Culture with Schlaraffia in Pretoria is made by the members, not imported. Every second Wednesday at the Burg in Ashlea Gardens, the Sassen of Castra Praetoria (392) offer their own poems, short talks, songs, instrumental pieces, parodies and impromptu repartee in German, while guests listen. A few minutes of verse or melody are often enough to win the room.
Craft before genius
One evening of the season puts the whole idea into a single motto: Kunst kommt von Können, art comes from craft, then and now. The members compare what once counted as mastery with what passes for it today and let the two compete, and the invitation states plainly that contributions are expressly wanted and perfection expressly not. Another evening celebrates the noble art of using many words to say nothing, a craft that, the Reych notes, is surprisingly widespread outside the Burg. And when the theme was artificial intelligence, the members tested with relish what a machine can do, since it writes poems nowadays, though without breaking a sweat.
Chains of honour for the arts
The tourney is the Schlaraffian contest of the arts, and in Pretoria several chains of honour are at stake. In the tournament for the music chain, instruments, voices and anything else that produces sound compete against each other; listening is allowed, singing along is encouraged, and vuvuzelas stay outside. The chain called the Star of South Africa bears the name of the diamond that changed the country's history, and its contest asks whether the journey or the destination matters more, a question every contribution answers differently and correctly.
From the owl's dignity to a burning sugarloaf
The themes range widely. A whole evening was devoted to the dignity of the Uhu, the owl that sits in every Burg, never says a word and is always right. Another opens the storeroom of memory, where names go missing and the best punchlines are always within reach. All roads lead to Rome, a proverb claims, and the Reych follows them to see where they really end, quite often in Pretoria. The grumbling evening allows complaints at length and in polished form, provided each annoyance becomes a resolution by closing time. The season ends with the Feuerzangenbowle, with no shortage of piano music.
German verse in the Jacaranda City
Pretoria is a seat of government and a university city with museums and a long German-speaking history, from the mission stations of the nineteenth century to the engineers, merchants and families who came after 1945. Castra Praetoria adds a small, handmade chapter to that culture: German poems and songs written in the Highveld for one evening each. The website speaks Afrikaans and English as well, so friends without German can see what the fuss is about.
Come as a listener
Guests do not have to contribute anything. The coming themes are listed in the Castra Praetoria calendar, and the practical questions are answered under frequently asked questions. For the bigger picture in English, read what Schlaraffia is and how Schlaraffen play.
Come and listen?
Join us as a guest - free of charge, without obligation and without any fuss.
