Often, a legend is told to people when asking about the beginnings of the onion market. The legend starts off with the truth, as after the great fire of Bern in 1405 the surrounding villages and the nearby cities sent in hundreds of helpers and tons of goods to help the bereft citizens. The legend states that after cleaning up, the city of Fribourg had received in recognition the right to market its onions in Bern at a yearly market.
Apart from the fact that Fribourg had never dealt in onions, the chronicles of Bern show no such event for 1405 of the following years. Rather, the feast of St. Martin held on a single day was expanded over time to fill two whole weeks. Martini, as the day is known in Switzerland, was a time to mark the passing of summer into autumn and free of work for everyone. And the market offered all the goods you might want to stock for the coming winter.
The Monday of Martini week was given over to foreign merchants in 1728 and comprised all kinds of goods. But during the 19th century, more and more farmers from the Jura Mountains used that day to peddle their produce and by 1850, onions from that region were predominant and gave the day its name. During the 20th century, the two week festival and the markets dwindled, and all that remains today of the festivities is the onion market and a two weeklong kermes outside of the centre.
The market attracts over 700 merchants every year which put up their stands during the night and start selling before the break of dawn. Officially the market opens at 6 a.m., but selling starts at 4 o’clock. The local population is usually long home when at nine the first busloads of tourists arrive. And they arrive all day long, ten thousands of people.
Though the Queen of Wistenlach has lost her predominance over the market, still more than one third of stands sell the golden skinned onion together with her red skinned royal cousin. The rest is given over to clothes, sweets, cheese, and whatever you may think of peddling at the market.
The market is the last of the kermes, after that the Christmas markets will hold sway. The day is given over to the market and its stand, but after the schools close, it takes on a carnival air, when dressed up people will roam the streets, singers will go from restaurant to restaurant singing satirical songs about what has happened over the last year, and satirical newspapers will be distributed to the visitors.
The most important part of the day for kids starts at 4 p.m.: the great confetti battle. He general battle held mainly by kids with little paper shreds (almost everything is allowed to get anybody as full of shreds as possible) usually heralds the end of the selling market and the start of the evening’s festivities.
The traditional food for the day is obviously the local onion pie or the local cheese pie, though meanwhile you’ll find any kind of sustenance at the market. With it you might drink spiced hot wine or cold local wines.
Further reading
Bern: Seat of The Swiss Federal Government
Christmas Trees Through History
When New Year Falls on January 13
No comments:
Post a Comment