Every year around the anniversary of Saint Lullus’ death on October 16, a festival takes place in Hersfeld, Germany, which is attended by 500,000 people annually. The Lullus Festival is the oldest existing church festival in Germany and actually in the world. The festival has taken place almost every year since its inception, with the exception of a few years when the festival could not take place due to wars. In 2012, the eleven hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the festival was celebrated. What exactly is celebrated and how did the festival come about?
- Origin of the Lullus festival
- Saint Lullus dies in Hersfeld
- Translation of Lullus
- Saint Lullus’s successful strategy
- Parts of the Lullus party
- Annual fair
- Lullusfire
- The celebration of the folk festival in the 21st century
Origin of the Lullus festival
Every year in October, the oldest surviving church festival in the world is celebrated in Bad Hersfeld. How did this party come about?
Saint Lullus dies in Hersfeld
Saint Lullus founded a Benedictine monastery on the spot where Saint Sturmius had once built a number of huts in the wilderness in the period 736 to 742 AD. That place, later Hersfeld, was eventually abandoned by Sturmi. Sturmi went to Boniface to ask him if he had found the right place for a monastery. This advised him to search further because the place was too close to the hostile Saxons and too dangerous. Boniface was afraid that Sturmi and his men would be slaughtered there. Ultimately, after divine inspiration, Sturmi found the right place at Fulda. Later, King Charlemagne succeeded in removing the Saxons from the area or converting them. In 769 the area was considered safe and Lullus settled there. Since then, Lullus has been busy getting an abbey off the ground in Hersfeld. His efforts were rewarded by Charlemagne who declared the abbey a Imperial Abbey in 775. Lullus had devoted a large part of his life to that abbey and on October 16, 786 he died in Hersfeld where he was also buried. Hersfeld was founded on a spot where the Geisa, Haune and Fulda rivers meet.
Sint Lullus / Source: 2micha, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
Translation of Lullus
On April 7, the new Carolingian column basilica was consecrated and Saint Lullus was also canonized on that day. The Translatio took place in the same year on October 16, the anniversary of Saint Lullus’s death. Translatio means that the relics of Saint Lullus were moved from his original burial place to the new basilica. The reburial of Lullus’s remains was accompanied by a procession and fire. This created an annual church festival that attracted many believers and pilgrims. Every year on October 16, the faithful and pilgrims were gathered throughout the city. From 1038 onwards a bell, the so-called lullus bell, was rung to summon the faithful.
Saint Lullus’s successful strategy
Lullus’s greatest achievement is that he completed Boniface’s work in reforming the Frankish church. While Boniface had mainly turned to Rome to achieve this, Lullus used a completely different strategy. Lullus made sure that he had good contact with the Frankish kings.
Parts of the Lullus party
The Lullus festival consists of various parts such as an annual fair and the Lullus fire that is lit.
Annual fair
The many pilgrims who came to visit the basilica had to be taken care of and this probably led to the creation of a kind of annual fair. Sellers, market vendors and artists came to the public. This attraction to pilgrims has made the city great. The market has been held every year since then, with a few exceptions due to special circumstances such as a war. From 1373 onwards the market lasted from 12 noon on Monday afternoon to 1am on Thursday night. During that period, taxes did not have to be paid on anything sold at the annual fair. This was called Lullus Freedom. Nowadays the market lasts until Sunday.
Lullusfire
The fire and the wooden hut can be traced back to the time of the church festival. The pilgrims who had not been able to find shelter could warm themselves at the fire and receive food and care at the hut. Since the 1920s, all kinds of spells have been said when lighting the fire. The fire will continue to burn for as long as the annual fair lasts. According to an old superstition, extinguishing the fire during the festival and lighting the fire too late would mean that the festival would henceforth be celebrated in Fulda. This idea can be traced back to the quarrel between Saint Lullus and Saint Sturmi over the burial place of the bones of Saint Boniface. The bones eventually ended up in Fulda.
During the festival, especially around the fire and the procession, various spells are shouted. It is unknown where this usage comes from.
Ruine Bad Hersfeld / Source: Markus Schweiß, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
The celebration of the folk festival in the 21st century
The celebration normally starts on a Monday, although the torchlight procession is usually held the Sunday evening before the celebration. During a week in October around October 16, various activities are organized, including a fair and an annual market. The festival has its own website where the annual program can be followed. In recent years, the party has also attracted criminals and there have been violent incidents in recent years.
In 2020, the party should have taken place in the week of October 12 to October 19. However, the party has been canceled due to the corona crisis.