October 5th

harvest

Cathedral priest Peter Allmaier blesses the harvest crown Thomas Hude Klagenfurt Marketing

(Bild: Thomas Hude Klagenfurt Marketing)

The market, which has been attracting visitors to Benediktinerplatz for 76 years, could be described as a large pantry for Klagenfurt - for shopping, chatting and now to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Survival has always depended on the kitchen, cellar and pantry. If there was enough food stored there thanks to the right weather for grain, fruit and vegetables and the good care of the farmers from sowing to harvest, the gratitude was great.

And even today it is still a matter close to the hearts of many to give thanks for the good harvest. Church services are celebrated in the parishes and people parade through the town with a large harvest crown made from various ears of grain and a cross in the middle.

The Benedictine market in Klagenfurt, which is a kind of pantry for the people of Klagenfurt and for those who commute here to enjoy their food, where all kinds of produce from fields, beds, trees and bushes can be found, from apples to onions, is also the focus of the harvest crown. Cathedral priest Peter Allmaier will bless it on Saturday, October 5, at 10 a.m. at the festival, which begins at 9 a.m. with a procession from the municipal theater to the Benediktinermarkt.

There will be music and dancing, as the market is also a meeting place where people can buy bread, drink coffee, choose cheese from a stall, enjoy a glass of wine, chat with friends or meet new people in a relaxed atmosphere under the watchful eye of the stone fisherman.

Thanksgiving at the Benediktinermarkt

Saturday, October 5:

9 a.m.: Meeting point city theater,

9.15 am: The procession begins,

9.30 a.m.: Arrival at the Benediktinermarkt.

The rural youth dance, the Klagenfurt town band plays, young accordion talents entertain the audience.

The harvest crown is blessed at 10 am.

After the Schuhplattler perform, the beer is tapped at 10.35 am at this harvest festival.

More than 100 producers from Carinthia and the entire Alps-Adriatic region offer their goods. Caterers spoil guests with warm dishes. Many visitors have their fixed market day, their favorite stalls and fixed meeting points with friends.

All these experiences have only been enjoyed at the Benediktinermarkt since 1948, as the weekly market was previously held on the Alter Platz. Fruit was once sold on Dr. Arthur Lemisch Square, which is why it was even called Fruit Square. On Cardinalplatz, traders sold vegetables, on Feldmarschall-Conrad-Platz pigs were sold and on Heiligengeistplatz fish. Weekly markets were also held on Neuer Platz, which was once called Franz-Joseph-Platz. At the meat market, it is clear what used to be on sale there.

The oldest surviving market regulations for Klagenfurt "in the Duchy of Carinthia" divided the stalls according to type of goods. Butter, lard, eggs, "green goods and vegetables" were considered "actual market goods". Farmers' doughnuts and boiled fish were forbidden as "foodstuffs that were extremely harmful to human health".

The Freyung - always a symbol for markets and a reminder of fair trade - also stands at the Benediktinermarkt. The wooden hand with the sword was made in 1793 and also served as a model for the St. Veit Freyung. Over time, however, the Klagenfurt Freyung was lost and was only rediscovered in 2004 by amateur historian Reinhold Gasper, who has sadly since passed away. Since 2017, it has been a reminder of fair trade at Ursulamarkt, and a copy stands at Benediktinermarkt, watching over the hustle and bustle of the market and the harvest festival. Of course, the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks also thanked their gods for the harvest. Greek mythology knows the mother goddess Demeter, who was called Ceres by the Romans: they are the goddesses of fertility, grain and agriculture. They are usually depicted with an ear of wheat, a bundle of ears or a crown of grain.

The Old Testament tells of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles: at Sukkot, which begins this year on October 17, devout Jews in warm countries live in a hut, a sukkah made of branches, fruit and sheaves. Our harvest festival and our tying of the harvest crown are probably rooted in this "festival of gathering" after the grain and grape harvest.