So, the other day somebody was confused that some old rites like “sweeping” (sweeping stairs until you get kissed free by a virging when you get 30) are honestly still a thing in germany, and they are at some places, but in one particular place in germany, it goes straight into “the purge” territory.

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On the Island Borkum in the north sea, which belongs to the county of east frisia in lower saxony, there is a peculiar rite one day per year.

In the night from december 5th to december 6th, 6 young men from borkum will go around the island dressed as “Klaasohm”. It’s always two small men, two medium sized men and two large men. Who gets the honors to go around as Klaasohm is decided by the “Club of young lads of Borkum” and is kept secret up until the last minute.

The Klaasohms wear helmets of half a meter hight shaped like bins, which are lined with sheeps pelt and have feathers of seagulls glued to them. The helmets have small openings for the eyes of the wearer and a bigger one for the wearer to be able to drink.

There is ritualistic fights between the Klaasohms in a secret location where only men born on Borkum may attend to decide who of the Klaasohms will be the leader of the three groups.

After that they begin scouering the island. They are armed with bullhorns they use to slap womens butts, and because they cant see much, every Klaasohm has several helpers to help them find the women to slap and catch them. Every woman that get’s slapped by a Klaasohm gets a honeycake tho. That cake is called “Moppe”. Klaasohms ignore kids and the elderly tho.

Meanwhile another character called “the Wiefke” is rampaging around the island who is another young man of Borkum dressed in drag.

At the end of the evening the whole island comes together for some crowdsurfing from an advertizing pillar on a central plaza.

That’s a real thing still celebrated on that one german island and parts of the netherlands.

Unfortunately it only has a [german wikipedia](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaasohm) article, but I wanted to share that with you.

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Just imagine you are a young woman unaware of that tradition and end up on that island on that day by chance. That’s basically some H.P. Lovercraft shit happening around you.

6 comments

  1. I am sure somebody will explain what happens when a young girl asks for it – so no danger of shocking females for life by doubtful traditions.

  4. > imagine you are a young woman unaware of that tradition

    Well, I don’t know what you would be doing on Borkum in December. It’s not exactly the trendiest holiday destination — its attractions include some lighthouses and a gateway made out of a whale’s jawbone — and I’d wager that most of the tourists come in the summer. And are about 75 years old.

    But it’s a local tradition that establishes a sense of local cultural identity and a link with the past. There are strange traditions like this all over the world, all part of what makes human culture so fascinating. The local girls, for the record, treat it as a test of courage.

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