The Hopping Procession of Echternach
Digital IKI
Due to the measures taken to control the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19), the organisational team of Echternach decided to cancel the Hopping Procession in its usual form. The Hopping Procession of Echternach was included in the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 26, 2008 and on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 16, 2010. Keeping the intangible heritage alive gives us a sense of identity and continuity. Thus, individuals and organisations work towards keeping traditions like the Hopping Procession of Echternach alive every year.
For these reasons, the Ministry of Culture, the Luxembourg Commission for UNESCO, the CNA, the Willibrordus-Bauverein, the City of Echternach, the Archdiocese and RTL Zwee invite you on a digital tour of the Hopping Procession. The 2020 Hopping Procession of Echternach will thus be remembered and kept alive with audiovisual footage and online tours.
The Educational Department of the Archdiocese offers online tours of the Hopping Procession and Saint Willibrord from June 1 to 3, 2020. The Archdiocese’s website provides information on the historical background an current initiatives related to the Hopping Procession. On Whitsun Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 8:30 PM, RTL Zwee will release the 2019 documentary on the Hopping Procession. This documentary will be available afterwards on the YouTube Channel of the City of Echternach.
Visit the event, the UNESCO Commission and the Willibrordus-Bauverein on Facebook for further details. Also, join the Lëtzebuerger Massendénger's initiative “Ee Gebiet um Sprangduch”.
The Hopping Procession of Echternach
The world-famous Hopping Procession, celebrated in honour of St. Willibrord, takes place in Echternach every year on Whitsun Tuesday. St. Willibrord (658-739), the founder of the abbey and the city of Echternach, is worshipped for his missionary work in the Benelux countries, the Lower Rhine area and Saarland, his good deeds and his healing powers. The Hopping Procession, whose origin is probably to be found in a pagan rite, was already mentioned in texts around 1100. Despite bans by the Church and secular authorities, it has survived the centuries and has brought together the people of the whole area in a unique tradition.
Every year it attracts about 10 000 participants, including 7 - 8 000 hoppers, who gather around 40 music bands playing an old polka tune. After a ceremonial service and the welcome sermon by the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the pilgrims, in rows of five and holding each other by white scarves, hop through the streets of the old town to St. Willibrord’s shrine in the crypt of the basilica. Those pilgrims who cannot participate in the hopping join the group of worshippers or singers who recite the litany of St. Willibrord. A number of church dignitaries from Luxembourg and abroad also take part in the procession, which concludes with a thanksgiving service in the Basilica.
The believing Christians, who voluntarily perform this ancient rite, thus confess their creed openly. They feel at home in a community of like-minded people who, despite their difference of age, gender, rank and origin, move forward in the same rhythm, which helps them forget the worries of everyday life. Even less religiously minded people join the ranks, feeling that they are participating in an event that transcends their personal existence and allows them to be part of a tradition that connects them with their ancestors. So the procession is also a cultural event that brings people together and encourages encounters beyond the boundaries of ideologies and religions.
The Echternach procession was included in the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 26, 2008 and on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 16, 2010.
Further details about the procession can be found on the web site www.willibrordus.lu under „Springprozession“.
Due to the measures taken to control the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19), the organisational team of Echternach decided to cancel the Hopping Procession in its usual form. The Hopping Procession of Echternach was included in the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 26, 2008 and on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 16, 2010. Keeping the intangible heritage alive gives us a sense of identity and continuity. Thus, individuals and organisations work towards keeping traditions like the Hopping Procession of Echternach alive every year.
For these reasons, the Ministry of Culture, the Luxembourg Commission for UNESCO, the CNA, the Willibrordus-Bauverein, the City of Echternach, the Archdiocese and RTL Zwee invite you on a digital tour of the Hopping Procession. The 2020 Hopping Procession of Echternach will thus be remembered and kept alive with audiovisual footage and online tours.
The Educational Department of the Archdiocese offers online tours of the Hopping Procession and Saint Willibrord from June 1 to 3, 2020. The Archdiocese’s website provides information on the historical background an current initiatives related to the Hopping Procession. On Whitsun Tuesday, June 2, 2020 at 8:30 PM, RTL Zwee will release the 2019 documentary on the Hopping Procession. This documentary will be available afterwards on the YouTube Channel of the City of Echternach.
Visit the event, the UNESCO Commission and the Willibrordus-Bauverein on Facebook for further details. Also, join the Lëtzebuerger Massendénger's initiative “Ee Gebiet um Sprangduch”.
The Hopping Procession of Echternach
The world-famous Hopping Procession, celebrated in honour of St. Willibrord, takes place in Echternach every year on Whitsun Tuesday. St. Willibrord (658-739), the founder of the abbey and the city of Echternach, is worshipped for his missionary work in the Benelux countries, the Lower Rhine area and Saarland, his good deeds and his healing powers. The Hopping Procession, whose origin is probably to be found in a pagan rite, was already mentioned in texts around 1100. Despite bans by the Church and secular authorities, it has survived the centuries and has brought together the people of the whole area in a unique tradition.
Every year it attracts about 10 000 participants, including 7 - 8 000 hoppers, who gather around 40 music bands playing an old polka tune. After a ceremonial service and the welcome sermon by the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the pilgrims, in rows of five and holding each other by white scarves, hop through the streets of the old town to St. Willibrord’s shrine in the crypt of the basilica. Those pilgrims who cannot participate in the hopping join the group of worshippers or singers who recite the litany of St. Willibrord. A number of church dignitaries from Luxembourg and abroad also take part in the procession, which concludes with a thanksgiving service in the Basilica.
The believing Christians, who voluntarily perform this ancient rite, thus confess their creed openly. They feel at home in a community of like-minded people who, despite their difference of age, gender, rank and origin, move forward in the same rhythm, which helps them forget the worries of everyday life. Even less religiously minded people join the ranks, feeling that they are participating in an event that transcends their personal existence and allows them to be part of a tradition that connects them with their ancestors. So the procession is also a cultural event that brings people together and encourages encounters beyond the boundaries of ideologies and religions.
The Echternach procession was included in the National Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage on June 26, 2008 and on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 16, 2010.
Further details about the procession can be found on the web site www.willibrordus.lu under „Springprozession“.
Media
Images
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
 018.jpg){kind=link}
 2 091.jpg){kind=link}
 2 008.jpg){kind=link}
 1 426.jpg){kind=link}
 1 418.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Videos
Uebertragung der Gebeine des Hl. Willibrord (Marzen, Edisons Elektrisches Theater, 1906)© Archives : Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA)
Echternacher Springprozession (Marzen, Edisons Elektrisches Theater, 1906)© Archives : Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA)
Régions dévastées, Echternach (Pierre Bertogne, Pierre Kintzinger, 1945 / Musique : Lou Koster (« Der Geiger von Echternach) sur un texte de Nic. Welter / Sonorisation : CNA, 1995 © Archives : Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA)
Iechternacher Sprangprëssioun 2020 - Marc Diederich© Ville d'Echternach / Stadtmarketing Echternach