Ratchets clatter

The bells fly to Rome, but it’s still loud

Laura, Mika and Franz Kruschitz with Wellersdorfer Ratsche.

(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

It's not just children who call to church with wooden ratchets; for 40 years, a Neuhaus resident has also been happily fulfilling this task.

After the joyful Palm Sunday, the sad, silent Holy Week begins. Even the bells fly to Rome and the organs fall silent - on Maundy Thursday.

Because Jesus was taken prisoner after the Last Supper while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, there will be silence. Just as the eyes have been fasting through the hunger cloths in the churches since Ash Wednesday because they cannot see the magnificent altars, the ears fast on Good Friday, the day Jesus died, and on Holy Saturday, the day of the Holy Sepulchre.

They are called to church with rattles on Friday and Saturday.

(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

Even if it is quiet inside the church without the organ and bells, it is all the louder outside: wooden rattles are used to call people to church.

"Wooden treasure" in Wellersdorf
A large rattle made of spruce wood, probably over 100 years old, is used every year in Wellersdorf in the municipality of Ludmannsdorf: "It is our wooden treasure and is in good condition," says verger Franz Kruschitz. If there's a problem, I fix it." The altar servers - including Laura Tumer (10) and Mika Seher (9) - are allowed to make noise with this rattle.

A ritual since childhood for a Neuhauser
A rattle has been waiting to be turned in Neuhaus parish church for decades. Pastor Michael Golavćnik: "The ratchet is well over 100 years old." His predecessor also practiced this old custom. "The ratchet rattles until the resurrection on Holy Saturday, until the Hallelujah sounds." Peter Primoschitz (58) from Neuhausen is someone who has known this custom for decades. "I used to climb up to the belfry as a child, it was really exciting." He still climbs the many steps today: "It's like a ritual."

Peter and Maximilian Primoschitz turning the ratchet.

(Bild: zVg)

Despite the AUA strike, there is likely to be a high volume of traffic on the flight route to Rome, as there are around 4,000 bells in Catholic churches in Carinthia alone. The 100 or so bells in Protestant churches are not flying to Rome...

Largest bell
The largest church bell in the province has been hanging in the north tower of the pilgrimage church in Maria Saal since 1687: the Maria Saalerin has a diameter of 222 centimeters and weighs 6600 kilos. It was the largest bell in Austria until 1711, when it was replaced by the Pummerin in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

Abbey priest Josef-Klaus Donko with the largest bell in Carinthia, the Maria Saalerin.

(Bild: Markus Traussnig)

Although many people eat spinach on Maundy Thursday, the day has nothing to do with the color: its name goes back to the Middle High German word "greinen", which meant to weep. What tradition still calls for today is an intensive house cleaning, because everything should be spotlessly clean for Easter. Then the bells are also back. What they do in Rome, by the way, cannot be answered with certainty. In some places, they are said to be getting the Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing from the Pope.