photo : Holly Hayes – St James the Great
When out and about in Steiermark, keep a look out for carefully crafted Klapotetz. They are characteristic of wine growing regions and are found in Austria, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia.
History of Klapotetz
First mentioned in the 18th century, Klapotetz are associated with ancient history in Slovenia. They were named in the oldest known Slovene social poem, “Lamentation of a Winedresser”, by Leopold Volkmer (1797).
Whilst there is some debate (which we don’t need to go into here) about the precise origins of the Klapotetz, it seems most likely that the Slovenian connection is the strongest.
Setting up the Klapotetz
Traditionally Klapotetz are set up on or from, the 25th July at the Feast of St James. In case you’re not too sure about that, St James the Greater was one of the first disciples to join Jesus - there was a lesser James, but we’re not interested in him !
And now a really useless piece of information – St James the Greater was also the son of Zebedee (nothing to do with the Magic Roundabout!).
The latest Klapotetz can be set up is 15th August, Assumption Day. Again, if you’re a little fuzzy about these things, Assumption Day is when the Virgin Mary was allegedly taken bodily into heaven at the end of her earthly existence.
Taking Down the Klapotetz
Sticking with custom and tradition, it seems that these icons of history have to be taken down again between 1st November, All Saints Day (funnily enough the one that celebrates all Saints whoever they were!) and no later than the Feast of St Martin on 11th November.
St Martin might be a little less well known so in case you’re wondering, he was a Bishop of Tours in France, whose shrine is a stop-off point for pilgrims on the way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. And why, you might ask, do they go there?
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostila
Well, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostila is reputed to be the burial place of St James the Greater. Whether this is right or wrong seems to be immaterial, millions of pilgrims have been going there since the Middle Ages – that’s somewhere between 5th and 15th centuries - surely that many folk can’t be wrong!
One final word on custom and tradition – apparently, if Klapotetz aren’t taken down by the Feast of St Martin the local lads have the right to steal and hold them for ransom. So if you want to raise a few extra bucks to spend when on holiday in this wonderful world class countryside, waltz on down the Weinstrasse and heist an icon!
So what are Klapotetz?