A life’s goal achieved

The 11th November is the official start of the Carnival planning in Zug, and the Letzibuzäli guild in Zug thereby met at the Powder Tower (Pulverturm) on Monday. The sceptre of the Letzibuzäli carnival guild will now soon be wielded by someone who lives outside the CIty of Zug.

The next carnival revelries (Fasnacht) begin on the 27th February 2025 (Dirty Thursday / Schmutziger Donnerstag). The first full moon in spring (from 21st March) is decisive in determining the carnival date, which is why the carnival dates differ from year to year. The carnival will end on Ash Wednesday, March 5th. From then on, there will be 46 days (7 weeks) until Easter. There’s a mathematical formula for this, or you could also use artificial intelligence (AI).

A carnival dynasty in the making
The latest achievement of the digital world is still far from working in one area, however: finding a new Letzibuzäli prince year after year. This year, the search committee of the Letzibuzäli carnival guild (www.lebuz.ch) in Zug even crossed municipal boundaries in its search for a new head.

This was a process that was only known to a small circle until last Monday morning, and the surprise was a great success for the prince-makers. When Roland II was introduced, the ground floor of the Zug Powder Tower was as quiet as a church.

The new head of the Letzibuzäli is undoubtedly an interesting personality. This also has a lot to do with his carnival past. Roland Lacher was a member of the Steinhausen carnival society (Fasnachtsgesellschaft) for many years, and was also the president of this organisation for fifteen years.

Roland Lacher brought his wife Christina Lacher with him as his princes, and Alexandra Fischlin will also occupy this position at next year's carnival.
Christina Lacher held the position of ‘Steimutter’ in her home town of Steinhausen in 2013/14. This constellation means that carnival leaders from two Zug municipalities will be linked in the future. This is also a familiar occurrence at another level, as the crowned heads of European dynasties were once also linked.

‘One of the most difficult offices’
Roland Lacher, alias Roland II, has great respect for the office he has now officially taken up: ‘The bar is high.’ The new Letzibuzäli Prince said the following regarding his latest appointment: ‘It's one of the most difficult offices.’ He thereby benefits from the fact that he is also a team player in his professional life.

Roland Lacher is the new Letzibuzäli Prince, seen here with his wife Christina and Letzibuzäli Prince Peter-Paul Brenninkmeijer (from left to right).       Photo: Stefan Kaiser

Shortly after his introduction, the new prince could see that the carnival revellers of the Letzibuzäli community were well-disposed towards him. His people repeated the phrase ‘Lebuz’ three times in quick succession. For crowned heads, this obeisance has the meaning of ‘Live long’. With his new office, Roland Lacher has ‘achieved a lifelong goal’. He has also remained on good terms with the Steinhausen carnival revellers. His motto for carnival 2025: ‘Carnival in my heart and confetti in my blood.’

There’s another guarantee for the peaceful reign of Roland II: he received the Carnival Reveller of the Year award on the occasion of the 2023 carnival. But he is by no means a lone mask wearer, because, as team leader at PostBus Switzerland, he has to make sure that everything runs smoothly at work. A CV that can be found in the Letzibuzäli carnival guide lists Lacher's greatest weakness as being ‘ready to help’. But he knows no mercy for, or rather he can't stand ‘unpunctuality’.

So his entourage thereby knows what it has to do. A first test run for the Prince's delegation in public will be the ‘Chesslete’ (www.zugerchesslete.ch) on the 27th February 2025, which starts at 5 am in the morning. The parade will then take place in the afternoon. and this will be the first time this has taken place take place since 2020. The Covid pandemic was the spoilsport in 2021/22, and the carnival fell during the school holidays in 2023 and 2024.

For more information (in German): www.lebuz.ch