This weekend is Pfìngschte in Alsatian, Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. Penta, five, see? Well in Greek it’s fifty. So no, there is no slope or coast, the Tour de France is for later. It is the end of Easter time with the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, in the form of tongues of fire or a dove. Today, I’m not going to talk to you about this pure dove, but about the Strasbourg tradition of pipe monkeys. The Rohraffes.
Literally pipe monkeys. And what pipes are we talking about, if I tell you Strasbourg Cathedral? We are talking about the 3182 pipes of the great organ of the Mìnschter. You may have already seen at the bottom of the great organ two small statues, on either side. So I know, you need a zoom camera or binoculars, but the two characters are still there: the town’s trumpet, well dressed, with the town’s coat of arms on one side, and Bratschtallmànn, the Bretzelmann , the shaggy, abusive pretzel vendor who raises his arm as if giving us a thumbs-up. Normally they never move, but at Pentecost they come alive. Since the Middle Ages, a valet of the cathedral stands in the basement of the organ gallery, sings profane songs or shouts insults, he disturbs the hymns of the pilgrims who arrive and covers them with ridicule.
All while the automatons of the 14th century are agitated: the trumpet raises and lowers his instrument, the Bretzelmann shakes his head no and sticks his tongue out at everyone. This is what was written about this tradition: “By disorderly movements, improper profane canticles, the cleric turns the devotion of the newcomers into distraction, their pious sighs into laughter, but he also disturbs the clerics who chant the Holy Office. He is the cause of an abominable and execrable disturbance during the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.”
Why this Rohràff tradition? To amuse the many pilgrims who had sometimes made long journeys? For a little self-mockery? To celebrate the end of the Easter cycle, the strictest time of the year? Maybe a little all of that. Some years, a special visit is organized for the occasion.