/2024/10/19/e2ad4f65-6a44-40fc-9668-fb94d43265e9.jpeg?width=654&height=433&fit=bounds&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=4928,3264,x0,y0 654w” class=”image-placeholder__image” style=”cursor:pointer;transform:scale(1);”/>
Alphorn players also performed at the Älplerchilbi.
Image: Franz Niederberger (Kerns, October 18, 2024)
Traditionally, the Harvest Festival of the Kerns Alpine Brotherhood takes place on a Friday. On October 18th it was that time again. After having breakfast together and entering the church, accompanied by the 9er music, the celebratory service was a first highlight for the alpine farmers. The Fruttklänge yodeling club celebrated the celebration with a yodeling mass in the magnificently decorated, packed church. The mass was celebrated by Father Maximilian, Anne-Katrin Kleinschmitt and Marco Baumgartner.
The community leader in Dallenwil, Marco Baumgartner, was given the honor of preacher. The motto of the Älplerchilbi, “Wildheywä”, was the common thread. He found beautiful parallels between the daily gospel and the “Wildheywä”, where wild hay is produced, also called Hochbergheu in Kerns. Baumgartner put community first. This tradition, which stands for freedom and “chramps”, cannot be done alone, he said.
One topic was vulnerability and dangers as well as the chances of preserving cultivated land and local feed for the animals made from fine herbs and aromatic grasses. Although more and more stress factors such as helicopter flights can be observed during wild haying, it is the peace, quiet, good air and great views that make this great tradition so special, Baumgartner explained. Respect for nature, which is lived with deep faith, are also special values for Baumgartner. Standing up for the faith means working, “chramping” like on the Planggen. “We should bring peace from the Planggen to the valley,” said Baumgartner.
Sayings make you smile
With a procession through the village, accompanied by many onlookers, the company met at the Dossenhalle for an aperitif and lunch. The wild, archaic characters “Hudee” and “Läsi” made their first appearance. They had some sayings that made you smile and laugh. The alphorn players, flag wavers, the children’s dance group, the Schwyzerörgeli Duo Echo vom Alpengruess, the Ländlertrio Britschgi and in the “Chelibuidä” the Echo vom Bäräaug also performed
Image: Franz Niederberger (Kerns, October 18, 2024)
Honorary member Albert Amschwand-Burch was on SRF1 Sven Epiney at 7:15 a.m. and answered. “Being together, talking to each other and dancing with lots of folk entertainment correspond entirely to the meaning and spirit of the Kerns Alpine Brotherhood. But gratitude is also part of it, it’s also Thanksgiving,” said Amschwand. He also made it clear that the Alpine Brotherhood, founded in 1863, maintains the beautiful festival with culture in the traditional framework with church origins, but does not exclude social changes, such as partnership relationships.
To ensure that the Älplerchilbi in Kerns could run smoothly, Stefan Windlin and Pius Suter directed it as Älpler carers and writers. “The elected ensigns carried out their tasks confidently, but we made sure that everything was in the right place at the right time,” said 52-year-old farmer and electrical installer Pius Suter. He emphasized that they could also count on the help of their wives. The Älplerchilbi in Kerns “duired one day and one night and often had a long drag”.
Excerpt from the Alpine sayings:
Ä Ride with a bus through the city of Zurich doesn’t always take the same long time,
The streets are clogged and there’s no need to go to the Amplä staa.
A settigs head my Liäbii surely need thanks,
so you would have given yourself time for a little bit of money before yesterday.
If I forget that,
muäs is miderä vollä Blaasä uf nä Nothalt plangä.
Äs Rotliächt, das duäd ihns rettä,
is stiigt uis und suächt äs WC dettä.
Free to chlii hed äs ihm two gwohled,
I jumped after the bus and at the next red light I was in the car again.
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