Tag Archives: tradition
German Companions of Saint Nicholas Posted by Constanze on Dec 5, 2018
Guten Tag! As you may know, tomorrow (December 6th) is Nikolaustag (Saint Nicholas Day) in Germany. This is a German Christmas celebration separate to that of December 24/25. If you are not yet familiar with Nikolaustag, I recommend reading this post and this post first, to get a good introduction to it. If you are…
Breakfast The Bavarian Way Posted by Constanze on Nov 8, 2017
Guten Tag! The topic of today is Frühstück (breakfast), but with a twist. I’d like to share some information about the traditional Bavarian breakfast with you. A traditional Bavarian breakfast consists of the following: Die Weißwurst Literally ‘white sausage’, this is a sausage made from minced veal and pork bacon, seasoned with parsley, ginger, onions…
Richtfest: A German Tradition Posted by Constanze on Jun 28, 2017
Hallo! Wie geht’s? Today I’d like to introduce you to a German tradition called Richtfest. I only learnt about this recently, as my parents are having their roof re-done and my mum said she wanted to get some beers for the builders once the roof is finished, “like they do at a Richtfest”. Naturally, I…
Check out this delicious German treat! Posted by Sten on Mar 28, 2017
I bet you have not heard of this German treat! It is delicious, sweet shortbread filled with marzipan, but it was not always like that… So, before 1876, the Leipziger Lerche was a popular specialty enjoyed all over the world – from Spanien (Spain) to Russland (Russia). It was a Lerche (lark), which was filled with all kinds of Gewürze (spices) and Kräuter (herbs). These were roasted…
All You Need to Know about the Elfter Elfter – Start of Karneval Posted by Sten on Nov 12, 2016
On the Elfter Elfter (eleventh of the eleventh), Carnival officially started around the world, including Germany. But what do Germans even call their Carnival? And what happens on Elfter Elfter? Find out here: 5 things to know! 1. Different names for the same Whether you call it Carnival or Mardi Gras – you mean the same thing…
Erntedankfest: German Thanksgiving Posted by Constanze on Nov 9, 2016
In a recent post I mentioned some events that take place in Germany in Autumn. Today I’d like to tell you a little more about one of them, namely Erntedankfest – the “German Thanksgiving”. First, the breakdown of the word. ‘Ernte’ means harvest, while ‘Dank’ comes from ‘Danke’, meaning thank you, and ‘Fest’ is German…
Das Schaltjahr – 3 Things To Know About The Leap Year In Germany Posted by Sten on Feb 29, 2016
A Schaltjahr (leap year) is held every four years, except century years, unless they are divisible by 400. It dates back to Roman times, and was introduced by Julius Caesar as a solution to our 365-day long year being just about 6 hours too short to be perfectly aligned with the Earth’s orbit around the sun. But this day…