Unique custom in Unken: carrying a sponge
Culture
There are numerous customs and traditions around Easter in Salzburg. Some of them unique in Austria. This includes, for example, carrying a sponge in Unken (Pinzgau) – a special custom in which the Easter fire is not brought home in the usual way.
Sponges are only worn in one community in Austria: In Unken im Pinzgau. This is how Easter comes from the church to the people of Unken. But not with a candle, but with tree sponges. Sponges that grow on dry beech trees are particularly suitable for carrying sponges. “Most of the time, he’s been knocked down with an ax the previous year. It shouldn’t be too dry so that you can bring the fire home,” explains Robert Wimmer, Eggerbauer Junior from Unken.
The further away Unkener live from the church, the bigger the sponge has to be and the longer it has to be in the fire. “That ranges from five to ten minutes,” says foreman Walter Wimmer. When the sponge finally smolders, the remarkable swaying of the sponge follows. “So that the embers don’t go out. The sponge must smoke properly. Then it goes into the oven at home,” says Simon Wimmer, who at the age of eleven is already a professional when it comes to carrying sponges and swinging.
By the way: While today girls also carry the sacred fire home with a sponge, it used to be reserved for boys.
Away from the church to remote farms was far
The custom probably has a practical background: In this way, the consecrated fire could also be brought from the church to remote farms and houses. “Back then, you couldn’t let the sponge burn too much. Because otherwise the wire would burn out and the sponge would fly away while swinging,” says Sebastian Wimmer, Eggerbauer Senior.
“Customs must be lived, otherwise they will be lost”
The custom is promoted from generation to generation. “I can certainly go home today with a candle in a lantern. But wearing a sponge is just an old custom here. We want to keep that,” says Sebastian Wimmer, Eggerbauer Senior.
Lively customs in Unken
In Unken in the Pinzgauer Saalachtal, a unique custom has been handed down during the Easter Vigil. Here the consecrated Easter fire from the church is carried into the local flock with an extraordinary tool.