Every year on the Monday after Trinitatis, the Monday exactly one week after Whitsun, the Hofer Schlappentag takes place. Schlappenschießen, Hussites and Schlappenbier are all part of it - but what exactly is this special local holiday in Hof all about?
Schlappentag begins with morning wake-up calls under many a window so that no one oversleeps the 8:00 a.m. meeting of the craft guilds and marksmen at the shooting house. After a joint procession to the town hall and a reception by the Lord Mayor and the Chief marksman, the parade starts there at 9:45 a.m. with representatives from politics, the trades and marksmen. As soon as the procession through the whole town (via Ludwigstraße, Altstadt, Bismarckstraße, Friedrichstraße, Marienstraße and Konrad-Adenauer-Platz) arrives at the festival site at the Schießhäuschen, the first barrel of Schlappenbier, a palatable strong beer, is tapped and served in the festival tent. The "Hofer National Holiday" has been celebrated for almost 600 years.
Historically, the tradition of Schlappenschießen goes back to the destruction and plundering of the town of Hof in 1430 by the Hussites. The events surrounding the Bohemian theologian and reformer Jan Hus set the stage for the attack. 100 years before Martin Luther, he had already advocated that the church should return to its true core. Jan Hus' followers, the Hussites, became radicalized after his execution and led war campaigns, called "smoking walks", through Bohemia and Germany. In 1430, they came to Hof and burned the town to the ground.
In order to rebuild Hof after the Hussite invasion, the people of Hof asked the Margrave for tax relief. This was granted by him - but only on the condition that from this point onwards, all the craftsmen and citizens of Hof took part in a shooting exercise once a year in order to be better able to defend themselves in the event of another attack.
The last possible date for the practice, which was carried out by the Privileged Target Shooting Society in 1432, was the Monday after Trinity. On that day, most of them came straight from the field to the shooting practice in clogs, the typical wooden shoes worn at the time. Over the years, this led to a whole procession to the shooting house on this day. This tradition gave rise to the "Schlappentag" with its parade. After the Privilegierte Scheibenschützen-Gesellschaft 1432 Hof was granted the right to brew, Schlappenbier was also brewed. It was not until later in the 19th century that the public festival character of the Schlappentag was added.
Today, public figures, craftsmen and marksmen are invited to the Schlappenschießen, which is still held by the Privilegierte Scheibenschützengesellschaft 1432 one day before Schlappentag. Shooting takes place with a Zimmerstutzen. The prize for the "Schlappenkönig" is one year's free parking in all public parking lots in the city of Hof. If an invited participant does not show up, a fine will be imposed - similar to the penalty for missing the shooting practice in the past. The invited participant can avoid this by "buying" an anonymous shooter. Since 2015, there has also been a public shooting competition for citizens after the slugfest: without a prize, but the winner can take part in the official slugfest the following year.
Schlappentag and Schlappenbier
After the musical wake-up call on the morning of Schlappentag, the crafts guilds and marksmen gather at 8:00 a.m. at the Schießhäuschen to march to the town hall. There the reception by the mayor and the marksmen's commissioner takes place.
Afterwards, representatives of politics, craftsmen and marksmen form up around 9:45 a.m. for the marksmen's procession through the city to the festival site at the Schießhäuschen. The procession leads via Ludwigstraße, Altstadt, Bismarckstraße, Friedrichstraße and Konrad-Adenauer-Platz to Lessingstraße, where the Schlappenbierfest begins.
From the arrival of the procession at the Schießhäuschen, the "Schlappenbier", brewed especially for this day, is served. With Schlappenbier, Hofer bratwursts and musical accompaniment, a sociable hustle and bustle develops at the festival sites and the "National Day of Celebration" moves into its cozy part.
Hussite tour
Also on the Sunday before Schlappentag, the traditional Hussite guided tour takes place. Starting from St. Michael's Church, a colorfully armed procession from (former) monastery to monastery follows the former path of the Hussites. The good Hofer citizen, who represents Catholicism, and the reforming Hussite captain engage in sharp verbal battles in improvised, historically well-founded dialogues. Directly at the places of the historical events one meets nearly all Hofer guest leaders in most different roles and also the one or other loud pyro effect provides for as authentic a battle atmosphere as possible. The event always starts on Trinity Sunday at 2 pm.
The Hof "National Holiday"
Intangible Bavarian Cultural Heritage since 2019
By decision of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, the Hof Schlappentag was declared an Intangible Bavarian Cultural Heritage in December 2019.
Information on intangible cultural heritage in Bavaria: www.ike.bayern.de
