ORIGIN AND AGE OF THE CARNIVAL

A great deal has been written and a lot of research done on the development, age, origin, and meaning of the Fasnacht carnival in the Oberland region. The many essays and interpretations are so different that it’s easy to lose track. The question of the age of the Nassereith Fasnacht is very easy to answer – no one knows!
There are no records of the carnival in Nassereith itself. The only mentions of the Tyrolean Fasnacht are found in prohibitions or reports of accidents. Such reports are mention in the “Causa Domini” chancellery books, which mainly consist of copied edicts from the local rulers.

Until a few years ago, the oldest known mention of Nassereith was in the records of the “shadow trial” in Pfunds in 1775. A few years ago, the author of the Nassereith Fasnacht book, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Pfaundler, managed to find another mention, in the Causa Domini of the 22nd March 1740. However, this in no way means that the Fasnacht carnival is not older than that.

Leading Fasnacht scholars and folklorists believe that the carnivals are as old as the village itself, which may well be true. Whatever the case may be, those celebrating Fasnacht in Nassereith are only marginally interested in the age, origin, and meaning of the carnival. The important thing is that it will continue to take place.