Medieval party goes co-ed.
| Auteur | Mirza, Faryal |
Once every three years the Munsterhof outside Zurich's Fraumunster church is transported back to the Middle Ages but as Swiss News discovers it's not all medieval fun and frolic. Under the surface, an old-fashioned battle of the sexes is taking place.
Under a glaring sun, a man in a leather jerkin takes a nap on a curious-looking chair shaped like an "X". Nearby, half a dozen metal gauntlets glitter on bales of straw next to an arsenal of spears. Young girls in long tunics rush past men roasting legs of lamb and frying onions in a huge cast-iron frying pan. Women in full linen dresses, hair tucked neatly under a cap, offer clay glasses of cool apple juice to passers-by.
The noise of squawking hens accompanies the general bustle of visitors, who stop to inspect the wares of various stalls. The spoon-maker hawks his delicately carved utensils--from tiny jam spoons the length of a thumb to immense ladles designed to facilitate the feeding of the five thousand. A glass-blower, a soap-maker, a weaver, a spinner, blacksmiths and shoemakers busy themselves, surrounded by the paraphernalia of their trades.
These were some of the scenes greeting visitors to this year's Mittelalter Spectaculum or Medieval Spectacular on the square outside Fraumunster church on the last weekend in May.
Medieval hostess
One woman stands out from the crowd; dressed in a fine tunic, trimmed with fur and brocade, her cream veil flutters as she welcomes passers-by. She is Jeannette Derrer, vice-president of the Gesellschaft zu Fraumunster or Fraumunster Society, which organises the triennial event.
"I'm dressed as a noblewoman from medieval Zurich--I'm wearing a blue dress with long narrow sleeves, with a green tunic over it," Derrer explains.
The 'Fraumunster' is one of Zurich's newest guilds and the only female one. The three-day event was more than a year in the making, with the female guild's members working long and hard.
"Most of our sponsors are private but we did get some assistance from Zurich's Cultural Fund: it costs a five-figure sum to organise something like this," Derrer says. "We would be happy to make a little profit, so that it would be easier for next time but we are content if we break even."
History lesson
But why bother sending Zurich back into the Middle Ages? "It brings another time dimension to the city; for us it is important because our society has its roots in this part of history and we want to show this," Derrer says.
The guild itself is not...
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