Eis-zwei-Geissebei is a

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

festival held in

Rapperswil Rapperswil (Swiss German: or ;Andres Kristol, ''Rapperswil SG (See)'' in: ''Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses – Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen – Dizionario toponomastico dei comuni svizzeri (DTS, LSG)'', Centre de dial ...

(Switzerland) on

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...

History and origin

Its origin may go back to the siege and destruction of the city of Rapperswil at St. Matthew in 1350 by

Rudolf Brun Rudolf Brun (1290s – 17 September 1360) was the leader of the Zürich guilds' revolution of 1336, and the city's first independent mayor. Biography Since 1234, Zürich had been governed by an aristocratic council. One third of the council's ...

, first mayor of the city of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. At that time, compassionate citizens served food to hungry children through the windows of their houses, to which the current practice recalls.

Today

After the traditional "Herrenessen" (dinner of the council members) in the

Rathaus Rapperswil Rathaus Rapperswil is the former ''Seat of local government, Rathaus'' of the city government of medieval town of Rapperswil, Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Today, the building houses a café and restaurant, the Stadtarchiv Rapperswil, city a ...

and cabaret program with distinguished guests, hundreds of children gather in the main square on

. At exactly 15:15 the windows of the town hall open and a fanfare sounds. A council member asks, “''Sind alli mini Buebe doo?''” (

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

: Are all my boys here?), and the answer is given: “''Joo! Eis - Zwei - Geissebei!''” (Yes, one, two, goat-leg!), whereupon sausages, bread rolls and ''Biberli'' (a sweet) are dropped down to the children on the ''Hauptplatz'' (main square). Following the so-called ''Austeilete'', in the evening there is intense activity, and the crowning of the carnival, all '' Guggenmusik'' (carnival marching bands) gathered on

Lindenhof Lindenhof, , in the old town of Zurich, Switzerland, is the historical site of a Roman castle, and the later Carolingian Kaiserpfalz. It is situated on Lindenhof hill, on the left side of the Limmat river at the Schipfe. In 1747, a second-century ...

Schloss Rapperswil Rapperswil Castle (Swiss German: ''Schloss Rapperswil'') is a castle, built in the early 13th century by the House of Rapperswil, in the formerly independent city of Rapperswil. The castle is located on the eastern Lake Zurich's western ''Obers ...

to celebrate a roaring concert. Eis-zwei-Geissebei (2012) - Rathaus Rapperswil - Hauptplatz 2012-02-21 14-23-34 ShiftN.jpg, The ''Rathaus'' (town hall) of

Eis-zwei-Geissebei (2012) - Rathaus Rapperswil - Hauptplatz 2012-02-21 15-33-30.JPG, Members of the city council dropping sausages, breads and ''Biberli'' (a sweet) down to the children Eis-zwei-Geissebei (2012) - Rathaus Rapperswil - Marktgasse 2012-02-21 14-17-52.JPG Eis-zwei-Geissebei - Rathaus - Fischmarktplatz - Hauptplatz 2013-02-12 15-20-57 ShiftN.jpg, 2014 Eis-zwei-Geissebei - Guggemusig - Hauptplatz 2014-03-04 15-49-36.JPG, '' Guggenmusik''

External links

''Carnival'' on Verkehrsverein Rapperswil-Jona
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095721/http://www.vvrj.ch/en/events-customs/carnival , date=2016-03-04 Swiss folklore Rapperswil-Jona Culture of the canton of St. Gallen Festivals in Switzerland Carnivals in Switzerland Tourist attractions in Rapperswil-Jona Youth in Switzerland