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German to English translations [PRO] Marketing - Tourism & Travel / Tyrolean tradition
German term or phrase:Anklöpfler
Sentence: Achentaler Anklöpfler in Pertisau Austrian (Tyrolean) term
I am looking for a neat English way of describing this, if possible avoiding the word "knockers"...:)
Here is an explanation of what Anklöpfler are: Die Anklöpfler erinnern mit ihren Besuchen an die Hirten, die auf dem Feld von der Geburt des Kindes erfahren und an Maria und Josef, die in ganz Betlehem keine Herberge finden konnten. Da die Botschaft der Hirten letztendlich eine hoffnungsvolle, freudige Nachricht ist, bringen die Anklöpfler daneben auch Humor mit in die Häuser!
„Anklöpfeln“ (dialect for “to knock”) is a practice cultivated in the Tyrolean lower Inn valley. Here, a group of mostly male singers dress up as shepherds and visit the neighbouring houses on the three Thursdays before Christmas (“knocking nights”). The singers are invited into the homes and strike up several songs to herald the Christmas message of the birth of Jesus Christ. Often, these singers are accompanied by instrumentalists. As a way of thanking the singers, they are given a minimum of one drink, some Christmas biscuits or a snack. Sometimes money is given as well, which is collected by the society of "knockers" and spent on charity.
Yes, "traditional" is good. And sorry once again for any pain caused!!
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
AHA! with everyone else
13:37 Nov 13, 2012
Case in point for CONTEXT! If it's only one event, then don't try to translate at all, but give an explanation - traditional Achental Carol(l)ers (sorry, AE supremacy).
@Colin - THAT HURT!
oa_xxx (X)
Germany
Absolutely agree
13:13 Nov 13, 2012
that it should be left in German (Tyrolean!) with an explanation and with Marie - it seems that this group is only singing in this one cafe on a Saturday - the tradition of going from house to house is sposed to take place on Thursdays.
Samstag, 15.Dezember 2012 Achentaler Anklöpfler in Pertisau um 19.30 Uhr im Vitalberg-Café in Pertisau.
Hi David, Interestingly "Collins" offers both ("caroler" or "caroller"), while Google comes down heavily in favo(u)r of the former (2 million+ Ghits v. 232,000). Still, now you come to mention it, the "ll" version does have a certain (a)esthetic appeal to it :-) Still, "one-l" or "two-l" is definitely preferable here to "no-l" (Noël)... [Cringe! Sorry!!]
David Moore (X)
Carol singers
12:31 Nov 13, 2012
If the derivative of "carol" is used for these singers, it should be stressed that "caro*LL*er" is the proper UK (and international!) English spelling, so take a hundred lines, all those of you who forgot to mention that!!!
Could "doorsteppers", be of any use? Okay, so it's usually used in other contexts, but here it does go on to describe this specific situation.
Thanks for the extra info on context. That certainly changes the approach. I do still wonder if 'carolers' might be your best bet, though, given the space constraints; if they're only in the one place (this cafe) then it's obviously a performance rather than the proper tradition. I believe it's only in the one place because of 'im' - surely they'd say 'starting in' if they were to move elsewhere later on?
Oh but then surely you have space to add in an explanation, Jon?! After all, some of the other events have a good few lines of explanation anyway - I don't think there should really be a space issue!
LOL. <br> On a serious note, your solution could definitely work. Carolers has to be the closest tradition the English-speaking world has to this one. The tradition for Hogmanay is called 'first footing'. I lived in Scotland for three to four years and still had to look it up!
of them, "knockers" might be all right ;-) You do say that they come in a group, after all.
Seriously, though, might something with "door-to-door", "roaming" or "itinerant" work? What do they call it in Scotland where people go from door to door in search of whisky on Hogmanay?
Just an idea to be getting on with, how about: "Costumed Achental carolers doing the rounds in Pertisau"
Translating local traditions 101 is almost impossible. Don't think you should emphasize the "in-house part" too much. They do go from house to house, it's not like that they are spending the night ;-)
(footnote: in Austria they are even invited in)
Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Hello Jon!
11:55 Nov 13, 2012
Are you looking for an invented term? As you go on to describe it and I don't think there is a direct parallel - carolers do not come into the house, but are served cocoa and biscuits outside, and that only occasionally. Neither do carolers dress up. A few ideas: Achental Shepherds (the simplest)/Achental Carolers (up for misinterpretation)/Achental's First Noel (the text relates how the shepherds heard the Good News from the angels)/ Achental's Shepherd's Joy, etc. Hope you're well and happy translating!
I think 'passing carolers' would work better than 'invited on arrival'. I'm still intrigued to know whether this is a BU or not; it certainly seems like an extremely short "sentence" otherwise.
Could you call them "mummers"? It's a bit obscure though... =/ I think the problem with "carolers" is that they don't actually come in the house and sing, they stay outside. Otherwise you may just have to explain it somehow and leave in the German. Would a footnote work?
In my experience, carolers do, indeed, knock on the door. I wonder if that would be a way around the problem if you modified the noun with a suitable adjective...
I am not so sure whether you can go from carol singers to carolers, and they do not exactly knock on ones door. Perhaps a combination with the kids who go out on Trick or Treat-night. Don't know how those kids are called.
Is this a Bildunterschrift? If so, is it possible that the term/tradition has already been explained in the text, meaning you could potentially leave it in the German?
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Carol singers* (with footnote)
Explanation: A note is needed to expalin the custom
FoundInTrans United Kingdom Local time: 18:24 Works in field Native speaker of: English
Explanation: "Achentaler Anklöpfler (costumed carol(l)ers) performing in Pertisau"
If they are really only performing at a single venue, rather than going from door to door, then this might be a suitable solution. It keeps the original term (to retain the local folkloric flavour), with the briefest of explanations in brackets to convey the most important element, i.e. that this is a Christmas tradition that involves singing.
Colin Rowe Germany Local time: 19:24 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 35
Explanation: The footnote would explain the costumes and the exact custom of the locality. i.e. similar to Carollers of North America and those of the England's Charles Dickens era, the Ankloepfer etc ... <then explain the exact Austrian custom>
FoundInTrans United Kingdom Local time: 18:24 Works in field Native speaker of: English
