Boxing Week

Describes Between the years as saying today usually the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve / New Year, which is called in Switzerland Altjahrswoche. Originally comprised of so -intentioned period, either the so-called rough nights (also twelve holy nights, twelve nights called ) or the time between the end of the old year (December 24 ) and the beginning of the new year ( January 6). During the period between the years has a very different number of days due to bridge the Christian festivals that Rauhnächte are fixed between December 21 ( winter solstice ) and the 6th of January. For the period between Christmas (December 25 ) and Epiphany ( January 6) is the term twelve days of Christmas (in short, the Twelfth ) familiar.

Alternative names

The phrase in this form was found mainly in Baden and Westphalia. Elsewhere, there were different expressions for the same, including:

Origin

Already in ancient Egypt, the time between the years was named Heriu - renpet that was associated with the Old Kingdom nor the Nile flood and the season of Akhet and between the month Ipet - hemet as " years closer" and the Wepet - renpet as " Jahresöffner " was.

The origin of the twelve - or thirteen- day period of the lies in the difference between the annual classification according to the lunar and solar calendar. Between the two counting for a year is a difference of twelve days ( Epagomene ), with missing after the counting of the lunar calendar twelve days to astronomically correct orbit around the sun in 365 days.

Obvious is the connection with the church Dodekahemeron, those twelve days ( nights ), which were 567 declared at the Council of Tours as particularly worthy of veneration. This period - but starting with the Yule ( Winter Solstice ) - is also delivered to the time of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus († 959 ).

Until the reform of the calendar by Pope Gregory XIII. was the beginning of the new year in many parts of Europe January 6. This date goes back to Roman customs and displacements of the calendar. This year, however, was traditionally celebrated on 24 December, so that the time until the beginning of next year lag " between the years ".

Especially for religious reasons - - In addition, the Gregorian calendar was not introduced everywhere at once. Therefore differed in these decades around the turn of the year numbers between the territories of the old and the new calendar. Also, it is the term attributed "between the years ".

Pope Innocent XII. put then in 1691 the last day of the year - named after Pope Sylvester I - binding tight.

Therefore, due to the historical development of different time periods can be related to the expression between the years in conjunction.

Moreover, there are in other cultural areas comparable time periods, for example in the UK, the so-called Boxing Week between Boxing Day (December 26 ) and New Year's Eve. In Sweden the same period is also called Mellandagarna today. In Norway, calls this period - but only starting with 27 December - Mellomjul (also Romjul, Romhelg ).