Do you still need customs?

OÖ. When the old goes and the new is still ahead of you, you take stock and look ahead. That’s a tradition on New Year’s Eve. But what about the traditions? Do you still need the customs? The OÖ Nachrichten have Roswitha Samhaber, managing director of the regional association of Upper Austria. Volksbildungswerk with around 200 associations and the Academy of Folk Culture, asked for a conversation in which the non-ethnographer (self-definition) tells a lot about the diversity of customs – and with her very personal point of view does not hold back.

OÖ Nachrichten: How do you feel about traditions?

Roswitha Samhaber: A tradition begins at some point, as former governor Josef Pühringer once said. For example, we’ve had an online New Year’s reception for a few years now, which I could say is our tradition now. I think it’s important to pass on traditions and not to change certain customs if they make sense. But it’s okay if you go in a different direction.

For example?

One such example for me is the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Behind this is the meaning of the rough nights, to drive away the evil spirits. However, this custom has degenerated, because the people who shoot rockets into the air on New Year’s Eve do not intend to drive away evil spirits. I’m going to put that to you now.

What could another solution look like?

Especially when it comes to fireworks, I don’t understand why laser shows aren’t used when you absolutely need visual stimuli. Or you limit yourself to a big New Year’s Eve fireworks display, organized centrally, if you need this tradition. But everyone whines and throws money in the air. I don’t understand that at all.

Have you never been enthusiastic about fireworks?

I come from Waldkirchen am Wesen near the Schlögener Schlinge. In the neighboring community there was the Palmenhaus, they always had fireworks on New Year’s Eve. We always hoped for nice weather to see the rockets from afar. That was something else. Today the shooting starts three days before New Year’s Eve, and at the turn of the year the whole horizon is illuminated. That almost hurts me a little.

How do you deal with the hustle and bustle of everyday life?

Everything has become so fast and so hectic that we should actually remember the custom of slowing down a little these days between the old and new year. That was once the intention of the Advent season.

So does it need the custom the traditions no more?

no way. We are sensory overloaded as a society, and I believe that traditions big or small can provide stability. If something is always like that, then I can rely on it, maybe I can share something.

Has Corona accelerated the alienation of the interpersonal ended the custom of gathering?

I don’t believe that at all, because people have found other forms. Like our online New Year’s reception, where people from all over Upper Austria meet without having to leave their place. It’s something casual that even the elderly enjoy. This is how community can develop differently.

So is it permissible to question traditions?

Why shouldn’t one be allowed to question a tradition? Let’s just take the Perchten runs. You can discuss when they are still a tradition and when they are just a sales show. It’s a shame when fewer and fewer people think about what’s behind a custom and only get excited about the show.

So do we need customs now?

Customs are needed for cohesion, orientation, a certain sense of security, but you can take a look at what the custom is. I would think it would be nice if there were generally applicable customs, but you could also define customs for yourself. We live in a diverse world from which I can get what suits me, and I don’t have to do something because people do it. A custom, a tradition thrives on being lived – and that’s how they are renewed.

OÖNplus

Linz

14-year-old raced through Linz with a stolen car: custody

Muehlviertel

Surgery department in Rohrbach got off to a good start despite a difficult start

Business

Electricity provider: Switching is becoming attractive again

all OÖNplus articles

author

Reinhold Gruber

Local Editor Linz

r.gruber@nachrichten.at

follow author

info By clicking on the icon you add the keyword to your topics.

info
Click on the icon to open your “My Topics” page. They have of 15 tags saved and would have to remove tags.

info By clicking on the icon you remove the keyword from your topics.

Add the theme to your themes.