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Switzerland New Year | New Year's custom in Stäfa (1940/54)
Every year-end, the so-called Chlaus game takes place in Staefa in the canton of Zurich, pictured here on 31 December 1954. It is an old custom to drive away the winter with a lot of noise, for which the population thanks the actors with small donations. The figure of the donkey, which the donkey driver drives through the streets with a cracking whip, symbolises the old year. Dressed in red-striped hooded robes, the "Lachner" perform wild dances with large singing bells, accompanied by chlaeuses in white shirts and bishop's mitts. The "Schlychböögge" march along with their rattling collecting cans and encourage spectators to throw in their coins. The procession is led by a "Protestant Chlaus" as a concession to Protestant Zurich. Everything is a fusion of pagan customs and Christian traditions on New Year's Eve. (luk
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