in the course of the festivities of the 850th anniversary of bad reichenhall as a city (it was a camp already at roman times) today we had the “gaufest” of the traditional mountain costumes association. the started at 6:00 in the morning with silver salute, which was resumed for probably 45 minutes after church had ended and the groups were assembling for the procession through the city.
from the numerous optical attractions today i show you a small selection of ladies with eagle feathers on their hats. in former times those eagle feathers were given as a present by the respective admirers, who collected them from the eagles nest risking their lives in the hope that this act of daringness would help them to win the heart of the adored one.
in the alpine region the traditional costumes associations are still important groups in the villages and small towns where their festivals of ‘fahnenweihe’ (flag blessing ceremony) and the beer festivals form annual highlights
Markus, eagle feathers are extremely important to Native American cultures, so much so that there is an exemption to allow them to possess bald eagle feathers, which is otherwise banned by federal law. And again, acquiring an eagle feather directly from the bird featured in initiation rites of passage in many Native American cultures.
Wow! 850th anniversary! And here I thought that it was cool seeing houses from the 1670's in Charleston, SC. 🙂
Oh yeah… Bavarian costumes. Whether you like them or not, they are certainly special.