The duration of the Fasching period varies according to national and
local traditions. Fasching in Austria begins on the 11th hour of the
11th day of the 11th month, the moment the new (Heuriger) wine
becomes old (alt), 'Heurige' wine, is the most recent vintage
normally offered for consumption by the grower in his/her wine bar
and is officially released on this day.
Christianity adapted many pagan festivities, forbidding the excesses,
but allowing the natural urge for merrymaking to find expression at
the great Church festivals. So it was with Carnival, which continued
through the dark weeks of winter until the forty days' austerity of
Lent. It is the contrast between feast and fast which gives impetus
to the last days of merrymaking.
Two major cities, Vienna and Munich, gave Carnival another name,
Fasching, which may come simply from Fastnacht, the eve or rather the
season before the Lenten fast. According to another version it could
have come from Fastentrunk, the drink that was enjoyed before the
fast. Not one Viennese in a thousand knows the origin of fasching,
either name or custom, but every inhabitant of the city accepts its
perennial modern form.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Vienna no doubt shared in the Carnival
customs which still flourish in Nice, Munich, Cologne, and a dozen
other cities: the lord of misrule, comic masks, decorated floats, and
the great processions of Rose Monday.
There are still a few traces of the old folk customs.
Faschingskrapfen, a kind of doughnut containing apricot jam, appear
in the cafes before Christmas.
Historically, during Fasching the lower classes were allowed to wear
costumes and masks and to mimic aristocracy and heads of church and
state without fear of retribution for mockery. When things got out of
hand, the custom was forbidden, for a while anyway. Even Empress
Maria Theresia (1717-1780) decreed at one point that masks would no
longer be allowed in the streets; whereupon the revelry was moved
indoors. This was the beginning of the splendid balls, for which
Vienna has become so famous and the real business of Fasching is,
first and last, dancing, but it is also a season of jollification for
the entire city.
Faschingdienstag (elsewhere known as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or
Fat Tuesday) closes the feasting and merrymaking season.
Faschingdienstag is specially represented in Vienna at the
Kunsthistorisches Museum with its treasured painting by Pieter
Bruegel the Elder titled "The Fight Between Carnival and
Lent". It depicts a jousting tournament between Prince Carnival
and Dame Lent. Such engagements were once part of many carnival
processions in Europe dating back to the Middle Ages.
