German Language Blog

The countdown is running. There are only a few hours left till the old year is over. With this last post for this year I would like to give you an insight into how Germans Silvester feiern (see the New Year in) and what you can say to wish someone a Happy New Year.

There are different ways how to wish someone A Happy New Year in German. The most common Neujahrsgrüße (New Year’s greetings) are:

Ein gesundes, neues Jahr. (lit. A healthy new Year)

Ein frohes, neues Jahr.

Both are the equivalent to A Happy New Year.

Moreover, you can very often hear Germans saying: „Guten Rutsch“. The origin of this greeting is not clear. Consequently, it is difficult for me to translate it. However, there are two explanation attempts. The German verb „rutschen“ means „to slide“ and it was used from 1800 in the sense  of „reisen“ which means „to travel“, thus, with this greeting you wish someone „a good journey into the new year“. Another explanation is that this expression is derived from the Hebrew expression „Rosch ha schana“, which means „a good head (beginning) of the new year“. No matter which of these explanations is correct, when you wish someone „Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr“ or just „Guten Rutsch“ it means that you wish that the addressee will have a good start in the upcoming year.

When Germans see the New Year in they will set off a lot of fireworks. It is estimated that Germans will spend about 110 million Euros for Feuerwerksraketen (firework rockets) and Böller (firecrackers) this year. Although I am German, I have never spend any money for fireworks because I am a bit afraid of it. I prefer watching fireworks rather than letting them off. The only Feuerwerkskörper (pyrothenic article) I will light are Wunderkerzen (sparklers).

A Typical German New Year tradition is Bleigießen (lead pouring). You put a small piece of lead on a spoon and hold it over a candle. When the lead is molten you pour it into a bowl filled with water. The lead will shape into a particular form, which is supposed to predict what will happen to you in the upcoming year. For example, a ball means luck all through the year and an anchor means eventual need of help.

Another odd German New Year tradition is the British TV show „Dinner for One“, which is aired every year since 1972. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you why this is so. It is just so popular. I do not want to break with this tradition, so here you can watch the original show. Enjoy. EINEN GUTEN RUTSCH UND EIN GESUNDES NEUES JAHR!

In German, all nouns have a particular grammatical gender. They can either be masculine (männlich), feminine (weiblich), or neuter (sächlich). The gender of a noun is indicated by its preceding article: „der“ (for masculine nouns), “die” (for feminine nouns), and “das” (for neuter nouns). Please note that not the thing or person is supposed to have a particular gender, but the WORD. Sometimes, the article or gender of a noun can change the meaning of a word. For example, the German word “See” used with the masculine article (der See) means “the lake” in English. When the word “See” is used with the feminine article (die See) it means “the sea” in English. But such cases are rather rare.

Unfortunately, there is no logical explanation or rule why, for example, “der Stuhl” (chair) is masculine, “die Tasche” (bag) is feminine, and “das Buch” (book) is neuter. So, the only way to learn the genders of nouns is to treat their articles as a component of the word. For a better memory of the nouns’ genders you can highlight them in particular colours: all masculine nouns are highlighted in blue, all feminine nouns in red, and all neuter nouns in green.

If you do not have a dictionary at hand to check the gender of a noun, you can try to guess the gender because sometimes the noun itself can show which gender it has. Below I listed some gender hints for the grammatical genders of German nouns.

Nouns which are always masculine:

-       days of the week, months, and seasons

-       points of the compass (der Norden – north, der Süden – south, der Westen – west, der Osten – east)

-       precipitation (der Regen – rain, der Schnee – snow, der Nebel – fog/mist)

-       names of cars (der Mercedes, der BMW, der VW) and trains (der ICE)

-       words ending in –ismus (der Journalismus – journalism, der Kapitalismus – capitalism)

-       words ending in –ner (der Rentner – pensioner; der Schaffner – conductor)

Nouns which are always feminine:

-       nouns that are ending in –heit (die Schönheit – the beauty) , -keit (die Tätigkeit – the activity), -tät (die Universität – university), -ung (die Überraschung – surprise), -schaft (die Freundschaft – friendship)

-       nouns ending in –ie (Industrie – industry; Komödie – comedy)

-       nouns of aircraft (die Boeing 747), ships (die Titanic), motorbikes (die Harley Davidson)

-       nouns ending in –ik (die Musik – music, die Panik – panic)

-       cardinal numbers (die Eins – one, die Zwei – two, die Drei – three, etc.)

Nouns which are always neuter:

-       nouns ending in –chen (das Mädchen – girl) and –lein (das Fräulein = unmarried woman)

-       infinitives used as nouns (gerunds): das Essen – the eating/food; das Schreiben – writing)

-       names of hotels, cafés and theatres

-       names of colours which are used as nouns: das Blau, Das Rot, das Grün

To celebrate the pre-Christimas period and to get in touch with its atmosphere, the Advent wreath became an inherent part of German culture.

Although this christmassy piece of decoration doesn´t exist since a long time: In the year 1839, so the historical tradition, the first Advent wreath was set up by Johann Wichern. The evangelic-lutheran theologian and educater was the leader of the “Rauhes Haus”, a house in the suburbs of Hamburg that was and still is the home for children and teenagers without parents.  To show the children the way to Christmas, he had the idea of an Advent wreath: He decorated an old cartwheel with nineteen small red candles and four big white candles. Every day during Advent time, another small candle was lighted, a big one on every Sunday. So the children could count the days until Christmas.

(Object: Advent wreath, aka Adventskranz in its original design 1839, designed by Johann Hinrich Wichern. Source: http://www.rauheshaus.de Rauhes Haus, Hamburg, Germany)

Approximately 20 years later, director Wichern started to decorate the wheel additionaly with fir green. All the same, fir green has a long tradition in apartments that reaches back to the middle ages: Branches of juniper, mistletoes and firs symbolized unbroken power of life. The house or farm should be safe from harm.

And even the candles have their story: In the 14^th century they were used as a symbol for newer and brighter times. The candles used to be red during the Advent time, allegorical for the blood that Jesus Christ shed for humanity.

From Hamburg, the Advent wreath started its triumphal procession out to the Christian world: In 1925 an Advent wreath with four candles was set up in a catholic church in Cologne for the first time. Since 1930 as well in Munich.

This tradition dispread worldwide until today. Around 1935 the first private Advent wreaths were churchly sanctified. This tradition also exists until today in some places.