Groningen

Groningen is a city in the northern Netherlands.

According to historical tradition, in the old days, Groningen schools had the following rite: When there was a holiday, on leaving the school the children were made to jump through a hoop. When doing so, they each got a spank on their posterior from the schoolmaster on the way out.

Alternatively, instead of using a hoop, the schoolmaster would stand in the doorway and the students had to crawl out between his legs, each getting their farewell spank. This was called uitslag (smack out). There seems to have been a custom of doing the same on the way in too, called inslag (smack in). There was a children's rhyme in those days that went:

Uitslag, inslag,

Heele wake speuldag!

Translation: "Smack us out, smack us in, weeks of holidays begin!"

This rite may also have been known in other cities in Holland, and a similar tradition is known from the historic Ruethenfest in Landsberg, Germany.

See also

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