Memmingen Fischerag: woman moves to court - and has success!

As a little girl, I was awakened by bangs and trumpets every year on a summer day in July at 6 a.m..A brass band pulled through the streets of Memmingen to wake up the citizens.Because it was a special day: Fischerag.An old custom that until 16.Century can be traced back.

So I quickly flushed out of bed, rubbed my eyes out of my eyes, put on me and drove my mother, sister and grandma packed with several buckets (buckets) to the Stadtbach.Because we women and girls had a special task: we were bucket women.For what?For my father and brother.They had gotten up around 5 a.m., their kescher, who are lovingly called bears, had strapped onto their backs and pulled through the streets of Memmingen.Not without strengthening yourself with white sausage and beer beforehand.After all, they had to afford the same size and could even be crowned king.At 8 a.m., announced with a fireplace shot from a cannon, the participants jumped into the Memminger Stadtbach on Fischerag, i.e. only native or living in Memmingen, in Memmingen..The goal: trout catch - and who catches the biggest fish will become a fishing king.The event goes back to the fact that the urban stream was used to be fished once a year to clean the channel.

And what are the women doing?They are waiting for the day and bring the trout out of the mushy fishing nets with their bare hands.Responsibility is great: after all, the fish fidget and shit almost through your hands.The trout must not escape, it could finally be the royal trout.The women in my family naturally have practice in it, we clever the fish in the bucket year after year.If there is a big copy, you can go to the marketplace for good luck and have the weight of the trout determined.So far there is no king in my family.But maybe a queen soon?

Are women in the Memmingen Stadtbach soon fishing?

Because the rigid role models are experiencing an earthquake for the first time: a Memminger did not want to let it sit that she, as a woman, must not fishing.Women have been excluded from fish since 1931 by statute.In contrast, member Christiane Renz had initially sued the Memmingen district court and won.The Fischeragenverein then appealed.The Memmingen district court judged on Wednesday: participation must not be reserved for tradition of tradition.

This "special right" for male members in the statutes of the association "is no longer justified," said chairman judge Konrad Beß.Associations are likely to freely determine the rules for participation.But if they treat members differently, this must be justifiable with the purpose of the association.The customs fishing in Memmingen is "not an absolutely faithful replica" of a historical event.Therefore, women could participate without the goal of home care in danger.

"The shoes are ready," said Christiane Renz with a view of the next Fischerag, who had to be two times because of the corona crisis."Then stand on the stream on time and itched."For years, Renz was denied" itching ", the annual fishing of the city stream in Memmingen with thousands of spectators - because she is a woman.

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With the judgment and her rebellion, Christiane Renz could have got a stone rolling.The judgment of the Memmingen Regional Court could now have an impact on other male traditions.The first chairman of the Fischeragenverein, Michael Ruppert, spoke of a "day that could affect many, many clubs throughout Germany".He thinks it "a shame that the club autonomy was not in the foreground".Many prominent male traditions in Germany were - partly after years of debate and protests - but most recently without a court ruling for women.The Bremen ice cream competition was not a pure men's event for the first time last year: around 30 women were among the 800 guests.Women have also been able to dive in the "Blueplag", a rider procession in the Upper Swabian Weingarten, since November 2020.Previously, an application from the city to include the "BlueSent" in the list of intangible cultural heritage, the lack of openness to women failed.

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It has not yet been decided whether Christiane Renz can really jump into the Stadtbach next year.The Memmingen Fischertagenverein still has the opportunity to go into revision.Then the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe decides.Or they just let women who like to fish - and a new tradition is launched, for example that of the bucket boy and the fishing queen.The little girl I once was would finally get an answer to the question: Why are no women fishing?