German Holidays & Celebrations
Karneval
°Karneval, also known as the “fifth season,” begins on November 11th at 11:11 am. The eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. In this hour the “Council of Eleven” comes together to plan the events of the upcoming festival.
° Carnival traditions started in the 19th century. Many of the Carnivals around Germany have elected Carnival Kings, Queens, or Princes
° Though the Council congregates on November 11th, the festivities do not begin until 40 days before Easter. Carnival signifies the last parties before Ash Wednesday.
° Celebrations kick-off with “Women’s Carnival” on the Thursday preceding Ash Wednesday. This day is a day for the Women of Germany. They may kiss any man they wish after first cutting off his tie.
° Rose Monday is where marching bands, dancers, and floats parade through the streets of the cities. They throw confetti, sweets, and toys into the crowds. Most of the floats are adorned with carved caricatures of politicians and other characters.
° On Shrove Tuesday, costume balls are held all throughout Germany, and they hold the burning of the Carnival Spirit, when life-size straw effigies are burned.
° Quiet Ash Wednesday marks the end of the festival.
Oktoberfest
° Oktoberfest is Munich’s largest fair and highlight of the years events in Germany. A Bavarian tradition originally started in 1810 in Munich, Germany. It all started with the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on October 12th and a celebratory horse race held on October 17th.
° Many events take place during the 16-day event, including horse races, plays and socker games.
° The festival is held on the field/meadow named the Theresienwiese, for princess Therese.
° Oktoberfest takes place during the 16 days up to and including the first Sunday in October. The festival schedule was modified in 1994 to include German Unity Day in the festivities. In the event that it is a Jubilee year the festivities go until the first Monday in October.
° The festival follows a set schedule of activities over the course of the 16 days. This includes family days, Italian weekend, a costume parade, firecracker shooting and of course the tapping of the first keg.
° Over the years they have had to cancel 24 years of Oktoberfest celebrations
° There are 14 main large tents that can seat anywhere from 1,000 and 9,000 people inside with even more room outside of the tents.
° Oktoberfest accommodates as many as 6 million people each year that come from all over the world to celebrate the German tradition.
German Unity Day
° German Unity Day, Tag der Deutschen Einheit, is celebrated on October 3rd, the date when the reunification treaty was signed between the two Germanys in 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989
° It was originally going to be celebrated on November the 9th, the day the Berlin wall fell, however this is also the date of the Nazis infamous Kristallnacht. This was found to be inappropriate for a holiday so they used the formal date when everything became official on October 3rd 1990.
° Before 1990 West Germany's national holiday was on May 23rd and October 7th in East Germany.
° Each year a different city hosts a large celebration for the day. These celebrations include food, fireworks, concerts, and speeches by political leaders.
Erntedankfest
° Erntedanktag is an official German holiday. Harvest Festivals (Erntefests) are celebrated in churches and market places, in homes and dance halls. While the German-speaking countries also observe the principle of separation of church and state "politically", public displays of religious holiday traditions are a part of the local culture. The mostly Protestant German Erntedankfest observance dates back to around 1770.
° Since the Reformation the 29th of September has been considered the end of the harvest season, and Erntedankfest with a special church service is celebrated on the first Sunday of October.
° Erntedanktag literally means “Harvest-Thanksgiving-Day“
° Erntedankfest literally means "harvest festival of thanks”
° It is not a national holiday, but more of a religious celebration with roots in the rural harvest festivals. When it is celebrated in larger cities, it is usually part of a church service.
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