St. Martin's Day #2

Laterne, Laterne
Sonne, Mond und Sterne

 (Lantern, Lantern, Sun, Moon and Stars)

As it's the last day of November, I really need to share pictures from the big event of the month in Germany: St. Martin's Day. Otherwise known as All My Pictures Are Blurry For Some Reason Day. 

Last year, we tried to celebrate St. Martin's Day. We made the lantern, we learned the songs, we memorized the story (see last post via the link for details). However, I couldn't find the kids' parade and I only overheard other kids singing door to door. This November 11 was different.

First of all, I learned how to put the lantern on a stick and make it light up. No, it's not by dangling a flashlight from a coat hanger, which was really what I thought I needed to do. They sell, in all of the drugstores, fancy plastic sticks with a hook and dangling light bulb:

Daisy (and I - mainly I) made her lantern in Maxigruppe out of the special lantern paper they sell here, chestnuts, and feathers. It looks so pretty all lit up!

We sang the St. Martin's Day songs (there is a repertoire of about 10 songs that everyone knows) door-to-door with a couple other families. Daisy loved it. Can you imagine if kids sang at Halloween? Especially if they were songs about compassion and light? Fun!

Next, we went to a special kids' service at the Catholic church (it and the Protestant church trade off hosting). It was loud, kids were running and squealing, and we sang all the songs accompanied by a loud brass quintet. The pastor tried to give a little sermon while the kids played with their lanterns.

Leaving the church for the parade

The brass band accompanied us on a parade around the old town, where we all sang our songs again and neighbors leaned out of their windows to watch the event. Unfortunately, it was raining and Daisy fell asleep in her buggy during our parade. We woke her up because there was a bonfire back behind the church and we were waiting for the horse and rider to come. But we were all miserable in the cold rain and left early. Oh, well. Not "next time," but in my imagination...

This is a holiday only for kids. The only way people who aren't kids or who don't have kids celebrate is by having buckets of sweets around for the singers. Kids sing haphazardly in the week around St. Martin's Day - when the parents have work off, or when groups of neighbors go out together. The mom I was talking to at Maxigruppe said that she is always surprised when kids come and she has to scramble around to find something (interestingly but not related, she was eating a tupperware of sauerkraut at 10:00 AM while mentioning this to me. So German). We also had a special Maxigruppe night where all the kids came with their siblings and both parents to sing songs and eat treats. I was so happy that Chris got to come to both the church night and the Maxigruppe night! We are going to miss this lovely tradition when we are back in the US.