Costumes, Dances, the preservation of Customs, and improved relationships among different Cultures
The Beekscheepers have declared this as their motto for many decades. We strive to preserve our traditional peasant forms of dress, and the dances and music of our old church district of Scheessel.
Through many presentations in almost all of the countries of Europe as well as Israel, Egypt, the USA, Canada and New Zealand, we were able to charm our hosts with our program and the authenticity of our presentation.
The name of our dance and folk costume group goes back to the old indigo-dyer Heinrich Müller who lived alongside the river “Beeke”.In Plattdeutsch, the common language of the Scheessel area, he was known as “Beekscheepers Heini”.
Presently, the organization has about 600 members who are divided among seven groups:
The Little Ones and the Big Ones (children’s groups), the Young People’s group and the Adult group, the Tuesday group (for seniors), the Heidjer Dörpsmuskanten (the musicians’ group) and the Beek-Uln (the singers’ group).
The “First Niedersachsen Folk and Costume Festival” occurred in 1904.
Now our group, in conjunction with the Heimatverein Scheeßel (Homeland Society of Scheessel), presents the International Beeke-Festival every 2 years.
In addition to presentations by native and foreign costume and dance groups, it is the interaction of young and old through dance, music and song which is our focus. The Beekscheepers were awarded the European Prize for Folk Art from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation FVS in 1977.
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The variety of the Scheessel CostumeIn the festival or holiday costume, the dominant colors of our landscape are reflected:Black represents the moorsGreen represents the woodlands and the pastures Violet represents the heather The variations in the costume are determined primarily by special occasions or situations experienced by the wearer. |
