Highly constat literally the city of saints. And the people here do indeed celebrate a long tradition of christianity some of the rituals practiced here go back hundreds of years on palm sunday the sunday before easter catholics from this central german town gather in precession to bear witness to the sufferings of christ. Then 50 men carry these larger than life wooden figures through the town. Of the 4th bearer and are from or from you bring my great grandfather was the 1st that my grandfather and my father my father. Were not for us a highlight for the whole town. Sense 1581 catholics have been staging this holy week chris session and highly can start it resembles a passion play each palm sunday they carry huge figures around the town center portraying the sufferings of christ. Jesuits introduced the tradition as part of their strategy to subvert the attraction of the protestant reformation in the region. Depends on the us the procession is really remarkable because it has survived told a vicissitudes of history it was done in like moment secularization and superiors that the pope described as godless dictatorships. Its a very strong christian. Unwitnessed from a small region at the heart of germany in bushland. Today the passion procession of is one of the largest in the country. This will represent the mount of olives where jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion here in Central Europe olive trees are a rare commodity. So the builders make do with the french as a few trees. We traditionally use huge trees because theres lots of them growing around here they are also very decorative theyre nice and green which will give. Me more than. The huge tree branches that represent all of branches from the Holy Mountain are a popular keepsake. To do you were Everyone Wants to take one home and its an old tradition to which the palm sunday branch is behind the crucifix in your sitting room they stay there all year this sometimes leads to a regular free for all with people fighting over the last branches so we make sure to put lots of them on our display day when we dismantle everything theyll be none left. The figures are stored in the attic of the old Jesuit College the depicting the virgin mary holding the body of her dead son was replaced 120 years ago. Some of the other figures date back to the 16th century they are carefully preserved and have been spared the ravages of time. Most of my macbook on the 1st time i took part in the early 1980 s. They had predicted rain that had rained so hard when we carrying the figures we cant really take a step to the side so we just marched straight through all the puddles got so wet you could hear our shoes squelching what a mess thats. Been there is retiring this year his sunday shot is said to take over his role in the procession thats the tradition here but 1st he needs a top hat off to do the mop with all they do you happen to have a spare top hat for our son ben. Also it will be for the b. O. R. To look through what weve got now found 3 if you go for. All platform bearers wear their sunday best black suits and top hats the 1st. This is a top hat my grandfather used to wear. Over par with seen a few down towards this limit boys its too big for me it keeps slipping around on my head oh this is what it is too big line it with newspaper either by. Another but if it doesnt fit richard we have to find another one. Here not on. The thought of believe it belonged to my wifes grandfather. You know its too small for me but i think it should fit richard theyre going to think it will help us will issue or in this case hat fit. This is where the procession is set to start on sunday get hard bowden knows the way he will be in the front row carrying the 1st figure your good invest well head up that way towards the 1st intersection. And then turn right towards vilhelm stars a better too. Its the same route the procession has followed for centuries one and a half kilometers through the streets of highly constat. And here i think this is bill himself will be coming from up here in perception and head this way across getting his trouser want to linden l. A. And then back to our starting point where the Closing Service takes place. Another palm sunday tradition and highly constat at the little boxes that held a shot of paints. This is so often that its a very old custom here in atlanta and we always give the child a little boxes after the palm sunday for session will be a pity if that custom disappeared from. The boxes our beloved souvenirs from highly constat next to the one she painted herself to also keeps many historical examples in her museum the stamford though in these wanted between 1008 in 1910 dont get very simple. This autumn was covered with thinned paint and you know these symbolize palm fronds until it was decorated with a bouquet of flowers and a little saying. 40 years ago she brought this half forgotten tradition back to life. The young boy showing young men would present responses to this week. When the girls approval that way and parents would give them to their children in that case there will always sweet sayings on the box like god bless you wish them. Though its so lovely here to share in. The museum has visitors year round the motif of the easter lamb is a best seller held a shot of 1st painted a box like this for the late Cardinal Meisner archbishop of cologne. Caught a cardinal gave it to somebody else. But. Its a moment irish held at 1st i thought he didnt like it but then i realized he wouldnt make a present of something you didnt like yourself one time coming. And then he told me hed given it to his best friend Cardinal Ratzinger now you dont say. Yes and then continental mines now received a new one requirement since then ive often painted the pascal land. Theres no record of whether Cardinal Ratzinger took the box with him when he moved into the palace of the vatican as Pope Benedict the 16th either way helga shot is quite pleased. As a customs this terrorist is the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd looks after history of people dimension and the lamb is both the 2nd fish a lamb earns the victorious lamb. In recent years a novelty has crept in among the boxes. How did the luther rose find its way to this very catholic town. So i thousands and if i only listen to ensue thousands a lutheran christians will formally invited to a palm sunday procession before that they dont really ever been spectators. Since then they join in so i thought that much to be especially really strange because thats why i designed this box and this week you have already started it. Meanwhile at the shrillness home weve gathered a few top hats lets see which of them fits you us 20 year old richard still now wants to follow in his fathers footsteps and assume the familys office as one of the ceremonial platform bearers fuck. Time to find out if one of the hats they borrowed actually fits. This ones a bit too small listen to. First im 32 years old not carried the last figure in the perception the holy step of our formal dress has always been obligatory. Finally the 4th that they try fits but its his fathers will have to share it is once the entire. Just as theyll share the route father also plans to take over for his son on the 2nd leg of the procession. But he did not i think youre managing to get signals to cause a. Downhill hamster and ill carry it the rest of the way youll see youll be flagging by that. Countrys new community for the moment the youngster seems confident enough to point to you from someone some standing next to the holy settle or leaving the house to join the procession i think it will feel a little special i imagine what it must be like to walk through town while people point instead. Between each other in reverence oh look one of the barriers a sense of this in the air force the course you can tell when youre being stared at. It dressed in his finest sunray shard is ready to carry on the family legacy. And. Me feel proud is a fine thing and i think its wonderful that youre doing all this marks. His father is brimming with pride as we look at how youve grown up. The whole precession is organized by families and highly can start like the spinners but theres one exception to the rule since 1943 men from the neighboring village of best housing have been responsible for the 4 metre high cross. Best 1000 lies just 5 kilometers east of haile constat. For decades yohannes trialing and after him his son angle that have been crossed bearers. Just imagine help carry it across to mr filmer did to those who served for us its an honor to be part of the procession. The involvement of best housing was a result of the 2nd world war. Many residents of highly can start were at the front and there werent enough strong men left to carry the figures. So the dean wrote a letter to the parish priest at best house and asking for support the men from best house and volunteered to carry the cross years later when the men of highly can start wanted to take it back the volunteers were reluctant to hand it over. To new york. We had a meeting and discussed the situation and we decided were not going to relinquish the honor weve received. The letter if we were good enough during the war we were good enough afterwards. To do. The other often told us that the men of best house and what dead against it and im glad they were. 12 men are not families we all agreed we should carry on bearing the cross instead of giving it back. To. Their determination paid off. That trialing took over the cross from his father in 1906 my father said hed been carrying the cross for 40 years he asked if i wanted to take it over of course i did you know. I stayed close out kept an eye on. That i was carrying it the right way its not easy and fast you have to fall in line with the other bearers and take direction from the men whove been doing it for years. Its tricky when youre standing at the back trying to balance it out or. Growth across lanes to one side the people on that side have to push against it and you push against them this is and sometimes its not the weight of the cross thats the hard part of the guy next year pushing the neuron direction award we never dropped it into. The procession was introduced by jesuits who were sent to the area over 4 centuries ago by the archbishop of mines ruler of the territory. These jesuits got creative as they went about spearheading the counterreformation. Media i will be your desire they took what we would call a multimedia approach they were the best instruments at the disposal of the Catholic Church and the passion procession was part of their program they turned it into a mass spec tickle talking to mom. And it was to be a spectacle on good friday the day christ was crucified. But the locals objected to the proposed to date. That was a good friday is a holy day of obligation for catholics we eat one meal all day and were not allowed meet so they couldnt sell sausages and the fasting rules forbade many other things of the day isnt suitable for a big public spectacle because it commemorates the sufferings of christ so the procession happens on palm sunday instead of the times wonderfully since the date was changed to palm sunday and 1734 the procession has been enormously popular and to keep it that way the local people were prepared to defend their profession by all means at their disposal. The nazis forbade School Children to accompany the holy sepulcher but 8 young boys defied the order. Described this as the greatest disappointment of his life caused by the very people who were supposed to play a key role in constructing the 1000 year reich. People to defy nazi ideology the boys were sent to a hitler youth prison camp in baghdad where they suffered physical violence and were interrogated. For heat away you could view this as a form of resistance in the 3rd reich as the utah position. And attempts to suppress the parade didnt stop there after the end of the war this was soviet occupied territory former provost paul you. Tells an anecdote about his predecessor in 1946 when he feared the procession would be banned he turned to the soviet commander. The commander had been a theater director in russia. And so of course he was interested in drama. When the provost knew this when he played on the man sympathy describing the procession as a holy play. He said it was no demonstration it was a melodrama if you will many participants he was asked 6000. Commander was very impressed and how many acts yes if not accurate scenes was the answer. The day after the procession the man was summoned by the soviet commander. Who with his knowledge of the world the last thing the provost wanted before he left was a hearty breakfast i knew these appointments could take time. And he wasnt sure whether he was going to be praised or reprimanded. He was praised. And the incident became part of highly constat history. Afterwards the east german communists never dared to ban the procession. But they did punish those who collaborated. Especially the bearers. Of the mosque in between many other people who held important positions had to decide for themselves whether it was worth taking part in the procession or not especially in the final years when east germany was particularly weak and pressure in the factories and collectives increased it with leave christians couldnt even get a masters certificate anymore. In those communist years taking part in the procession was a bold declaration of ones faith. In the took part for the 1st time in the mid 1980 s. Despite the political repercussions he would face. Demonstrated that i was committed to my faith that i hadnt bought into socialism. Its a. Procession let me show that quite openly. But that meant that i wouldnt be allowed to study. Or i wanted to become a forest ranger but all of a sudden i was caught off. I was pushed out of the system or and. In spite of the discrimination they suffered this small region remained a bastion of faith. 80 percent of the population is catholic. Doesnt work out whether in the 3rd reich all later under communism was a superstition always was an expression of resistance as you know standing for this was their way of telling the regime that it hadnt succeeded in getting the whole region to accept the new ideology they didnt need anybody elses worldview they had their own given the choice between marx and god they chose gods for good. Highly constat on the sunday before easter the day of the passion procession its 12 noon how the shutter is arranging the palm sunday boxes on her table. To spend sunday is palm sunday is an important day for this region and even people from far away know about it many will come through the weather is perfect the sun is shining so that means even more than joining the given the who is not nearly as often very. 1230 had still not dresses for the procession today he will assume an honorary office in every sense of the word to march in the procession as one of the bearers of the holy sepak or is a high accolade and highly constat. Ryszard will inherit the office from his father as custom dictates. And today he will become part of a 400 year old tradition. Its an emotional occasion. For. The man and formal dress will be the heroes of the day this is for richard do you want to begin from the fierce out kerry from the start is it ok heres how i share the load ritual carry the holy separate down villains. And then ill take over and go to guns taza and little knowledge others dont know. 1 oclock thousands of pilgrims and tourists crowd into the town. By that its all running according to plan and no change is the same as a. Every year. The bears from best house and take up their positions at the cross its not the heaviest load but its the hardest to carry. The holy several curries decorated with flowers the spill ners father and son are starting to feel the tension. Both of this your 1st i hope i didnt step on your feet but if you do after the 3rd time you have to polish my shoes afterwards. How this shot has painted boxes are attracting potential customers. A colorful memento of a very special occasion recorded as. You heard. On the stroke of 2 the procession starts with him and prayers the faithful march through highly constat. Only after the 1st figures have covered a 3rd of the route is it time for ryszard to start. The holy step occur as the final scene. And weighing 320. 00 kilos its the heaviest. To talk yeah i saw a man that saves all kinds and they stayed on main street removing all the guns i dont know consisting of the old hymns the tom daschle son in church anymore and oh and if you look at the people ill see that all their input has songs and that everybody is moving forward or when i say that procession see dots and as most impetus to want to fight back the ts resists ok and for. The vast 1000 man are proud to be carrying the cross. And albert dryland has taken his fathers place. With us its uplifting when you see that youre part of this whole community. 8000 people have joined the procession today. Another 4000 lined the streets. For the unretouched build their shoulders on the shoulders of 11 other men. The holy sepak are a heavy burden. His father is waiting to take over but young restart isnt ready to quit yet. 8 tenths of a kilometer now hes not handing over this is just a short pause. For 1. 2 kilometers hasnt he had enough. Or if he wants to finish now there wont be any handover we want god with all my heart i knew he wouldnt give up i knew it all along he told me he wanted to see israels. Fault. The passion procession is punishing for the bearers but its a burden they carry with pride across 1500. 00 metres or whatever at some point i didnt want to hand over i told myself i had to finish i think hes even happier about it than i am. Wearing. It hurts like still own such as this story i would you know take over you wouldnt exactly destroy students when i wanted to finish 1st so you did this now you are worthy of the office. Richard wants to take over permanently its not handed over to me. All i got on. To. The palm sunday procession is more than a spectacle or a custom. For the people of halligan start its a declaration of their faith. It was a still involve your mother procession is always the same thats the spirit of tradition it expresses a certain continuity when you see that christianity is still alive here there is still catholics here it was the churches and not empty there are people who want to demonstrate their faith that this are the airports we are or by the fact that weve been chosen. To carry the figures through the time. When im presenting them to the people. Is all they believe the procession will survive another 400 years so im certain of it just doesnt cut short so i. Want. Hi floyd. Culture. High hair. Superman. Superfood stylish dialogue gone. Let those. Lifestyle europe. And the indigenous people. Race against time. For centuries the drunken nomads that are lived in harmony with nature. But now the grasslands that feed their livestock are turning into desert. Rats last nomads are fighting for their existence. In 75 minutes on d w. Ws crime fighters are back to africas most successful radio drama series continues to end up all of us so its are Available Online of course you can share and discuss on t w africas Facebook Page and other social media platforms crime fighters tune in now. In the height of climate change. For a cosmic save. Whats in store. For the future. Come the 2nd megacities to the multimedia inside close touch or. Whats the secret behind this classic. Visit to sound. As soon as you hear beethoven it blows your mind. For the story behind the music. For the ages greatest. Last. Beethovens 9th symphony for the more it starts april 9th on t. W. Cut. This is d. W. News live from berkeley and we expect more deaths in the weeks to come that was Donald Trumps message to the American People as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the u. S. Tops 300000 well have the latest from new york also coming up bello versus has over 300 confirmed cases of the virus body thora tarion president calls the Global Response to the outbreak a mass psychosis and critics of his approach saying theyre being silenced