Annabel I. crowned Fountain Queen

“The Queen is dead – long live the Queen!” might not have been the most subtle way of telling Vanessa I. that her reign as Fountain Queen (Brunnenkönigin) had come to an end, but it was with these words that Charmaine Weisenbach took the coronation ceremony from a carnival atmosphere back to the middle ages.

The evening had started with a performance of “We want to entertain you” by members of the “Academy of Stage Arts”, and entertain us they did with performances of hits like “Voulez Vos coucher avec moi” and “Time Warp”, but it was the topical performances by two completely different groups of performers that signalled the end of Vanessa’s year and the start of her successors, with Annabel’s identify being kept for almost the first two hours.

To see Vanessa off, the “Garde” (similar to majorettes) of the Bommersheim Carnival Club (BCV) performed one piece after another, starting with the youngest children and going from one age group to the next.

Before long, it was time for Vanessa to hold her last speech as Fountain Queen.  As ever, she spoke in rhyme.  “Nun vorbei ist meine Zeit, die neue Königin steht bereit” she concluded (my time is over, the new Queen is standing by).

Her father and “Brunnenmeister” was short and to the point: “Der Brunnenmeister sagt Tschüß!”  (The Brunnenmeister says bye).

After which she handed over the official regalia: her sceptre and crown with his leather apron before being accepted into the circle of the “ex-Queens” and having her last dance as Fountain Queen with Harry to the sounds of the carnival hits “Bye Bye Baby” and “Schatzi, schenk mir ein Foto”.

“The Queen is dead – long live the Queen”.  Or Queens, as some of those ex-Queens were called upon to celebrate their anniversaries, most notably Christine III. who was the Fountain Queen in 2003, and Christine II. who celebrated 18 years as advisor to her successors.

Before long, however, it was time to move into the second half of the evening and reveal the new Fountain Queen, but to keep the suspense a little longer the audience was first treated to a look back at the significant years in her life and that of her Brunnenmeister, accompanied by old photographs of them in those years.

The presentation led to a hint at the club to which they both belong: Ursellis Historica, before Annabel I. with her Brunnenmeister Kurt were finally able to make their entrance.

Having been crowned, she first started her acceptance speech in a middle-age Germanic style: “Volk zu Orschel…” before switching to the more modern “Hallo, ich bin die Neue!” (Hello, I’m the new one!)

And so it was that the evening turned into a pageant from the middle-ages, with historical music and dancing to the cries of “Jubel” with many of those taking part suitably dressed for the occasion.

Annabel, who is 21 and grew up in Oberursel in the Strackgasse, appeared almost shy at times.  But no doubt she, as others before her, will make her mark and with Ursellis Historica will bring a new dimension to the role of the Fountain Queen.  It’s something  that she has been waiting to do for some time.  When she was in her first class at school she stood in the Stadthalle looking at the photos of the previous Queens, when her grandmother said to her “one day you will be hanging there as well”.  And now, in her smart but simple red dress, she will.

My thanks go to the Vereinsring Oberursel for making it possible for me to attend and take photographs at the ceremony.

(Click on the photos to enlarge)

 

About Graham Tappenden

Graham Tappenden is a British ex-pat who first came to Oberursel in 1993 and returned with his family to live there in 2003. He has been writing for AllThingsGerman.net since 2006. When not writing blog posts or freelancing for the Oberurseler Woche he works as a self-employed IT consultant solving computer problems and designing websites. In 2016 he gained German citizenship.

Speak Your Mind

*

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close