Story:

In 1859 theater people, artists and writers founded the men's association Schlaraffia in Prague. After the director of the Deutsches Theater, Franz Thomé, tried to introduce a young bass player named Albert Eilers to the Prague artists' association "Arcadia", this request was rejected. Because of his poverty, he was considered a proletarian. Court singers and actors did not belong to higher society at that time.

The men's association Schlaraffia was brought into being as a pastiche of the elite men's clubs of the 19th century  . They mocked the very authoritarian society with deliberate satire and parody and made fun of it. They shifted their terminology to the 16th century and became knights, squires and squires.

Officially there is no connection to the Freemasons, one clearly distinguishes oneself from the carnival associations. The term Schlaraffen is based on the Middle High German word “slur-affe”, which means mischievous prankster/joker (16/17 century) but also carefree connoisseur. In 1859 the first Cockaigne Club was founded in Prague, which at that time still belonged to the Danube Monarchy. The propagation of the Schlaraffen took place by so-calleddaughter reyche* instead of. In the years 1938/39 the clubs in which many Jews were members were banned in Germany and Austria. In Switzerland and overseas continued to be foundkinships* instead of. After the end of the Second World War, the club system revived and there were a few new foundations.

According to statements by the gentlemen from Krefeld, the originally high level of educational demands on the members has been put into perspective somewhat over the past 30 years. 

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General:

To this day, men of all professions as well as professional artists and arm artisans have access to this association. There are around 270 Schlararaffen clubs worldwideReyche*named, who adhere to the same rules and procedures. The worldwide language is German. The approximately 11,000 members hold friendly values very high, they are extremely tolerant and friendships can be cultivated worldwide. The Schlaraffen speak German all over the world. The whole of the Reyche is thateagle owl*

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With the Schlaraffen everyone can live out their creative passion and just have fun. Emerging from the ranks of the actors, who mostly had engagements in the winter months, the weekly meetings took place and take place in the winter months (wintering*) (01.10.-30.04. northern hemisphere, 01.04.-30.10. southern hemisphere) instead. In the summer, events also take place with the women and children. The weekly meetings will bekinships* named. 

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Characterized by a medieval-romantic atmosphere, knighthood is parodied and "man" can escape his everyday life for a moment in the game. The Schlaraffenburg is decked out in the style of a knight's hall, and the members dress in knightly fashion during their meetings. eachReych* has its own costume here in its own colors. Black, gold and blue are the colors of the local Cockaigne. The swords are mostly made of wood. They give themselves fancy names, but they are not just made up out of thin air, but always have a charming, sophisticated reference to the person and their idiosyncrasies or preferences. For example, the inner cockerel is called "Ritter Binschon vom bömisch Glase" because he (Rochus von Meyrswalden) already has a real knight's title. 

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The dress code is a "neat" outfit with a tie. The knight's cloak is worn over it. A knightly headgear and a wooden sword complete the outfit. If you look at photos, you can see here and there quite colorful trousers or somewhat more profane shoes. Real daily life is not completely suppressed.

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As mentioned at the beginning, the aim and motto of the association is:The art of enduring friendship with humor.Politics and religion are in thekinships* deliberately left out. A Schlaraffe approaches his fellow knights with a positive basic attitude and organizes the evenings together with a wink, i.e. not with animal seriousness. So that an order can be maintained, the Oberschlaraffe is considered infallible.

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The weekly evenings are experienced as a cheerful knightly game and consist of different creative presentations. This can be a musical presentation, a recited poem that does not necessarily have to come from your own pen. A discussion can also be initiated, which does not necessarily have a deeper meaning, but is similar to an exchange of blows according to fixed rules, similar to a duel in a figurative sense. The vivid descriptions ofKnight Binschon there is a knight who is able to spontaneously lead a heated discussion in rhymes. That was amazing for me, because I went into this interview without any precise ideas or expectations. This is how the statement of theintelligent nonsense, which the knights have written on their flag, for me as an outside woman an easily understandable meaning.

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One likes to practice the art of beautiful words. The speech duel begins with atit for tat*, you symbolically throw the glove in front of the opponent's stomach. The topic is determined by the Oberschlaraffe and the speech and counter-speech takes their creative, sometimes certainly eloquent course. According to the gentlemen, it can come from "stick to stick" and back again. The main thing is that there are no arguments and that fun and joy in beautiful words and intelligent nonsense are not lost sight of. The winner of the speech duel is determined at the end by the Oberschlaraffen.

"The Golden Ball" has to fly, which means that as many cockerels as possible are included in the creative process, be it verbal or musical. The motto "Everyone can, nobody has to" applies. Own works are called fencing*, works by other authors are lectures. Anyone looking for the exacttypical course of a sipping* interested, read here.

As a Cockaigne you are a welcome guest in every Reych in the world. Sassen with jobs that involve traveling have contact points in many places and can travel to the local as guest routeskinships* take part. You then ride there and are received by the local warriors with raised swords, the tunnel. 

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I was impressed by the men's statements as to why the meetings and life as a member of a/this men's association is so important to them. Above all, it is the social component that keeps the gentlemen together. Naturally, there is a high proportion of seniors who live in theirReych* experience a community that gives each of them the attention and respect that is so important for humans. Many a widowed or single gentleman finds adequate social contacts here in a protected space. Anyone can present something, but does not have to. At the end of the lecture there is a badge (called "ancestors" in Cockaigne language) and a handshake as recognition. What happens when a cockerel on the rostra (lectern) falls in love with his fencing or lecture too much and runs out of time? Quite simply, he is given a large pair of scissors, beholdpicture series, the word literally “cut off” and he must stop immediately, also must not be offended. That's part of the silly game.

The attention of everyone, however, is certain to be given to the speaker, and he is also shown respect and deference. The creative "machinations" certainly encourage the gentlemen to improve their skills in playing the piano, etc., in order to be able to continue to fox*` in a happy atmosphere. Even those who are older don't rest like that for a long time.

The gatherings were sorely missed, especially during the pandemic. Since most men should now be vaccinated due to their age, they can, of course, in compliance with the current hygiene ruleskinships* take place again.

In my opinion, this shows again that the motto "BEING more than APPEARANCE" applies here and not the other way around, as is often the case with "Appearance than being". 

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Women:

If you are wondering why there are no women in this game, you have to keep two reasons in mind.

On the one hand, the jousting takes place true to the medieval template. There the women did not play a "role" in the knight games.

The second reason can be seen in the value of friendship among men. To put it simply, friendship between men is different, perhaps easier without the female component. The men are not distracted in their game and cannot become rivals for the favor of a fair damsel. You don't have to worry about how your actions might affect the lovely femininity, who might come across better.

However, women are not fundamentally excluded from the events. The value of the female environment is definitely seen. Therefore, soon after the founding, it was included in the statutes that in thewintering* a clanship with women of the castle has to take place. Also at many other festivals in thesummer sunG* Not only women, but also families are welcome.

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During this visit, I saw a very lively, intellectually demanding group of men. An association in which human and social values such as friendship and humour, but also tolerance and respect are lived and upheld. They may appear a little gaudy and whimsical to the casual observer, but I'm sure this club has an appropriate value in our fast-moving world.

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Schlaraffia Crefeldensis eV celebrated its 100th birthday in 2013.