Gansabhauet

So I heard about a pretty...interesting tradition today. I was going to babysit our nieces and nephew and Andi's mom told me that there was something going on in a nearby city. I didn't quite understand what she meant, but I thought I did. She said something about animals and held her hand up at about face level and then did a swishing motion. I thought she was telling me how big the animals are. Then she said that, though I might like to see it, it might scare the kids. I wondered, "Would the kids really be afraid of big animals? I would have thought it was really cool. Maybe it's like a circus!" Anyway, I ended up not going.

That night when Andi got back, I asked him what was going on. His Mom had kept saying the word "Gans" which sounds a lot like "ganz" (meaning 'a lot'). I learned that Gans means goose and what was happening was a traditional...game I guess that is kind of like pinatas with real animals. ("abhauet" kind of means beheading or chopping off) They hang a goose upside-down (the goose is already dead) and then blindfold one person at a time with a big sun mask and give them one of those skinny jousting swords, then they swing it around and whoever chops the goose's head off wins and gets to keep the goose!

Now I understand why the kids might not have liked it. I just wonder about the history of this tradition and I think it's hilarious...and a bit gruesome. Here is a picture of the "executioner."