Just like the carnival common in the Rhineland, the Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht takes its origins from festivities, which were celebrated to consume perishable food before the beginning of lent. This kind of events are recorded in central Europe at least since the 13th century. However, one should not compare those festivities, which were different from region to region, to the Fastnacht as we know it today. In addition to the excessive food consumption, customs like dances, parades or Fastnacht games became popular since the 14th century. Food played a central role here as well, as for example in the parades of the Nuremberg guilds, the so-called “Schembartläufe”, which were popular around 1500 AD. Butcher's dances, which featured the dancing butchers holding sausage rings, are also known from other cities.