German island festival passes peacefully after criticism over practice of men hitting women

BERLIN — An annual festival on a German North Sea island that had drawn criticism over a practice of men hitting women with cow’s horns passed without reports of assaults this year, police said Friday.

The Klaasohm festival on Borkum, the westernmost of a string of German islands, takes place on Dec. 5 ahead of St Nicholas’ Day. A report by ARD public television aired late last month showed women being stopped by costumed men and hit on the buttocks with a cow’s horn at the 2023 festival, and anonymous witnesses discussing aggressive behavior at the event.

The association that organizes the festival said ahead of this year’s festival that the practice would be scrapped and it would no longer tolerate violence against women.

The island’s mayor, Jürgen Akkermann, said that the violence had developed from “a tradition of a kind of chastisement” of people who approach the “Klaasohms” — men dressed up in masks, sheepskin and feathers — without permission. He said that, following earlier incidents, a rethinking had already started over the past decade, but the matter hadn’t been pursued emphatically enough until now, German news agency dpa reported.

For Thursday’s festival, police said they raised their presence on Borkum significantly. About 500 people took part in the parade, which drew a large crowd of spectators.

Police said Friday that, when the festival ended around midnight, they had received no reports of bodily harm or any assaults. Regional police chief Thomas Memering said in a statement that, if offenses from this year’s or past festivals come to light after the event, they will be prosecuted.

“Customs and traditions don’t provide protection against prosecution,” he said.