In view of All Saints’ Night, we tell you a spooky and fascinating story, that of the Rommelbootzennaat party, or the night of the grimacing beets. What could be the origin of this party?
Long before that Halloween became a commercial celebration, in France a very similar and certainly particular celebration was celebrated, the Junk boat zennate. This word can be translated into Italian as “the night of the grimacing beets”. A certainly singular name, it must be admitted, which hides a suggestive and interesting storyall to be discovered.
This holiday has been celebrated for hundreds of years in an area of France, the Moselle, which borders Luxembourg and Germany. By the way, the Rommelbootzennaat is also celebrated by adults and children in Germaniaand more precisely in the state of Saarland, right on the border with the Moselle.
But what exactly does this particular celebration consist of? And what are its origins?
Follow us on a ghostly journey to discover the beetroot party that makes faces.
What is the Rommelbootzennaat and when is it celebrated?
In view of the All Saints’ Day celebration, which falls on November 1st every year according to Christian tradition, today we want to discover one of the most evocative traditions around Europe.
Rommelbootzennaat, like Halloween, falls on the eve of All Saints’ Day in France. In neighboring Germany, in Saarland, the celebration takes place on November 11, the day dedicated to St. Martin.
Returning to the celebrations of the Moselle, according to aancient legendon the night of October 31st the end of the beautiful season and the beginning of winter is marked. And it is precisely on this night that the doors that separate the world of the living from that of the dead remain open.
During the night, the spirits of our ancestors can therefore return to torment those who belong to the world of the living. And that is why, on the night of the Rommelbootzennaat, adults and children prepare sweets and treats to be left as a gift to the souls of one’s benevolent ancestors.
And as for the evil spirits? Well, to keep them away, the famous grimacing beets had to be created.
But what exactly is it?
What are grimacing beets?
A bit like Halloween pumpkins, in the Moselle it was used and is still used today digging and carving sugar beetsso as to give them a terrifying look.
Inside the beetroots, some candleswhich will make everything even more spooky and scary.
The grinning beets were then placed on the windowsillsin front of the doors, in the streets and in the cemeteries, so as to scare away evil souls and keep them away.
In short, we can say that the beets of the Rommelbootzennaat are a bit the ancestors of Halloween pumpkins in the Moselle tradition.
Are you a celebrity Rommelbootzennaat?
Although Halloween has been a very popular celebration in France and Germany since the 1990s, even today, during the night of October 31st in France and November 11th in Germany, Many people celebrate the Rommelbootzennaat holiday.
On this day, terrifying sugar beets are carved and placed around the house or on the streets.
If in the past these decorations served to scare and ward off evil spirits, today they serve rather to terrorize passers-by on the night of Rommelbootzennaat, just like in the case of the classic and much more famous Halloween pumpkins!
Source: www.greenstyle.it
