REGION: Europe
COUNTRY: Switzerland
YEAR PRINTED: 1977
VALUE: 50 centimes
This stamp celebrates the Achetringele celebration of Laupen, Switzerland. The Achetringele is the New Year’s Eve procession of the small town near Berne. Originally, Achetringele was a pagan winter festival using frightening masks to help scare the winter away. With the coming of Christianity, the ceremony was merged with Christmas, but eventually the town government considered the celebration too raucous and moved it to New Year’s Eve.
