I've been coming here to you for 24 years
-
that's how long I've been a guest at your festival myself, dear guests,
!
But this year there will be a finale!
I greet you for the last time
as patron here at the Schäferlauf,
because I will soon be stepping down as district administrator.
I still remember the first time I came to you by train
with a cut, top hat and a poem -
it wasn't easy.
But that was the only way, I was told,
I could get through the gate as your reeve.
The tide quickly turned,
you always treated me well.
I was always on time,
to present you with my text from my own creative source
;
it's hard never to lose the rhyme.
Later we went out with carriage and horses
to the shepherds' flocks,
then finally to the stubble
for the climax, the shepherd's chase.
The sheep and the shepherd's dance
give the festival the right sparkle,
not forgetting the faithful Barthel,
who we are all obsessed with.
But it will be exciting next year,
because nobody knows yet - truly! -,
whether there will be a Vogt representative in front of you at the right time
.
But friends, I am an optimist,
so that you don't forget to
continue to cherish what has been
and maintain the tradition.
Today I would like to thank all my helpers freely and frankly
,
who - as I have experienced - have supported me
over the years.
Many good spirits have helped me -
first and foremost the mayor,
who picked me up in the morning
in his carriage.
So, Mr. Kürner, be so good,
please take the top hat,
which has given me pleasure for so long
and has accompanied me all these years.
Wear it from today on at the shepherd's festival
in the midst of your guests
with dignity and grandeur
as long as you are mayor!
But I also want to praise the councillors,
who, when a lot of rain came from above,
nevertheless marched highly concentrated
behind the carriage.
I am extremely grateful to Mrs. Wölfel,
because my well-being was always important to her -
she always mixed a little water into the wine,
too.
Finally, I will raise the jug -
Long live all shepherds!
I drink to the fact that reason
gives the shepherd's guild a future!
