The new special issue of the Themenheft des Schweizerischen Archivs für Volkskunde (Issue 121, 1/2025), titled “Listed! And now what? Negotiating Uncertainty and Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rural Areas”, has now been published, edited by Mirko Uhlig, Manuel Trummer, Rebecca Koller and Leonie Schäfer.

The new issue can be downloaded here.

Thomas Schneider & Mirko Uhlig (2023): Das Hanselfingerhut-Spiel in Forst. Ethnografisches Portrait und kulturhistorische Rekonstruktion eines Brauchs (Mainzer Beiträge zur Kulturanthropologie / Europäischen Ethnologie, Band 25). Münster/New York: Waxmann Münster/New York: Waxmann; with numerous illustrations and a documentary film for download.

Content: Forst an der Weinstraße – the town in the Palatinate is primarily known for its white wines. Furthermore – apart from the interruption caused by the pandemic – the Hanselfingerhut Game is performed in Forst every year before Easter. The custom gained national recognition when it was included in the UNESCO “National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage” in 2016. As part of a research project, the local custom practice was documented with film cameras, and the genesis of the custom as well as its cultural-political negotiation were analyzed from a cultural studies perspective. While the ethnographic film “Schwarze Küsse, Weißweinschorle” (48 minutes; download link in the book) portrays the people who prepare and perform the custom, the focus of the written discussion is on a cultural-historical reconstruction of the origin narrative, as it is maintained in Forst, reproduced by the media, and, in the context of the cultural heritage designation, also ennobled by the German UNESCO Commission. The micro-analysis refers to larger temporal, spatial, and social contexts and makes them understandable using the case study of Forst. The reconstruction shows which actors were involved in the development of the custom since the late 19th century and which influencing factors promoted the development of the custom complex.

More information about the book