Tag Archives: traditions
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…
German First Names: Then & Now Posted by Constanze on Jun 14, 2017
Guten Tag! Today I thought I’d cover the interesting topic of German Vornamen (first names). When you think of German names, which ones spring immediately to mind? Helga? Hermann? Greta? These are classic examples of stereotypical German names – but are babies still given these names in Germany today? In this post I’ll give the…
Father’s Day In Germany Posted by Constanze on May 24, 2017
Hallo! Tomorrow, Thursday May 25th, is Father’s Day in Germany. In the UK (and perhaps in your country, too), Father’s Day is generally a family-centred event, where children bring their fathers cards and gifts, or maybe let them have the day off by doing their chores for them. Fathers tend to stay home and relax…
Untranslatable German Words: Wichteln Posted by Sten on Feb 9, 2017
In the pre-Christmas time, many groups throughout Germany practice an old tradition: Das Wichteln. But what is that? Find out here, in another post in the awesome series on untranslatable words in German that Constanze started on this blog! What does Wichteln mean? Wichteln is a tradition where all participants get a gift for someone else in the group. Mostly, the originality…
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…
The Oldest Brezel Ever Found Posted by Sten on Oct 31, 2016
Who doesn’t know them? Brezel (pretzels) are known worldwide mostly as a Bavarian delicacy. The salty dough product is super popular throughout Germany. As it turns out now, not only its taste is superb, but also its best before date… How old is that oldest pretzel? Read on to find out! Where does the word Brezel even come from? The…
German-American Day Posted by Constanze on Oct 5, 2016
Guten Tag! I’m bringing you this post today in light of a special day tomorrow, October 6th 2016. Tomorrow is German-American Day in the USA! This is a day to celebrate the German heritage in America. Specifically, it commemorates the date in 1683 when 13 German families settled in Philadelphia and subsequently founded Germantown, Pennsylvania…