About Schlaraffia® Bostonia
What is Schlaraffia®?
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Schlaraffia® is a worldwide association of men committed to cultivating art, friendship and humor. Their motto is "In arte voluptas", or "In art lies the pleasure".
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If you like to recite, make music, poetry, composing, painting, magic or other arts, or just to listen and watch, then Schlaraffia® offers you a forum that will open you to a wonderland of the mind with tolerance, spirit and humor. The contributions of the Sassen (members of Schlaraffia®) are sometimes serious, most of the time cheerful, and should give room for humorous additions, comments and puns by the audience.
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Today there are about 260 Reyche (local associations of the Schlaraffia®) with over 10,000 members in Europe (predominantly in Germany, Austria, Switzerland), North and South America, South Africa, Thailand and Australia. German is spoken in each of these Reyche.
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If you would like to listen in, if you are willing to tolerate other people's creative work and not talk about politics, work, or religion for a couple of hours, then you should take the next step and join us at the Schlaraffia® Bostonia.
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Praga Coat of Arms
Allschlaraffia® Coat of Arms
The embodiment for wisdom, humor and Schlaraffia®’s values is the "Uhu" (eagle owl)
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Why was Schlaraffia® founded?
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Schlaraffia® was founded in 1859 in Prague (Czech Republic), which at that time was part of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy. The driving factor behind its roots was the wide spread intolerance of the 19th century. A distinguished art club in the city, whose members also included nobilities of the Habsburg royal court, regularly prohibited a well known performing artist of the Prague German Theater joining the club as a member.
His other fellow German artists regarded this as a high-handed act of arrogance and snobbery of the upper class and formed in protest their own artists round-table. Schlaraffia® was born, and by the way, the name has no meaning! Within a play (Schlaraffenspiel) full of satire, they mocked the snobbism and mannerisms of the royal court and title-hungry bureaucracy, and most importantly, made fun of themselves.
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Schlaraffia® is a timeless playing field for men, who care for friendship and engage with subtle humor in the arts in a broad sense. While in the beginning most of Schlaraffia®’s members were artists, you will find today besides singers, actors or painters also engineers, inventors, factory workers and teachers, all together pretending to be the last knights of a long gone romantic period. They don’t take everything and in particular themselves too seriously, and are constantly willing to promote each other’s friendship with the joy for the arts and subtle humor.
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Praga Coat of Arms
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An evening at Schlaraffia® Bostonia is a little vacation for the mind!
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The founding fathers of Schlaraffia® have given the meetings the framework of a knight's game (Schlaraffenspiel), as a parody of the vanities of society. The members, called Sassen, therefore also wear a "knightly armor", made of cloth. The first part of the meeting (Sippung) is an ironically solemn opening and the welcoming of guests or visiting knights from other Reyche. In the second part then follow the individual contributions of the Sassen and guests, also called Fechsungen. It is up to every Sasse whether and what he wants to contribute to the Sippung, although each Sippung has a specific topic.
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During the Sippung, only German is spoken. A basic understanding of German is necessary to join the Schlaraffia® Bostonia in order to enjoy the Sippung.
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We hope that we peaked your interest to join us for a Sippung! Please contact us by e-mail if you would like to visit the Bohnenburg of the Schlaraffia® Bostonia some time.
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Wir danken der Schlaraffia Nordamerika (LVNA) und der Allschlaraffia® für die zur Verfügungstellung von einzelnen Textpassagen und Bildmaterials ihrer Website.
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Bostonia Coat of Arms
