HOLIDAYS IN GERMANY

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HOLIDAYS IN GERMANY

• BY KENDALL OHRWASHEL

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GERMAN HOLIDAYS

• Celebrated in Germany and America
• Easter
• Christmas
• St. Nikolaus Day
• Celebrated in Germany
• Oktoberfest
• Epiphany

3
Easter in Germany is almost the same as in
America with a few of their own customs.

• Begins on Good Friday
• Called Osturn in Germany
• Starts on Good Friday when the cross is covered
• They eat fish as a part of their meal
• Easter egg hunts are popular traditions
• Burning old Christmas trees is a custom to
  welcome the spring season
• A passion play is held based on the life of Jesus
  Christ
• About 1200 villagers participate and can extend
  up to six hours
• Before Lent, a carnival is celebrated called
  Fasching
• One of the major attractions is a parade where
  people show off their masks
• On Easter eve, kids light huge bonfires
• German people eat a special recipe, Cruller,
  which is a thick doughnut

4
Christmas in America is a fun time to get
together with our families and celebrate our time
off from school. In Germany many of the
traditions are the same.

• Season begins with Advent
• A wreath with four red candles is hung
• One candle is lit each Sunday before Christmas
• Beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies are made
• Christbaumgeback is a white dough used to mold
  into shapes and cook
• Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man is the German
  Santa
• Glittering Christmas trees are put up in some
  houses

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St. Nikolaus Day is not usually celebrated in
America but sometimes is.

• Celebrated on December 6th
• The most distinctive children's festival of the
  year.
• Very festive time
• Brought to America from German and Dutch
  Immigrants.
• Children usually sing.
• Each child gets a gift for their performance.
• Children put their polished shoes or socks
  outside the door and St. Nikolaus fills them with
  toys and presents over night.
• Another tradition for this day is baking
  Stutenkerl or Printenmann.

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Oktoberfest is a festival not celebrated in
America but is pretty well known.

• Not technically a holiday
• Sixteen day festival
• Held in September and October
• The worlds largest fair
• A lot of people drink beer
• A special beer is made with more taste and
  alcohol than normal beers
• Begins with the mayor tapping the first keg of
  beer
• He shouts, O'zapft is! which means, its
  tapped!
• Tons of food sausage, chicken, cheese noodles,
  and sauerkraut
• Fourteen main tents

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Epiphany is a German holiday that is not
celebrated in America.

• Sometimes called Three Kings or wise men
• According to an old legend, on the night Christ
  was born, the three kings saw a bright star and
  followed it.
• The star lead them to Christchild and they
  presented the child with gold.
• Lasts 12 days
• Used to begin on December 13 and go until
  Christmas
• It now goes from Christmas until January 6th
• 12 days end with the Feast of Epiphany
• Doorways are sprinkled with holy water and the
  initials of the three kings
• The initials of the three kings are C, M, and B
  Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar
• The year is also written in chalk over doorways
  on the eve of January 6.

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SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SOME OF THE HOLIDAYS
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Works Cited

• Christmas in Germany. 4 January 2008.
  lthttp//www.santas.net/germanchristmas.htmgt.
• Easter Around the World. 19 December 2007.
  lthttp//www.easterbunnys.net/germaneaster.htmgt.
• German Holidays. 15 December 2007.
  lthttp//www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/mnstatehistor
  y/gr_holidays.html gt.
• Oktoberfest. 18 December 2007.
  lthttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfestgt.
• St. Nicholas Day. 17 December 2007.
  lthttp//www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa
  120100e.htmgt.
• Three Kings and Epiphany. 7 January 2008
  lthttp//www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa
  120100g.htmgt.