Franconian Beer Message Board
Schwemme...von "Schwelle"? |
| Posted by Nick B. on 2011-01-26 00:35:29 |
| It strikes me that the Schwemme is a sort of threshold (Schwelle) from the street to the tavern and/or the courtyard behind the tavern, in the sense of the threshold of a door. Wiki says nothing about this aspect, though there's a bit more there than I'd expected to find: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwemme I've no time to translate it now, but the main point is the relation to the idea of where horses are led to drink (horse-schwemme or Pferdeschwemme), as well as to the idea of "Überschwemmung", which is (over-) flooding. Here's a babelfish translation of what Wiki says the most "relevant" origin of the word is: "The probably most meeting interpretation of the term probably represents circumstances of a rather [repulsive] custom: Up to the beginning [of the] 20 century in many Bavarian guest [houses] in the guest area, where it was uriniert [at] most tables, as well as the so-called table reserved for regulars, directly under the table. In the evening or also occasionally [throughout the day] one tilted a bucket water under the table around the stink to drive out. In the center of the area was a discharge." You're welcome. |