Spritzer

Spritzer are essential among the Ordnungsmasken. They are not a homogenous group, but three very different types of figures. What they have in common are their one meter water filled spray guns (Spritzen). It’s their task to drive back the spectators from the streets onto the pavements with jets of water. Attached to their spray guns are pretzels which they hand out to children, acquaintances and their “victims.” Charming scenes can be observed when groups of Spritzer recharge their spray guns at one of the town’s numerous fountains. There are three types of Spritzer:

The Altfrankspritzer

The Altfrank is one of the most popular figures. He wears a tailcoat of a wealthy townsman of the Baroque era, a trident with ostrich feathers, a wig with a pigtail, a lace jabot or a silk scarf – all in all he’s a very dignified appearance.

The Mohrenspritzer

He could be an African prince or a figure out of a nativity play (Mohr = moor). He wears a deep black mask with strikingly red lips, a silken cloak which is embellished with a fur hem, a long, black, curly horsehair wig, lots of ornaments like bracelets and a crown with ostrich feathers. The exotic looks of Africans seemed to not only have appealed to the courts of Absolutism with their court moors, but obviously also to the townspeople of Imst, who adapted them for their Fasnacht.

The Engelspritzer

The angel sprayer or Engelspritzer is the counterpart of the Mohrenspritzer, he could also have originated from nativity plays. Everything that’s dark about the Mohrenspritzer is radiating in the brightest colors here - yellow, light blue or pink. The number of Mohrenspritzer (five) and Engelspritzer (three) is strictly regulated.