Saint Martin's Day

(waiting for the parade to begin with their American neighbor friend)

I don't think I posted on this last year. If I did, I know I didn't have any pictures. After living here over a year, we are slowly figuring out what to do when. It only takes a couple of years to figure all this out, and then it's time to move! Last year, we had heard about it but didn't venture out. This year, I just happened to see my neighbors daughter carrying her lantern so I asked her when the celebration was. She told me, so we decided to go check it out.


(Herforst Church)


(before the parade, outside of the church)

(before the parade, these are some of our German neighbors who are very sweet!)

The celebration is Saint Martin's Day. I'm putting an explanation of it at the bottom of the post, if you are interested. In our village, the celebration began at 5:30pm at the church. We didn't attend the service, but stood outside and waited with several others until the service ended and the children appeared with their lanterns. It was a huge turnout. We saw every single one of our neighbors along with their families. The band played songs as we marched through the village with the children and their lanterns. The kids had fun, even though they didn't have their own lanterns this year. A couple of friends shared with Hayden so that made him happy. Next year, we will have our own lanterns! Anyway, we marched until we ended up at a huge bonfire. The band played a few more songs and there was hot chocolate and other goodies to buy. At the very end, they passed out free pretzels to all of the children. Of course, the boys LOVED that part.



(Bonfire)


(Yummy pretzels!)

It was a beautiful night of perfectly crisp weather. Happy Saint Martin's Day! Here's the details...

German people celebrate the goodness of Martin who was a Roman Knight and later became a Bishop of Tours in the 4th century. According to legend, Martin saved a beggar’s life by sharing his cloak on a freezing winter night. This incident changed his life so much that from that day forward, he dedicated himself to the poor. People celebrate St. Martin’s Day throughout Germany towns in yearly Lantern Parades. A horseback rider, dressed as St. Martin leads the parade. He is followed by a band playing St. Martin songs. The children and their parents enjoy singing these well known songs. In some towns, people continue a tradition of raffling off geese that are carried in a wagon during the parade. Along with the raffle, the parade concludes with a big bonfire, during which sugar pretzels are passed out to the children. People can buy lanterns at most German stores. Some parents help their children to make their own lanterns and some schools have a lantern making contest. It is worth taking the time to find out when the St. Martin’s parade takes place so that your children can also participate.