Brilon - Michaelis Kirmes

The beginnings of the fair up to the present day

The beginnings of the St Michael's Fair date back to the Middle Ages. In 1428, the market day was first explicitly mentioned by name as "frigge Kermesse to sente Michels misse". This name was mentioned in a statute granted by the city magistrate to the shoemakers' and tanners' guild on 29 June 1428. A document dated 17 July 1605 shows that this fair can be traced back to the time of Archbishop Walram von Jülich of Cologne, who presided over the electorate from 1332 to 1349. In this charter, Elector Ernst of , who was reigning at the time, granted the city two more fairs to increase its prosperity, including the trading day on 29 September, St Michael's Day. However, it is not clear from the document when this market was established. However, a comparison with the markets mentioned in the statutes for shoemakers from 1428 indicates that it must have been St Michael's Market, which was introduced during the reign of Archbishop Walram, although no exact year can be determined. This St Michael's market, which is regarded as the forerunner of today's town fair, was not held without interruption. It was cancelled shortly before 1850 and merged with another municipal fair.

Before 1955, the St Martin's Fair was celebrated. This took place around the name day of St Martin of Tours at the beginning of November. As the weather around St Martin's Day on 11 November - the saint's day of remembrance - did not attract as many visitors, the Michaeliskirmes was celebrated from 1955. 29 September is the consecration day of St Michael's Church on the Via Salaria in Rome and the feast of St Michael the Archangel was held on this day. The tradition of the fair was retained, only the name and date were changed. August Isken, Josef Thiele and Wolfgang Nickolay (then chairman of the local history and transport association) laid the foundations for today's major event.

(Source: City of Brilon)

Travel information:

By public transport:

- by train - Brilon railway station (650m walk)

- by bus - special bus service, see organiser's website (linked below)

By car:

- Venue: City centre

Parking facilities:

- Marktstraße car park

- Scharfenberger Hof car park

- Kreuziger Mauer car park

- Kapellenstraße 5 car park

- Car park at the railway station (Freiladestraße 17A)

- Königstraße car park