St. Martin’s Day Parade

We didn’t get to do Halloween this year; we won’t do Thanksgiving either. But we are getting to be part of German holidays that we had never even heard of before. Like St. Martin’s Day on November 11.

Clif’s Notes version of the holiday: St. Martin was a cool Roman dude who did nice things like rip his cloak in half to share with a poor guy out in the cold. When the Powers-that-Be decided he should be made a bishop, Martin said no thank you and went and hid with the geese. They made too much noise, though, as geese do, and he was found out. He had to be bishop, and the geese had to be dinner.

To celebrate St. Martin’s Day, children make paper lanterns (some people said they used to carve turnips into lanterns as kids), and there’s a dusky parade with carols and all the lit lanterns. Probably you’re supposed to have roast goose, but our celebration involved yummy goose-shaped cookies. When you get your cookie, you break it in half to share with a friend (some people said the breaking and sharing part was not part of their upbringing).

Here are the girls’ lanterns they made. Tessa did hers at school with professional kindergarten teachers and a fancy potato stamp. Maggie did a beautiful job decorating hers at home and then mom mangled it a bit forcing it into a cylinder.

The procession was definitely joyful, the singing was fun (although I wish we had known the carols), and the bonfires were cheerful and warm. Plus, the geese were delicious. Happy St. Martin’s Day!