Germany for Kids

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We have many religious and traditional holidays in Germany. Since my country is a federation, the exact number of holidays varies from state to state. Also, some of the holidays people celebrate in the southern part of Germany, which is mainly Catholic, do not exist in the mainly protestant northern states.
To find out more about German traditions, click on a season.

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Easter is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar, and Germans celebrate it over three days: Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. In fact, the Easter bunny was “born” in Germany; German emigrants brought the custom to America. People still practice many traditions during the days that lead up to Easter Sunday.

In many German churches, beech, juniper, or pussy willow branches are consecrated on Palm Sunday, a week before Easter Sunday. The branches recall the palm fronds that Christ's followers are said to have carried the day he entered Jerusalem. After church, the branches are carried home as a symbol of protection.

Gründonnerstag (Maundy Thursday) commemorates the Last Supper, the meal Jesus shared with his disciples the day before he died. Gründonnerstag literally means "green Thursday." Although the name probably comes from an ancient word, grein, which means "cry" or "weep," the color green is used on that day as a symbol of renewal. Gründonnerstag meals traditionally include green foods, like spinach, leeks and chives.

Karfreitag (Good Friday) is the day Christians remember Christ's death on the cross. Church bells are silent on that day. In some parts of Germany, "Good Friday rattles" — wooden noisemakers — are used to announce church services instead.

Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate Christ's triumph over death, with candles, flowers, and the ringing of church bells. Kids hunt for colored eggs and feast on Easter bunnies made of chocolate, and marzipan, a sweet made of almond paste. Some places in Germany have their own Easter Sunday traditions. For example, on the eve of Easter Sunday, bonfires are lit in many towns to chase away the evil spirits of winter. In the village of Luegde in Lower Saxony, huge wooden wheels are festooned with straw, set ablaze and sent careening down the hillside like balls of fire.

Easter Monday is another popular day for Easter egg hunts. Some families may spend the day shopping at an Easter market, where they can buy beautifully decorated eggs, flowers and candy.

In Germany, the beginning of May traditionally marks the final victory of spring over winter. But before retreating from the coming warmth and light, the witches and demons of the cold have one last fling — on the night of April 30. Legend has it that witches would gather on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains in central Germany. The witches' fires burn and, as at Halloween, children dress up as evil spirits and play pranks. Under Christian influence, Walpurgisnacht has become a feast to drive out the demons; in some areas church bells may toll and blessings are said. The more widespread remedy against all evil is noise, so at sunset, boys of all ages run along the streets and use everything from boards to gun shots to make a big racket.

The festival became widely known even beyond Germany because of a scene in one of Germany's most famous plays, Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In this scene, the devil, Mephistopheles, takes Faust, the protagonist, to the Brocken and has him revel with the witches on Walpurgisnacht.

Many towns and villages in Germany celebrate the first of May by putting up a maypole. A maypole is a tall tree, often a spruce pine, which has had its lower branches cut off and the bark removed. The stripped tree is carried to the town center, decorated with figurines, ribbons and garlands, and set up for everyone to see. There is an age-old tradition for young men from neighboring villages to sneak over at night to try to steal the maypole from the other town. So the pole must be guarded; often a group of boys will camp out next to the maypole and keep watch in shifts to make sure it is not stolen.

The first of May is also Germany's labor day, a public holiday on which political parties and labor unions organize rallies and marches to show support for the country's workers.

Pentecost is celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter. The religious background for this holiday is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles after Jesus Christ had risen to Heaven. Because of the mild weather at this time of the year, Pentecost is generally regarded as an occasion for family excursions and picnics. Also, in more traditional areas of Germany, people still decorate their house doors or cars with fresh green twigs, called "Maien," a custom that has been observed since the Middle Ages.

For the Catholic part of the German population, Fronleichnam is a very sacred day. It commemorates the Holy Eucharist, that is, the ritual consumption of bread at Catholic mass. On Fronleichnam, the bread (or wafer) is put in an elaborately decorated container called a monstrance, and carried through the streets in a solemn procession. The procession stops at four places in the town in front of large altars that have been prepared on the streets. A priest blesses each of the four sites. On this occasion, people may wear their traditional folk costumes, called Trachten.

Since 1990, Germans have celebrated their national holiday on October 3, the day of the official unification of West and East Germany. Mass demonstrations in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 and finally led to the unification of the formerly divided states. The first national day was celebrated with a huge ceremony in Berlin and, since then, each year a different German city has hosted the commemorative festivities.
Prior to 1990, Germany did not have a national day. Instead, May 23, the day that marked the introduction of Germany’s constitution (Grundgesetz) was used as a substitute. June 17 marked the anniversary of the victims of an upheaval in 1953, when people in the GDR had demanded their democratic rights and were bloodily suppressed by the Soviet army.

Erntedankfest (literally: harvest thanksgiving festival) is mostly a rural celebration. Unlike in the U.S., Erntedankfest is a village festival rather than a big family holiday. At the end of the harvest season, usually on the first Sunday in October, the festival starts with a special church service. Beautiful displays of colorful fruit and vegetables as well as grains and breads are set up at the altar. Afterwards, lively celebrations including parades, banquets, dances and games begin. The festivals vary from region to region depending upon the type of harvest: In wine-growing areas the vintner’s festival (Winzer-Fest) is celebrated with cider, new and old wine, onion quiche and traditional dancing, while in Alpine regions grain is brought into barns on big wagons, pulled by decorated oxen. On top of the wagons, there may be sheaves of grain, bound in the form of a figure, animal or human.

Each November 11, German kids celebrate St. Martin's Day. Sometimes their parents celebrate with them by lighting a bonfire. Later in the evening, they make or buy lanterns to carry through the streets, sing songs in small groups and go door to door to collect candy or other treats.
Below are the lyrics to one of the most popular St. Martin's Day songs:

Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne
Und meine Laterne mit mir.
Dort oben leuchten die Sterne,
Hier unten, da leuchten wir.
Mein Licht ist aus,
Wir geh'n nach Haus,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

I'm coming with my lantern
And my lantern comes with me.
Up above the stars are glowing,
We are glowing down here.
My light is out,
We're going home,
Rabimmel, rabammel, rabum.

To most Germans, Christmas (Weihnachten), means lots of cookies, music, gifts and, of course, a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. But that's not all there is to the Christmas season.

Many families begin their Christmas celebrations four weeks before December 24, by marking the Sundays of Advent. One common way to do this is make or buy an Advent wreath (Adventskranz), made of wood or greens, and decorated with shiny ornaments and four candles. Each Sunday, a candle is lit; as it is lit, children may sing or recite a little rhyme:

Advent, Advent, Advent, Advent,
ein Lichtlein brennt. a little light is burning.
Erst eins, dann zwei, First one, then two,
dann drei, dann vier, then three, then four,
dann steht das Christkind vor der Tuer. then the Christ child stands at the door.

December 6 is Nikolaustag, or St. Nicholas' Day. Before going to bed the evening before, children put their – freshly polished – shoes by the door or on the windowsill for St. Nicholas to fill with presents. Sometimes he comes to visit in person, wearing a long robe and carrying a tall, curved staff. His sidekick, a shady character variously called Knecht Ruprecht, Krampus, Pulterklas or Hans Muff, either doles out the goodies or administers the lashes, depending on whether the kids have been naughty or nice that year.

For most German families, the high point of the holiday season is Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, December 24. One that day, while the children wait in another room, Father Christmas or the Christ Child (Christkind), as he is known in southern Germany, leaves presents under the Christmas tree (Tannenbaum) and lights the candles on it, ringing a bell to announce the arrival of Christmas. Everyone gathers to open presents, play music and sing carols. Later, many people go to church and then return home for Christmas dinner, traditionally a fish dish. The celebration continues on December 25 with dinner parties at which roast goose or turkey is served. While the Heiligabend celebration is only for the immediate family, friends may also be invited for the festivities on Christmas Day.

Many Germans decorate their Christmas trees with candles instead of electric lights. It's a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. In the 18th century, people also used apples, nuts and candy as Christmas tree ornaments. Later they added balls and baubles made of colored glass. Such ornaments are sold at outdoor Christmas markets, along with holiday treats like spicy gingerbread (Lebkuchen), roast chestnuts (heiße Maroni) and an almond-flavored candy called marzipan. One of the oldest and biggest Christmas markets is the Christkindelsmarkt in Nuremberg.

In Germany, New Year's Eve is called Silvester, because December 31 is the feast day of Saint Sylvester, a pope who lived in the fourth century. Most Germans spend New Year’s Eve with friends; some celebrate quietly, while others dance the night away at parties or elegant New Year’s Eve balls. When the clock strikes midnight, fireworks go off, church bells ring and people raise their champagne glasses to toast the new year. They may also play games that are meant to foretell what will happen during the year to come. One such activity is lead casting (Bleigießen): people pour molten lead into a bowl of water and look for figures and meanings in the shapes into which the lead hardens.

On January 6, Germans celebrate Epiphany, a holiday that recalls the journey of the three wise men (Heilige Drei Könige) to Bethlehem to bring gifts to the infant Jesus. Children mark the day by dressing up as the three kings — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar — and going door-to-door collecting candy or money for charities. The little “kings” wear long robes and golden cardboard crowns; one carries a cut-out star suspended from a pole, symbolizing the star that led the wise men to Jesus. They sing carols, sprinkle holy water and spread incense, and as a sign of protection, write in chalk the initials of the wise men and the year (i.e., 20 C+M+B 03) on the door of each home they visit.

Visit a mostly Catholic German town during high carnival season (Karneval) and you're likely to find the whole place thrown topsy-turvy. As in New Orleans at Marde Gras or Rio de Janiero during its carnival season, you'll see people wearing crazy costumes, singing and dancing in the streets, hugging, kissing and throwing confetti. At school, kids will pretty much be doing as they please. Their parents may go to work, but they are not expected to get much done. In Germany, especially in the areas along the Rhine river, in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Thuringia and Bavaria, Karneval is a main event.

Karneval, also known as Fasching, Fassenacht and Fasnet, officially lasts from November 11 to Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. It has its roots in the spring celebrations of pre-Christian times, when people wore masks to scare away winter spirits and welcomed the rebirth of nature with song and dance. Since medieval times, Karneval has been a Catholic tradition representing the season of feasting before the fasting of Lent. However, during the times when kings and counts reigned in Germany, Karneval celebrations were also used as a way to criticize and mock the authorities.

In many German towns, the main Karneval celebrations begin on January 7 with the election of the Karneval “prince” and his “princess,” who reign over the festivities. Celebrations reach their peak on Rose Monday (Rosenmontag) and Shrove Tuesday (Faschingsdienstag), the last two days of the Karneval season. During those final days, normal rules of behavior are forgotten. People dress up as anything or anyone they want, run wild, make a lot of noise and even kiss total strangers!

In southwestern Germany, revelers parade through the streets dressed as witches or wear wooden masks, feathered costumes and necklaces of clanging bells once used to scare off demons. Cologne, which – together with the cities of Duesseldorf, Aachen and Mainz – has one of the biggest carnival celebrations, holds a Rosenmontag parade with giant floats and marching bands in fools' costumes, while Munich is famous for its extravagant costume balls.