I've struggled over the past few weeks as I've tried to plan the publishing of my posts - not to mention grocery shopping trips. Spring in Germany is chock-a-block full of holidays, mostly religious, but not always celebrated in that way. It can get a little confusing.
Even though many of the holidays are the same or similar to those recognized by the church where I grew up, the names are different and they are official state holidays so sometimes it's hard to figure out which is which and what we're celebrating today.
A few weeks ago I was warned that another holiday was coming (and therefore we needed to go grocery shopping for the apartment because we were going to have a succession of days in which nothing would be open). I asked what the holiday was observing and the conversation went something like this (para-phrased and interpreted):
Me: Nice! What are we celebrating this time?
Friend: Jesus is going to heaven.
Me: Umm .... we celebrated that last week ... are you sure?
Friend: Oh, well, then this one must be when he comes back down.
Granted, this is not my most religious friend, and he wasn't far from the truth, but I think this is sort of indicative of the problem of having so many holidays in a succession. To keep myself informed I created a list:
Easter - 3 days after Jesus died, he rose from the dead. Kind of an impressive feat.
May Day - Celebrating the beginning of the spring season usually with food and dance and often celebrated with a fire on the eve leading into the day.
Father's Day - Celebrated the Thursday before Mother's Day, and a day in which fathers band together and take to the streets pulling carts, wagons, or self-manufactured derby cars to transport their beer. The children do not seem to be part of the tradition, it is more of a day to celebrate the father and give him a break from the responsibilities of parenting.
Mother's Day - I think this is celebrated differently family by family but seems to include some meal or cake and coffee sometimes including extended family.
Himmelfart - this is the day on which Jesus ascends to Heaven.
Pfingston - This is Pentecost - when the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples of Christ. Seems to be a bigger deal here, but that's partly because it's a Monday which means that grocery stores will be closed for two days in a row and since a lot of people don't like grocery shopping on Saturdays, it means that people REALLY have to plan ahead a whole 3 days.
Fronleichnam - The mere name of this holiday makes a lot of younger Germans giggle because it sounds like "Happy Corpse." It's actually a feast celebrating the last supper, and the first time communion is given after Easter.
While religious holidays have never been my focus at home or abroad I will also state that there are probably a fair amount of misinterpretations or subtle differences between what I've written and what is observed. What I can say is that regardless of the level of religious observation or value attached to these days, there is a real cultural respect to holidays and the opportunity that they present to citizens and visitors alike to remember to relax and take care of themselves and their neighbors. If for that reason alone, I stand behind their existence regardless of how clustered they may be here in May.
Although it's not celebrated here, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Memorial Day. This post was held a week so as not to interfere with a day of observance held by many of the Worlds and Lands readers.
Today, however, for those who are currently experiencing it - let's just enjoy summer!
Even though many of the holidays are the same or similar to those recognized by the church where I grew up, the names are different and they are official state holidays so sometimes it's hard to figure out which is which and what we're celebrating today.
A few weeks ago I was warned that another holiday was coming (and therefore we needed to go grocery shopping for the apartment because we were going to have a succession of days in which nothing would be open). I asked what the holiday was observing and the conversation went something like this (para-phrased and interpreted):
Me: Nice! What are we celebrating this time?
Friend: Jesus is going to heaven.
Me: Umm .... we celebrated that last week ... are you sure?
Friend: Oh, well, then this one must be when he comes back down.
Granted, this is not my most religious friend, and he wasn't far from the truth, but I think this is sort of indicative of the problem of having so many holidays in a succession. To keep myself informed I created a list:
Easter - 3 days after Jesus died, he rose from the dead. Kind of an impressive feat.
May Day - Celebrating the beginning of the spring season usually with food and dance and often celebrated with a fire on the eve leading into the day.
Father's Day - Celebrated the Thursday before Mother's Day, and a day in which fathers band together and take to the streets pulling carts, wagons, or self-manufactured derby cars to transport their beer. The children do not seem to be part of the tradition, it is more of a day to celebrate the father and give him a break from the responsibilities of parenting.
Mother's Day - I think this is celebrated differently family by family but seems to include some meal or cake and coffee sometimes including extended family.
Himmelfart - this is the day on which Jesus ascends to Heaven.
Pfingston - This is Pentecost - when the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples of Christ. Seems to be a bigger deal here, but that's partly because it's a Monday which means that grocery stores will be closed for two days in a row and since a lot of people don't like grocery shopping on Saturdays, it means that people REALLY have to plan ahead a whole 3 days.
Fronleichnam - The mere name of this holiday makes a lot of younger Germans giggle because it sounds like "Happy Corpse." It's actually a feast celebrating the last supper, and the first time communion is given after Easter.
While religious holidays have never been my focus at home or abroad I will also state that there are probably a fair amount of misinterpretations or subtle differences between what I've written and what is observed. What I can say is that regardless of the level of religious observation or value attached to these days, there is a real cultural respect to holidays and the opportunity that they present to citizens and visitors alike to remember to relax and take care of themselves and their neighbors. If for that reason alone, I stand behind their existence regardless of how clustered they may be here in May.
Although it's not celebrated here, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Memorial Day. This post was held a week so as not to interfere with a day of observance held by many of the Worlds and Lands readers.
Today, however, for those who are currently experiencing it - let's just enjoy summer!
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