{"id":9457,"date":"2017-12-29T11:48:51","date_gmt":"2017-12-29T11:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=9457"},"modified":"2017-12-29T11:48:51","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T11:48:51","slug":"why-do-germans-call-new-years-eve-silvester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/why-do-germans-call-new-years-eve-silvester\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do Germans call New Year\u2019s Eve ‘Silvester’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! I hope you all had Frohe Weihnachten<\/strong> (Merry Christmas), that you got to spend time with your Familie<\/strong> (family) and open lots of wonderful Geschenke<\/strong> (presents)! Now there are only a few days left until New Year\u2019s Eve and 2018. If you want to learn about German Christmas and New Year\u2019s customs then you\u2019ll find a whole range of posts on the subjects right here on the blog! Today I shall add to those posts by answering a question some of you may have asked yourselves: Why is New Year\u2019s Eve called Silvester in German?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

New Year in German is Neujahr.<\/strong> New Year\u2019s Day in German is Neujahrstag.<\/strong> So why is New Year\u2019s Eve called Silvester<\/strong>? The answer is actually rather simple and lies in religion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Silvester,<\/strong> the German NYE, was named after Pope Silvester I<\/strong>, who served as Pope of the western Church from 314 up until his death on December 31st<\/sup> 355. Therefore, December 31st<\/sup> became his Catholic remembrance day \u2013 a day which involved lots of feasting! Naturally, the meaning of and celebrations behind Silvester changed over time, but the name remains the same.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sylvester<\/a>
\nPope Silvester I. By Unknown medieval artist in Rome – Unknown<\/span>, Public Domain, Link<\/a><\/p>\n

Other German-speaking countries also call NYE Silvester. In Switzerland,<\/strong> they even have what\u2019s known as a Silvesterklaus<\/strong> \u2013 a New Year\u2019s Mummer! This is a masked person who goes from door to door wishing people a happy new year. I\u2019ll be writing a full post about the Silvesterklaus very soon!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In some regions, the day of Silvester is also called Altjahrstag<\/strong> (or Altjahrestag), meaning Old Year\u2019s Day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please note, you will sometimes see this name spelled Silvester and sometimes Sylvester.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remaining on the subject of language, here are a couple of other things you say at German new year which may have you wondering about their word origins:<\/p>\n

\"Canuck<\/a>

Photo ‘Canuck Tobogganing’ by Suzanne Berton on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-ND 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr”<\/strong>
\nThis phrase literally means A good slide into the new year.<\/strong> Although this in itself makes perfect sense, it is possible that the word Rutsch<\/strong> (slide) actually comes from the Yiddish<\/strong> word Rosh<\/strong>, from Rosh Hashanah. To say Guten Rosh in Yiddish means to wish someone a good beginning, like at the start of a new year. The good thing is that both of these meanings make sense, so interpret this phrase how you will!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a>

Photo ‘Happy 2009!’ by ginnerobot on flickr.com under a CC license (CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Prosit Neujahr”<\/strong>
\nProsit Neujahr is basically how the Germans say Cheers to the new year.<\/strong> The word Prosit<\/strong> is Latin<\/strong> in origin and means May it succeed.<\/strong> So by saying Prosit Neujahr, you\u2019re wishing for a successful new year ahead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this post. If you\u2019d like to read more about New Year\u2019s traditions in Germany, click through to this post<\/a>. On behalf of Sten, Larissa & myself I\u2019d like to say danke<\/em> <\/strong>for all of your support and hard work in 2017! So now all that\u2019s left to say is \u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! \ud83d\ude42<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! I hope you all had Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas), that you got to spend time with your Familie (family) and open lots of wonderful Geschenke (presents)! Now there are only a few days left until New Year\u2019s Eve and 2018. If you want to learn about German Christmas and New Year\u2019s customs then…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":9460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,7,8,913],"tags":[65,376066,8883,95131,358440,451644,13285,376107,1166,3879,13219,376106,358430],"class_list":["post-9457","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-holidays","category-language","category-traditions","tag-etymology","tag-german-culture","tag-german-history","tag-german-language","tag-german-traditions","tag-german-words","tag-happy-new-year","tag-neujahr","tag-new-year","tag-religion","tag-silvester","tag-sylvester","tag-traditions-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t