Important Customs, Holidays or Festival

Germany has a deep history and has been a major player in Europe’s past.  From
this stems a culture that is filled with meaningful customs and traditions,
celebrated holidays and events, and myths and folktales.  Germans take pride in
their traditional celebrations whether they are patriotic such as Tag der deutschen
Einheit (Day of German Unity), religiously based such as Allerheiligen (All
Saints) and Allerseelen (All Souls), well known holidays such as Weihnachten
(Christmas) and Ostern (Easter), more personal events such as weddings,
birthdays, and funerals, or large public events like the well known Oktoberfest.
 Wedding

• One rule about German weddings is that a “Special “place

is to be chosen for the wedding rather than following the
general rule of having the wedding at the bride’s bread
family church as done in some cultures The bride should
carry salt and bread as an omen for good harvest, and the
groom should carry grain for good luck an wealth.
Birthdays
The parents of the child usually prepare his or her birthday parties.  Invitations are generally sent
to other children.  At the party, drinks are served while the cake is being cut and then eaten.  Before
being eaten however, the candles are lit and the visitors sing “Happy Birthday to You” or "Zum
Geburtstag viel Glümlck” or others.  The cake usually has one candle per year of the child’s life. 
The “birthday child” makes a wish and then blows the candles out.  If all the candles are blown out
in one try, then his or her wish will come true.

Funerals
According to the German custom, the funeral takes place 3 to 4 days after the person passes.  For
the funeral service, relatives, friends and acquaintances assemble in front of the mortuary and then
accompany the deceased together with a priest and ministrants, in black and violet robes
respectively.  The coffin is placed in the church in front of the high altar.  The priest says the
requiem at the coffin, sprinkles it with Holy water and uses incense.  While the bells are tolling, the
coffin, accompanied by the mourners is taken to the open grave and four pall-bearers lower the
coffin into the grave.  The priest then gives a short speech.  Next the priest says some prayers and
begins the prescribed ceremonies. 
Story of Cinderella is just one of the many Grimm Brother’s fairytales that teach German’s
lessons in life. Cinderella’s mother passed away and left her with her wicked stepsisters who
force her to be their slave. When it came time for the prince's dance, Cinderella was not allowed
to go. A little bird threw a beautiful dress down to her, so Cinderella went to the dance. At the
dance, the prince took her and did not leave her side the entire night. As Cinderella left the
dance, she lost one of her slippers. The prince went on a mission to find Cinderella to make her
his bride. Finally, he found Cinderella. He forced her stepmother to allow her to try on the shoe,
the prince found his bride. The evil stepsisters and stepmother were punished by birds for their
horrible deeds. This story continues to teach the lesson that for wickedness and falsehood, a
person will be greatly and forever punished.
Hansel and Gretel

The Grimm Brother’s teach another life lesson through the folktale of Hansel and
Gretel.  The father of the two and his wife could not feed the children, so they sent
Hansel and Gretel into the deepest part of the forest to fetch wood.  All the children
had to eat was a tiny piece of bread.  They had been in the forest for quite sometime
before they found their way home, which pleased their father.  Later, they were sent
even further into the woods again, but with less to eat.  The children were out until
the next morning when they found a house made of sweets and began to eat it.  The
woman of the house invited the children in and turned them into her slaves.  The
children finally got away with pearls and precious stones.  They ran back to their
father and his wife had passed away.  The lesson taught is that everyone can make it
through the tough times and will succeed in the end.
Sankt Nikolaus

The day of St. Nikolaus does not come on December 25, but it comes on December 6.
When evening comes, the gray bearded man along with St. Peter the angel will come to
each house’s door to ask about the behavior of the children. In order to show their
behavior, the children sing, deliver a verse, or show their skills in some other way. The
naughty children deal with the sinister companion, Ruprecht. St. Peter, the Christchild,
allowed the candle-lit Christmas tree and the placement of the emphasis on the birth of Christ
shifted the role of St. Nikolaus to a gift-giver. Knecht Ruprecht became the patron saint of
Christmas and was called Weihnachtsmannor Santa Claus.
 
The Pied Piper
In 1284, the town of Hamelin was infested with rats.  Nothing the town tried would get rid of the rats.  A strange man came
into town and said that he could get rid of the rats on his own.  At night, he started playing a song on his flute to entice all of
the rats out of homes to where they would drown.  The mayor refused to pay the man, so the next day he came back.  While
everyone was at church, the man attracted the children towards him and into a cave and were never seen again.  The legend
of the Pied Piper is one based off of an event that really occurred in Hamelin. 

German Holidays & Celebrations

German Holidays
Jan 01 New Year’s Day
Jan 06 Epiphany Jun 19 Corpus Christi Day
Apr 18 Good Friday Aug 15 Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Apr 20 Easter Sunday Oct 03 Day of German Unity
Apr 21 Easter Monday Oct 31 Reformation Day
May 01 Labor Day Nov 01 All Saints Day
May 29 Ascensions Day Nov 19 Day of Prayer and Repentance
Jun 08 Whit Sunday Dec 25 Christmas
Jun 09 Whit Monday Dec 26 Whit Sunday
Easter
The characteristic animals for the German Easter celebration are the “Easter Rabbit” and the “Easter
Lamb.” Children believe that the Easter Rabbit comes on Easter Sunday and jumps around hiding Easter
eggs. It is a family tradition to have a breakfast with hard boiled eggs, and then attempt to find the hidden
eggs. They have a traditional joint of lamb, beef or pork. People also make big Easter Fires to celebrate
this holiday. These fires are a sign of victory of light and warmth over the hardness, darkness, and
coldness of the winter.
Day of German Unity

This is a national holiday in Germany commemorating

reunification of the two Germanys after 40 years of separation. 
Germany was unified on October 3, 1990. People come together
in Berlin to celebrate the reunification.

All Saints Day

Halloween does not exist in Germany, but instead they celebrate

All Saints Day on November 1.  On this day, families visit their
relatives’ graves.  Afterward godparents come with gifts of
braided sweet bread called “Strietzel” to their godchildren's
homes.   "Strietzel" is a long bread, and it can be more than three
feet long.  Germans can buy Strietzel from the neighborhood
baker, but it is traditionally made at home.
Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a traditional festival that last two weeks. In October 1810.

Prince Ludwig and princess Therese married, and invited the whole town
of Munich to the reception. The importance of the origin of the
celebration allowed it to become a part of German tradition. People dress
in traditional clothing, and enjoy music, dancing and drinking. Now it has
become a celebration of beer that draws people from all over the world.
Christmas

For German people, Christmas is the most important holiday.  The festivities begin on Advent
Sunday, four weeks before December 25.  St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, comes on
December 5th to mark the beginning of the holiday.  Children place shoes or boots by the fireplace
to be stuffed with nuts, fruits and chocolate.  Various decorations such as advent wreaths,
candles, and calendars set the holiday mood.  The Christmas tree tradition is believed to have its
origin in Germany in the 17th century.  People celebrate St. Thomas day on December 21 st, the
shortest day and longest night of the year.  December 24 th is the big celebration of gift giving.  The
following two days are holidays spent visiting friends and families. 
DANKE FURS
ZUHOREN
Thank you for listening