Gävle goat

The Gävle Goat of 2009

The Gävle Goat (Gävlebocken) is a traditional Christmas display erected annually at Slottstorget ("Castle Square") in central Gävle. It is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw, and is erected each year at the beginning of Advent over a period of two days^[1][2] by local community groups.

It is notable for being a recurring target for vandalism by arson, and has been destroyed several times since the first goat was erected in 1966.^[3]

History

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.^[4] The design of the first goat was assigned to the then chief of the Gävle fire department, Gavlén's brother Jörgen Gavlén. The construction of the goat was carried out by the fire department, and they erected the goat each year from 1966 to 1970 and from 1986 to 2002.

The first goat was financed by Harry Ström. On 1 December 1966, a 13-metre (43 ft) tall, 7-metre (23 ft) long, 3-tonne goat was erected in the square. On New Year's Eve, the goat was burnt down.^[5]

A group of businessmen known as the Southern Merchants (Söders Köpmän) financed the building of the goat in subsequent years, many of which were also subject to arson attacks. In 1971, the Southern Merchants stopped building the goats. The Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa began building the structure. Their goat was around 2 metres (6.6 ft). Due to the positive reaction their Yule Goat received that year, they built another one the following year and from then on.^[6] The Natural Science Club's Yule Goat were also burnt and vandalised; one year it was run over by a car.^[7]

The Gävle Goat is erected every year on the first day of Advent, which according to Western Christian tradition is in late November or early December, depending on the calendar year. Because the fire station is close to the location of the goat, most of the time the fire can be extinguished before the wooden skeleton is severely damaged. If the goat is burned down before Lucia (feast day of Saint Lucy, 13 December), the goat has been rebuilt. The skeleton is then treated and repaired, and the goat reconstructed over it, using straw which the Goat Committee has pre-ordered.^[8]

From 1988 onward, English bookmakers took bets on the goat's survival. In 1996 the Southern Merchants introduced camera surveillance to monitor the goat 24 hours a day. On 27 November 2004 the Gävle Goat's homepage was hacked into and one of the two official webcams changed to display Brinn Bockjävel (translation: "Burn, fucking goat") in the left corner of its live feed.^[9] One year, while security guards were posted around the goat in order to prevent further vandalism, the temperature dropped far below zero. As the guards ducked into a nearby restaurant to escape the cold, the vandals struck.^[10]

During the weekend of 3–4 December 2005 a series of attacks on public Yule Goats across Sweden were carried out; The Gävle Goat was burnt on 3 December. 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.^[11][12]

The cost for the 1966 goat was SEK 10,000.^[8] The price tag for constructing the goat in 2005 was around 100,000 Swedish kronor. The city pays one-third of the cost while the Southern Merchants pay the remaining sum. Since 2003 the construction of the goat has been undertaken by a group of unemployed people (known as ALU workers).

Four people have been caught or convicted for vandalizing the goat.^[13]

The burned NF Goat of 2006

The Christmas season of 2006 marked the 40th anniversary of the Gävle Goat, and, on Sunday 3 December, the city held a large celebration in honor of the goat. The Goat Committee fireproofed the goat with "Fiber ProTector Fireproof", a fireproofing substance that is used in airplanes. In earlier years when the goat had been fireproofed, the dew had made the liquid drip off the goat. To prevent this from happening in 2006, "Fireproof ProTechtor Solvent Base" was applied to the goat.^{[14][15][16][17]} Despite their efforts, the goat has been destroyed a total of 27 times up until the most recent incident on 21 December 2013 where the goat was torched by vandals once again.^[18]

Timeline

The partially destroyed goat in 1998. Also visible are large piles of snow from the blizzard that struck the night of the burning.

• 1966 Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of a giant goat made out of straw. But it turned out that Gavlén organisation did not have enough funding for the goat. Then Harry Ström, who at that time was the chairman of the Södra Kungsgatan Ideella Förening (a non-profit society), decided to pay the whole cost for the goat out of his own pocket. The goat stood until midnight of New Year's Eve, when it went up in flames. The perpetrator, who was from Hofors, Gästrikland, was found and convicted of vandalism. The first goat was insured and Ström got all his money back.^[7][14][19]
• 1967 Nothing happened.^[7]
• 1968 The goat survived. A fence was built around the goat. Previously it was popular for children to play hide-and-seek inside and around the goat. There was also a rumor that one night a couple had sex inside the goat. In subsequent years the inside of the goat was protected by a chicken-wire net.^[14]
• 1969 The goat was burnt down on New Year's Eve.^[7]
• 1970 The goat was burnt down only six hours after it was assembled. Two very drunk teenagers were connected with the crime. With help from several financial contributors the goat was reassembled out of lake reed.^[20]
• 1971 The Southern Merchants got tired of their goats being burned and stopped building the goat. The Natural Science Club (Naturvetenskapliga Föreningen:NF) from the School of Vasa (Vasaskolan) took over. ^[20]
• 1972 The goat collapsed because of sabotage.^[7]
• 1973 N/A
• 1974 Burnt.^[7]
• 1975 N/A
• 1976 Hit by a car.^[21][22]
• 1977 N/A
• 1978 Again, the goat was kicked to pieces.^[7]
• 1979 The goat was burnt even before it was erected. A new one was built and fireproofed. It was destroyed and broken into pieces.^[20]
• 1980 Burnt down on Christmas Eve.^[7]
• 1981 Nothing happened.^[7]
• 1982 Burnt down on Lucia (13 December).^[7]
• 1983 The legs were destroyed.^[7]
• 1984 Burnt down on 12 December, the night before Lucia.^[7]
• 1985 The 12.5 metre (41 ft) tall goat of the Natural Science Club was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for the first time. Even though the goat was enclosed by a 2 metres (6.6 ft) high metal fence, guarded by Securitas and even soldiers from the Gävle I 14 Infantry Regiment, it was burnt down in January.^[7][14]
• 1986 The merchants of Gävle decided they were willing to build the goat once again. From 1986 on two goats were built, the Southern Merchants' and the School of Vasa's. The big goat burnt down the night before Christmas Eve.^[7]
• 1987 A heavily fireproofed goat was built. It got burnt down a week before Christmas.^[23]
• 1988 Nothing happened to the goat, but gamblers were for the first time able to gamble on the fate of the goat with English bookmakers.^[20]
• 1989 Again, the goat burnt down before it was assembled. Financial contributions from the public were raised to rebuild a goat that was burnt down in January. In March 1990 another goat was built, this time for the shooting of a Swedish motion picture called Black Jack.^[7]
• 1990 Nothing happened. The goat was guarded by many volunteers.^[7]
• 1991 The goat was joined by an advertising sled, that turned out to be illegally built. On the morning of Christmas Eve the goat was burnt down. It was later rebuilt to be taken to Stockholm as a part of a protest campaign against the closing of the I 14 Infantry Regiment.^[7][14]
• 1992 The goat was burnt down eight days after it was built. The Natural Science Club's goat burnt down the same night. The Southern Merchants' goat was rebuilt, but burned down on 20 December. The perpetrator of the three attacks was caught and sent to jail. The Goat Committee was founded in 1992.^[7][14]
• 1993 Once more the goat was featured in the Guinness Book of Records, the School of Vasa's goat measured 14.9 metres (49 ft). The goat was guarded by taxis and the Swedish Home Guard. Nothing happened.^[7][14]
• 1994 Nothing happened. The goat followed the Swedish national hockey team to Italy for the World Championship in hockey.^[7][14]
• 1995 A Norwegian was arrested for attempting to burn down the goat. Burnt down on the morning of Christmas Day. Rebuilt to be standing before the 550th anniversary of Gävle county.^[7][14]
• 1996 The first time the goat was guarded by webcams, nothing happened.^[7]
• 1997 Damaged by fireworks. The Natural Science Club's goat was attacked too, but survived with minor damage.^[21]
• 1998 Burnt down on 11 December, even though there was a major blizzard. Was rebuilt.^[7]
• 1999 Burnt down only a couple of hours after it was erected. Rebuilt again before Lucia. The Natural Science Club's goat was burnt down as well.^[7]
• 2000 Burnt down a couple of days before New Year's Eve. The Natural Science Club's goat got tossed in the Gävle river.^[7]
• 2001 Goat set on fire on 23 December by Lawrence Jones, a 51-year-old visitor from Cleveland, Ohio in the United States, who spent 18 days in jail and was subsequently convicted and ordered to pay 100,000 Swedish kronor in damages. The court confiscated Jones's cigarette lighter with the argument that he clearly was not able to handle it. Jones stated in court that he was no "goat burner", and believed that he was taking part in a completely legal goat-burning tradition. After Jones was released from jail he went straight back to the US without paying his fine. As of 2006 it was still unpaid. The Natural Science Club's goat was also burnt down.^{[10][14][21][24][25]}
• 2002 A 22-year-old from Stockholm tried to set the Southern Merchants' goat on fire, but failed, the goat receiving only minor damage. On Lucia the goat was guarded by Swedish radio and TV personality Gert Fylking.^[26]
• 2003 Burnt down on 12 December.^[7]
• 2004 Burnt 21 December, only three days before Christmas Eve. The fire brigade quickly arrived on the scene, but the goat could not be saved. No new goat was built.^[7]
• 2005 Burnt by unknown vandals reportedly dressed as Santa and the gingerbread man, by shooting a flaming arrow at the goat at 21:00 on 3 December.^[21][27] Reconstructed on 5 December. 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 8 December.
• 2006 On the night of 15 December at 03:00, someone tried to set fire to the goat by dousing the right front leg in petrol (gasoline). The red ribbon on that leg was slightly burned and fell off. The lower part of the right leg was scorched, but the rest of the goat failed to light. The leg was repaired that morning.^[28][29] The Natural Science Club's goat was burned at about 00:40 on 20 December; the vandals were not seen and got away.^[30][31] On the night of 25 December, a drunken man managed to climb up on the goat. Before the police arrived on the scene the man climbed down and disappeared.^[32] He did not try to set fire to the goat. The Southern Merchants' goat survived New Year's Eve and was taken down on 2 January. It is now stored in a secret location.^[33]
• 2007 The Natural Science Club's goat was toppled on 13 December and was burned on the night of 24 December.^[34] The Southern Merchants' goat survived.
• 2008 10,000 people turned out for the inauguration of one of the goats. No back-up goat was built to replace the main goat should the worst happen, nor was the goat treated with flame repellent (Anna Östman, spokesperson of the Goat-committee said the repellent made it look ugly in the previous years, like a brown terrier).^[35] On 16 December the Natural Science Club's Goat was vandalised and later removed. On 26 December there was an attempt to burn down the Southern Merchants' Goat but patriotic passers-by managed to extinguish the fire. The following day the goat finally succumbed to the flames ignited by an unknown assailant at 03:50 CET.
• 2009 A person attempted to set the Southern Merchants' goat on fire the night of 7 December.^[36] An unsuccessful attempt was made to throw the Natural Science Club's goat into the river the weekend of 11 December. The culprit then tried, again without success, to set the goat on fire.^[37] Someone stole the Natural Science Club's goat using a truck on the night of 14 December.^[38] On the night of 23 December before 04:00 the South Merchant goat was set on fire and was burned to the frame, even though it had a thick layer of snow on its back.^[39] The goat had two online webcams which were put out of service by a DoS attack, instigated by computer hackers just before the burning.^[40]
• 2010 On the night of 2 December, arsonists made an unsuccessful attempt to burn the Natural Science Club's goat.^[41] On 17 December, a Swedish news site reported that one of the guards tasked with protecting the Southern Merchants' goat had been offered payment to leave his post so that the goat could be stolen via helicopter and transported to Stockholm.^[42] Both goats survived and were dismantled and returned to storage in early January 2011.^[43]
• 2011 The inauguration of the goat took place on 27 November. The fire-fighters of Gävle sprayed the goat with water to create a coating of ice in the hope of protecting it from arson.^[44] The goat was burnt down in the early morning of 2 December.^[45]
• 2012 The inauguration of the goat took place on 2 December. It was burnt just ten days later in the hours before midnight of 12 December, one day before Lucia.^[46][47]
• 2013 As in 2006 and 2007, the straw used to build the goat has been soaked in anti-flammable liquid to prevent it from burning in the event of an arson attack.^[48] The inauguration ceremony took place on 1 December. On 21 December the goat was burned down.^[18]
• 2014 At least three attempts of arson were made, but the goat survived, and was dismantled on 29 December. It is being sent to China, where it will feature in the Year of the Goat celebrations in February 2015.^[49][50]

Gävle Goat and Natural Science Club's Yule Goat

Since 1986 there have been two Yule Goats built in Gävle: the Gävle Goat by the Southern Merchants and the Yule Goat built by the Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa.

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 made it into the Guinness Book of Records with an official height of 12.5 metres (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 excessively long. The next year there was a Goat war: the Southern Merchants understood the publicity value, 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 seven years there were no further attempts on the world record, but there was some bad feeling between the Natural Science Club and the Southern Merchants, evidenced by the fact that the Natural Science Club put up a sign near their goat wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone, except the Southern Merchants.^[6]

In 1993 the Southern Merchants again announced that they were going to attempt the world record. The goat stood 10.5 metres (34 ft) when completed. The Natural Science Club's Yule Goat that year measured 14.9 metres (49 ft), which earned them another place in the Guinness Book of Records.^[6]

References

Footnotes

• ^1 Black Jack at the Internet Movie Database

See also

• Baby Jesus theft

External links

• Gävle goat webcam for 2014