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Gävle goat

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The Gävle Goat from 2004

The Gävle Goat (known in Swedish as the Julbocken i Gävle or Gävlebocken) is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw that stands in (Slottstorget) Castle Square in central Gävle. It is erected each year by a local association called the Southern Merchants, and another version is erected by a group of students from Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa. The Natural Science Club's goat holds the world record for the largest Yule Goat, but since 1994 the Southern Merchants' goats have been larger and had more publicity afforded them. Both goats have famously been the targets of frequent arson attacks and vandalism, so much so that over the years they have been guarded by the police, webcams, volunteers and dogs, and whilst the city officially discourages the attacks on the goats they have brought it recognition and tourism from around the world.

History

The history of the Gävle Goat began in 1966. An advertising consultant, Stig Gavlén, came up with the idea of making a giant version of the traditional Swedish Yule Goat and placing it in the square. Ironically, considering its later history, the design of the first goat was assigned to the firemaster of the Gävle fire department and his brother. The construction of the goat was carried out by the Gävle fire department, and they physically erected the goat from 1966–1970 and 1986–2002. On 1966-12-01 a 13 metre (42½ foot) tall, 7 metre (23 foot) long, 3 tonne goat was erected in the square. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, the goat went up in flames.

The Gävle Goat from 2003

The goat has since had a history of being burnt down almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time. The financing for the initial goats came from a group of businessmen known as the Southern Merchants (Söders Köpmän), so named because all their members were located on the southern side of the "Gavle river"(Gavleån), a river that runs through central Gävle dividing the town into north and south. In 1971, the Southern Merchants became so fed up with the continual burning of their goats, that for 15 years they stopped building them and the task was taken up by the Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa. The Natural Science Club's Yule Goat fared no better, and, as well as being burnt and vandalised, one year it was even run over by a car.[1] English bookmakers made it possible to bet on the goat's destiny from 1988. In 1996 the Southern Merchants introduced webcams to monitor the goat 24 hours a day, with little or no success. On 2004-11-27 the Gävle Goat's homepage was hacked into and one of the two official webcams changed to display "Burn Bockjaevel" (translation: Fucking Goat Burn) in the left corner of its live feed.[2] One year when they had guards posted around the goat the temperature dropped way below zero. The guards thought they ought to go inside to get something to warm them up. They went into a nearby restaurant, but before they even had a chance to raise their glasses they saw flames shooting from the goat outside the window. [3] The 3rd and 4th of December, 2005 was, thus far, the most violent weekend for public Yule Goats around Sweden. The Gävle Goat was burnt on the 3rd and the weekend escalated into a frenzy of copycat goat-burning. The Visby goat on Gotland burned down, the Yule Goat in Söderköping, Östergötland was torched, and there was an attack on a goat located in Lycksele, Västerbotten. That goat escaped with only minor burn marks on the legs.[4][5]

The price tag for constructing the goat is around SEK 100,000 (as of 2005).[6] The city pay 1/3 of the cost, the Southern Merchants pay the remaining sum. Since 2003 construction of the goat has been undertaken by a group of unemployed people (called ALU arbetare). Nowadays, if the goat is burned down before Lucia (feast day of Saint Lucy, the 13th of December) it will be rebuilt. The Gävle Goat is erected every year on the first day of Advent, which according to Swedish tradition is in late November or early December, depending on the calendar year. Recently the so-called "Goat Committee" have had a plan for a backup goat. Because the fire station is close to the location of the goat, most of the time the fire can be extinguished before the robust wooden skeleton is severely damaged. The skeleton is then treated and repaired, and the goat reconstructed over it, using straw which the Goat Committee has pre-ordered.[6]

Burning the goat is an illegal act and can result in severe fines or even prison time for arson. It should be mentioned though, that during the 39 years of the Gävle Goat's history up to 2005, only 4 people were caught or convicted. The burning of the Gävle Goat is not officially welcomed by the citizens of Gävle,[7] but undoubtedly this is what has made the goat world famous and led to increased tourism for the city. The Christmas season of 2006 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Gävle Goat and the city will hold a large celebration in honor of the goat.

The Gävle Goat and the Natural Science Club's Yule Goat

Since 1986 there have always been two Yule Goats built in Gävle: the Gävle Goat (that of the Southern Merchants) and the initially smaller Yule Goat built by the Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa. The history of the second goat began in 1971 when the Southern Merchants got tired of having their expensive goat vandalised and decided not to build one again. A student organisation, the Natural Science Club (Naturventeskapliga Föreningen:NF) of the School of Vasa then decided to build their own goat. Their goat was much smaller and not as expensive as the goat normally built by the Southern Merchants, but it was appreciated by the citizens of Gävle, which was the intention of the students from the begining. Due to the positive reaction their Yule Goat received that year, they built another one the following year and from then on.[8]

Until 1985 the Southern Merchants held the world record for the largest Yule Goat, but over the years the Natural Science Club's goat increased in size, and in 1985 their Yule Goat finally made it into the Guinness Book of Records with an official height of 12.5 m (41 ft). The creator of the original 1966 goat, Stig Gavlén, thought that the Natural Science Club's goat had unfairly won the title of the largest Yule Goat because the goat was not as attractive as the Southern Merchants' goat and the neck was overly long. The next year there was something of a "War of the Yule Goats": the Southern Merchants understood the publicity value of having a Yule Goat and erected a huge goat, the Natural Science Club erected a smaller one in protest. The Southern Merchants had intended that their huge goat would reclaim the world record, but the measurement of the goat showed it fell short. Over the following 7 years there were no further attempts on the world record, but the was some bad feeling between the Natural Science Club and the Southern Merchants, evidenced by the fact that they put up a sign near their goat wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone, except the Southern Merchants.[8]

In 1993 the Southern Merchants once again announced that they were going to attempt the world record. To everybody's surprise their goat only measured 10.5 m (34½ ft) when completed. The Natural Science Club's Yule Goat that year measured 14.9 m (49 ft), which earned them another place in the Guinness Book of World Records. As of 2005 that goat still holds the world record since there have been no further attempts to beat it. The Natural Science Club say that they will not attempt a new world record as long as the Southern Merchants do not either.[8]

Nowadays the Natural Science Club's goat is smaller than the record holding goat, and it is also smaller than the Southern Merchants' Gävle Goat.

Timeline

  • 1966 Stig Gavlén comes up with the idea of a giant goat made out of straw. The goat stood until 12.00 PM that New Year's Eve, when it went up in flames. The perpetrator was found and convicted of vandalism.[1]
  • 1967 Nothing happened.[1]
  • 1968 Nothing happened.[1]
  • 1969 The goat was burned down on New Year's Eve.[1]
  • 1970 The goat got burned down only six hours after it was assembled. Two very drunk teenage children were connected with the crime. With help from several financial contributors the goat was reassembled, this time out of lake reed.[9]
  • 1971 The Southern Merchants got tired of the continual burning of their goats and stopped building them. The Natural Science Club (Naturvetenskapliga Föreningen:NF) from the School of Vasa (Vasaskolan) took over. Their little goat got kicked to pieces.[9]
  • 1972 This year the goat collapsed because of sabotage.[1]
  • 1973 N/A[1]
  • 1974 Burned.[1]
  • 1975 N/A[1]
  • 1976 Local hillbillies ran the goat over with a car.[10]
  • 1977 N/A[1]
  • 1978 Again, the goat got kicked to pieces.[1]
  • 1979 The goat got burned even before it was erected. A new one was built and fireproofed. It was destroyed and broken into pieces.[9]
  • 1980 Burned down on Christmas Eve (Swedish Christmas Eve is on the 24th of December).[1]
  • 1981 Nothing happened.[1]
  • 1982 Burned down on Lucia.[1]
  • 1983 The legs were destroyed.[1]
  • 1984 Burned down the night before Lucia.[1]
  • 1985 The 12.5 m (41 ft) tall goat of the Natural Science Club was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for the first time. Burned down in January.[1]
  • 1986 The merchants of Gävle decided they were willing to build the goat once again. From this point on there were two goats built, the Southern Merchants' and the School of Vasa's. The big goat got burned down the night before Christmas Eve.[1]
  • 1987 A heavily fireproofed goat was built. It got burned down a week before Christmas.[11]
  • 1988 Nothing happend to the goat this year. But gamblers were for the first time able to gamble on the fate of the goat with English bookmakers.[9]
  • 1989 Again, the goat got burned down before it was assembled. Financial contributions from the public were raised to rebuild a goat that got burned down in January. In March 1990 another goat was built, this time for the shooting of a Swedish motion picture called Black Jack.[1]
  • 1990 Nothing happened. This year the goat was guarded by many volunteers.[1]
  • 1991 This year the goat was joined by a advertising sled, that turned out to be illegally built. On the morning of Christmas Eve the goat was burned down. It was later rebuilt to be taken to Stockholm because of the closing of a military facility.[1]
  • 1992 The goat was burned down eight days after it was built. The Natural Science Club's goat burned down the same night. The Southern Merchants' goat was rebuilt, but burned down on December 20th. The perpetrator of the three attacks was caught.[1]
  • 1993 Once more the goat was featured in the Guinness Book of Records. This time the School of Vasa's goat measured 14.9 m (49 ft). Nothing happened.[1]
  • 1994 Nothing happened.[1]
  • 1995 Burned down on the morning of Christmas Day (December 25th). Rebuilt to be standing before the 550th anniversary of Gävle county.[1]
  • 1996 Nothing happened. This was the first time that it was guarded by webcams.[1]
  • 1997 Damaged by fireworks. The Natural Science Club's goat was attacked too, but survived with minor damages. [10]
  • 1998 Burned down on December 11th, even though there was a blizzard. Was rebuilt.[1]
  • 1999 Burned down only a couple of hours after it was erected. Rebuilt again before Lucia. The Natural Science Club's goat was burned down as well.[1]
  • 2000 Burned down a couple of days before New Year's Eve. The Natural Science Club's goat got tossed in the Gävle river.[1]
  • 2001 Goat set on fire on December 23 by Lawrence Jones, a 51-year-old visitor from Cleveland, Ohio, who was subsequently convicted, spent 18 days in jail and was fined SEK 100,000. The court also confiscated Jones's cigarette lighter with the argument that he clearly was not able to handle it. Jones stated in court that he is no "goat burner", and believed that he was taking part in a completely legal goat-burning tradition. The Natural Science Club's goat was also burned down this year.[10][12] [3] [13]
  • 2002 A 22 year old from Stockholm tried to set the Southern Merchants' goat on fire, but failed. The goat received only minor injuries.[14]
  • 2003 Burned down on December 12th.[1]
  • 2004 Burned December 21st, only three days before Christmas Eve. The fire brigade quickly arrived on scene, but the goat could not be saved. No new goat was built.[1]
  • 2005 Burned by unknown vandals reportedly dressed as Santa and a gingerbread man at 21:00 on December 3.[10] Reconstructed on December 5.

Statistics

Jule Goat survival in Gävle
Number of goats built Number of goats burned Number of goats vandalised Number of goats run over Total destroyed goats Survival rate
Southern Merchants 31 18 0 0 18 42%
Natural Science Club 35 9 6 1 16 54%
TOTAL 66 27 6 1 34 48%
Number of goats built includes goats rebuilt after an initial burning.
Number of goats burned includes goats burnt down more than once and goats only partially burnt.
Number of goats vandalised includes goats thrown in the river.
  • A week before the burning of the Gävle Goat 2005 a copule pictures started to circulate on the internet community Lunarstorm. The pictures shows a group of people holding burning torches infront of the goat. The police suspected that they could be involved in the burning a week later, so they went out in media asking for tips. It turned out, after that the pressumed goat-burners voulanteerly called the police, that they were from Stockholm and they were fans of the famous Gävle ice-hockey team Brynäs, and they just wanted a picture taken for their internet site. They diden't remeber that the webcameras also took pictures.
  • The Gävle Goat had a significant part in the Swedish motion picture BlackJack Template:Fn, directed by Colin Nutley. In a memorable scene the Swedish actor Reine Brynolfsson climbs up on the goat (he is very drunk) and stands on top of it screaming that he is going to torch it, which he then does. This can also be seen in the videography Burning Bock, and the redux version Firebranding Gävle by Sven Bergvall and Jacob Östberg.
  • In the United States there is a organization called Goat Watchers that has a couple of hundred members. [7]
  • The Department of Tourism in Gävle gets bombarded with e-mails from all over the world questioning whether the city supports the burning of the Gävle Goat. Officially the city says that it does not support the burnings. [7]
  • When USA Today reported the burning of the Gävle goat on 2005-12-04, it was side by side with the trial of Sadam Hussein and other top headlines. [7]
  • There is a restaurant in Gävle named "The Burned Goat" (Brända Bocken), which features the timeline for the Gävle Goat on their web site.
  • The hunt for the arsonist responsible for the goat-burning in 2005 was featured on the weekly Swedish live broadcast TV3's "Most Wanted" ("Efterlyst") on 2005-12-08. "Most Wanted", which has been running since 1990, shows reconstructions of serious crimes committed in Sweden and requests assistance from the public in solving them. In one of their most bizarre segments they asked the public to help track down two suspected arsonists, a man in a Santa mask and a man dressed as a gingerbread man, wanted for burning down the Gävle Goat.[7] [6]
  • Sven Bergvall and Jacob Östberg's videography Burning Bock (2005) won the "peoples choice" award at the 2005 ACF(American Culinary Federation) conference and film festival in San Antonio, Texas, USA. [15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae "Gävlebocken". Gävle City Guide (in Swedish). CityGuide. 2003.
  2. ^ "Gävle Goat gets hacked" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2004-11-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "The goat is burning!" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 2003-12-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "The night of the goat-burners" (in Swedish). Göteborgs-Posten. 2005-12-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Police receives tips about the goat-burnings". Göteborgs-Posten. 2005-12-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |languge= ignored (help)
  6. ^ a b c "New goat is already on the way" (in Swedish). Arbetarbladet. 2005-12-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c d e "TV 3's Most Wanted is now eager to solve the goat mystery" (in Swedish). Arbetarbladet. 2005-12-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b c "Julbocken" (in Swedish). Naturventeskapliga Föreningen. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
  9. ^ a b c d "Santa torched the giant goat!". Sploid. 2005-12-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d The Associated Press (2005-12-04). "Vandals Burn Swedish Christmas Goat, Again". Stockholm: The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Weird ritual of the burning goat". BBC News. 2005-12-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Santa and gingerbread man get Gävle's goat". The Local. 2005-12-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "That's why I burned the goat in Gävle" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2003-12-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "The goat is burning-year after year" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2003-12-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "The Mystery of the Bock". Sven Bergvall and Jacob Östberg.

Footnotes

Further reading

See also

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