Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day (English, German Groundhog Day ) is a cultural event that is celebrated in several places in the U.S. and Canada. On February 2 of each year, the " Candlemass Day" ( Candlemas ), a prediction about the persistence of winter is traditionally made ​​. To this end, public and curled for the first time in the year of its construction, partly in the context of folk festivals woodchucks (Marmota monax ). If the animal " sees his shadow ", ie when the sun is shining, the winter will still take another six weeks.

History

Many proverbs in German-speaking countries refer to the expected weather, so it says in the collections of rules for weather forecast from the roof or from the Bears:

• " Sunning the roof in light measurement - week, walks on four weeks he again Loche ".
• "If Candlemas to the roof remains in Loche, comes later still cold ."
• " If the bear on Candlemas sees his shadow, he crawls back to forty days in the cave".

In 1859 is explained for Westphalia:

• "If the badger to Mary Lichtmeßen, noon 11-12 clock sees his shadow, he must stay four weeks left in its burrows. Teachers Kuhn in Hemschlar ".

In the German-speaking immigrants in Pennsylvania, where there are no badgers, was a similar hibernators, the widespread, diurnal and easily observed woodchuck, the goal of weather control.

Customs in Pennsylvania

The oldest evidence of Pennsylvania can be found in the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center. On February 4, 1841 James wrote Morris, a shopkeeper in Morgantown, Berks County ( Pennsylvania) in his diary:

" Last Tuesday, the 2nd, what Candlemas day, the day on Which, accor ding to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate. "

( " Last Tuesday, February 2, Candlemas was. Germans say that the woodchuck short peeps on this day from his winter quarters., If it sees its shadow, it will disappear for the next six weeks to sleep again in his cave. But the day is cloudy, it remains outside, as the weather will be moderate. " )

The longest tradition of Groundhog Day is in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The respective local newspaper Spirit called the February 2, 1886 Groundhog Day " even though the Beast at the time this issue not yet saw his shadow ." On 2 February 1887, the Groundhog Day was celebrated with a dinner of woodchucks. The further development of the custom is connected with the name of long-time editor of the Spirit Clymer H. Freas (1867-1942), who invented the secret language Groundhogese for communication with the animals, Gobbler 's Knob chose as the site of the annual forecast and annually in the local newspaper also reported. In his obituary in the Spirit of 22 October 1942, he is called "the father of the concept of Punxsutawney as Woodchuck center ". Become an international reputation Punxsutawney and Waldmurmeltiertag 1993 the movie " Groundhog Day Groundhog " ( original title: " Groundhog Day" ) with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in the lead roles. Currently, the event attracts in Punxsutawney every year tens of thousands of visitors.

The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge founded by George W. Hensel Jr. in Quarryville, Lancaster County as a male society celebrates the Groundhog Day since 1908.

In Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch called the woodchuck Grundsau or English - German orthography Grundsow. The Pennsylvania Dutch maintain special male bonding, the Grundsow Lodges (English: Groundhog Lodges ) the Customs at the same time with the dialect with annual banquet. The tradition goes back to the year 1934. At the banquet only Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch may be spoken. Who speaks English, has to pay a symbolic punishment, for example, 5, 10, or 25 cents per word, which are placed in a bowl in the middle of the table. In addition to something in the tooths Groundhog Lodges are available in their tradition often from the same people attended Fersommlinge ( meetings ) with banquets that are open to women and with speeches and theater as well as the language cultivation serve. Currently there exist two dozen clubs, whose annual meetings attract hundreds of participants each.

The traditions in other places throughout the range of the forest marmot and beyond, are more recent, and close to the popularity of the earlier events.

Famous Woodchucks

The best known animal with " clairvoyant " is the woodchuck Punxsutawney Phil out of the place in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania. The local celebrations are the oldest and have been held since 1887. Through the film, and Groundhog Day (Original Title: Groundhog Day ) Phil was also internationally famous. In total, there are about two dozen marmots, which are surveyed annually, such as Balzac Billy ( Balzac, Alberta / Canada), General Beauregard Lee ( Stone Mountain, Georgia), Jimmy the Groundhog (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin), Shubenacadie Sam ( Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia / Canada), Staten Iceland Chuck ( Staten Iceland (New York City ), New York) and Wiarton Willie ( Wiarton, Ontario / Canada).

Recent predictions

Hit rate of the predictions

A study of weather data from 13 Canadian cities analyzed in the last 30 to 40 years, the hit rate of the marmots and resulted in a probability of 37 % that the prediction on Groundhog Day apply. In this case, a prediction or an opposite normal running winter is not considered accurate, so that the achievable by chance probability is 33%. The U.S. National Climatic Data Center uses 39% as a proportion of the predictions came true in 1887, with the hit rate should have been in the last 20 years even at 59%.