Ich bin ein Lüneburger

As Mondays go, today was great.  Today was the Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of the German Unification), which meant no classes and no alarm this morning.  Today was also the last day of the Lüneburg Sülfmeistertage, the town's three-day festival celebrating their historic upper-class citizens and government.

The first performance today was the Stadtorchester Lüneburg (City Orchestra of Lüneburg, pictured below), who played a pieces ranging from marches to polkas and even an ABBA medley.  I got a kick out of how many Germans in the crowd were singing the English lyrics.  Next to take the stage were "Schmeerius und Mirkolo," a Renaissance-style musical duo performing lighthearted tunes and humorous rhymes.

Now we come to today's main attraction: Fassrollen (the keg roll).  Yesterday, teams from various organizations in Lüneburg (Handwerkers, firemen, etc.) competed in what were described as "funny and exciting" challenges to narrow the field to four quarter-finalist teams.  Today, the winner of the keg roll was named the victor, and the team captain named Lüneburger Sülfmeister of 2011.

Each team selected eight members for the keg roll.  The first four rolled the keg one direction along the hay bale-lined route in Am Sande, then the other four brought it back.  It's not easy at all to keep a keg that large and heavy rolling straight, especially when you are being judged and possibly eliminated based on your time.  The video below shows the only perfect run (where the hay bales weren't hit) of six on the afternoon, and that team went on to win.

After the Fassrollen, the victors were given their trophy and the new Sülfmeister was crowned.  The spectators then had a chance to get some food (a pretzel and ice cream for me) before the Festumzug (parade) began.  Nearly 100 groups took part in the parade, including marching bands, local businesses, animal shelters, theaters, and even the German version of the Cub Scouts.  The spectators were given candy, pamphlets, and garden-fresh produce as well (from the organization in charge of the weekly farmers' markets).

The Sülfmeister at the head of the parade.

The crowd returned to Am Sande, where a couple of the marching bands performed until the Sülfmeister returned from the end of the parade route.  He had the privilege of lighting the keg (Fassverbrennung = "keg burning") to signal the end of the Sülfmeistertage.  As the keg burned, and the cannons mounted to it shot confetti and streamers skyward, everyone (including me) joined in singing the Lüneburg-Lied (Lüneburg Song):

Chorus:  Ich bin ein Lüneburger                                          I am from Lüneburg
              und deshalb weiß ich ganz genau                        and therefore I know intimately
              Die schönste Stadt der Welt                                The most-beautiful city in the world
              liegt an der Ilmenau.                                            lies next to the Ilmenau (River).

This truly is a beautiful place to live.  Not just the architecture, or the scenery, but the people and the sense of pride in community as well.  I'm so very glad that I'm so very blessed to be here!