An Austrian court has recently fined a citizen for yodelling while mowing his lawn according to a report in The Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
The citizen, 63 year old Helmut Krabbes was told by the court that his yodelling offended his next-door Muslim neighbours, who accused him of trying to mock and imitate the call of the Muezzin
In Muslim tradition, the Muezzin is the chosen person at a Mosque who leads the call to prayer at Friday services and the five daily times for prayer from one of the Mosques minarets
The yodel is a song which is a song which is sung with an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch and makes a high-low high-low sound. Developed in the Central Alps as a method of communication between alpine mountaineers or between alpine villages, the yodel latter became part of the regions lore and musical expression. The technique is used in many cultures throughout the world and Austria is one of the countries where it is most popular
Unfortunately for Herr Krabbes his neighbors were in the middle of a prayer when he started to yodel. The Kronen Zeitung reported that he was fined 800 Euro's after the judges ruled that he could have tried to offend his neighbours and ridicule their belief
Herr Krabbes clarified tat "It was not my intention to imitate or insult them. I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood"
