Germany does not celebrate Halloween. Nor Thanksgiving. So what in the world is there to celebrate in October and November??? How do they decide that it's officially time to kind of kick-off the Christmas season?
Enter: Saint Martin's Day.
Basically, the story is that Saint Martin was a Roman soldier, out on a cold winter night, who gave half of his cloak to a beggar to keep him from freezing to death. Such an act was against Roman law and he was thrown in prison where, that night, he dreamed that Christ was the beggar to whom he'd given his cloak. Pretty cool, huh?
So, at least here in Dusseldorf, we got to experience the awesomeness surrounding Saint Martin's Day:
1st: All of the kids make lanterns and learn catchy, repetitive Saint Martin's Day songs at school.
2nd: Sometime during the week of Saint Martin's Day, the children of the neighborhood gather together for a Sankt Martinszug, a procession, or really a parade through the streets. Saint Martin leads the way on his horse, walking through the streets with hundreds of little kids holding lanterns following behind, singing along to the band (or bands, strung throughout the procession) playing the Saint Martin's Day songs.
At the end of the procession, there's a bonfire, with a small re-enactment of Saint Martin's encounter with the beggar.
3rd: After the enactment, the children go door-to-door for treats/money. It's kind of like trick-or-treating, except you have to sing a Saint Martin's Day song at each door to get your treat.
So...this was fun. And we actually went to 3 different parades, in different neighborhoods on different days. The one here in Volmerswerth (our neighborhood) was our last and favorite. We gathered with the rest of the Volmerswerthers at a local church. Bridger showed some people in the church his lantern he made at school as part of a "contest" and they awarded him (and all of the other kids) with some cool art supplies. He was pumped.
In the church's courtyard, Saint Martin stood on his horse, ready to lead the way. Bridger found a little friend from school and we marched through the streets, singing loudly as we went along. The kids were so cute, and so happy to be part of a "parade"! And the light of the lanterns in the dark street actually made for a pretty cool scene.
At the end, after the enactment, both kids were given these HUGE bags full of treats - fresh fruit, candy, peanuts, walnuts, and even this awesome "Weckman" (which are all over in the bakeries, but I am lost as to their significance??).
The kids were starving for dinner, and we had a ton of candy booty from the bag given us anyways, so we skipped out on the door-to-door stuff. But it was awesome, none-the-less. So awesome that still, over a MONTH later, the kids are still spontaneously breaking into Saint Martin's Day songs...
...We've gotta get more Christmas music playing around this house...
Here's a little "overview" from Bridger himself, complete with music:
Enter: Saint Martin's Day.
Basically, the story is that Saint Martin was a Roman soldier, out on a cold winter night, who gave half of his cloak to a beggar to keep him from freezing to death. Such an act was against Roman law and he was thrown in prison where, that night, he dreamed that Christ was the beggar to whom he'd given his cloak. Pretty cool, huh?
 |
| The kids with their lanterns before the Sankt Martinszug |
1st: All of the kids make lanterns and learn catchy, repetitive Saint Martin's Day songs at school.
2nd: Sometime during the week of Saint Martin's Day, the children of the neighborhood gather together for a Sankt Martinszug, a procession, or really a parade through the streets. Saint Martin leads the way on his horse, walking through the streets with hundreds of little kids holding lanterns following behind, singing along to the band (or bands, strung throughout the procession) playing the Saint Martin's Day songs.
At the end of the procession, there's a bonfire, with a small re-enactment of Saint Martin's encounter with the beggar.
3rd: After the enactment, the children go door-to-door for treats/money. It's kind of like trick-or-treating, except you have to sing a Saint Martin's Day song at each door to get your treat.
 |
| Bridger standing in front of Saint Martin, ready to march in the parade |
In the church's courtyard, Saint Martin stood on his horse, ready to lead the way. Bridger found a little friend from school and we marched through the streets, singing loudly as we went along. The kids were so cute, and so happy to be part of a "parade"! And the light of the lanterns in the dark street actually made for a pretty cool scene.
 |
| Bridger and the Weckman! He was surprisingly scrumptious |
The kids were starving for dinner, and we had a ton of candy booty from the bag given us anyways, so we skipped out on the door-to-door stuff. But it was awesome, none-the-less. So awesome that still, over a MONTH later, the kids are still spontaneously breaking into Saint Martin's Day songs...
...We've gotta get more Christmas music playing around this house...
Here's a little "overview" from Bridger himself, complete with music:
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