Horrors and ghosts, fair and parades or peace and quiet?
Every year very different traditions and customs come together in autumn.
Who is celebrating what?
Erfurt - November brings silent holidays - but before that, many want to give it another go: Autumn festivals are a centuries-old tradition.
But even Halloween has become a special date for many in Thuringia during the course of the year.
Where do the customs come from and what does that have to do with tradition?
Remembrance and reflection
All Saints' Day: The Catholic Church commemorates the saints and their achievements on November 1st.
Candles are lit on All Saints' Day.
These also light up the following day, when All Souls Day is reminded of deceased family members.
The church festival, which has been established since 835, is a public holiday in only a few federal states - in addition to Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, it is also a public holiday in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Since it is also a working day in Thuringia in 2021, grave blessings are sometimes held here on weekends.
Reformation Day: The Evangelical Church celebrates Reformation Day on October 31st.
Protestants celebrate the renewal of the church by Martin Luther on this day.
Ghosts and horrors
Halloween: The Halloween festival originally comes from Ireland.
On the evening before All Saints' Day, the “All hallows eve”, the mostly Catholic Irish lit a light.
Hollowed and candle-lit pumpkins with cheeky, funny or creepy grimaces are placed in front of the house to ward off the ghosts.
Children dress up and go door to door.
They ask for sweets and, if refused, threaten to treat them.
"Dia de los muertos" means "Day of the Dead" in German - what sounds gloomy is a happy and, above all, colorful affair in Mexico.
With parades, screaming colorful face paints and skull cakes made of sugar, the people there remember their deceased.
Fair and parades
Fair: In autumn, after a good harvest, the barns and cellars were full and the job was done. The festive season of the year begins with autumn. "There are many places in Thuringia to find funfairs," said Jana Kampf, the research assistant at the Folklore Advisory and Documentation Center for Thuringia in Hohenfelden (Weimarer Land). The fair has its origins in the parish celebrations. After the Reformation, these were often associated with the harvest festival.
Saint Martin: "I am going with my lantern ..." Every year around November 11th, crowds of children with colorful lanterns go through the streets and sing Martins and lantern songs.
Saint Martin of Tours lived in the fourth century and, according to legend, shared his cloak with a poor beggar.
The early Christians were already familiar with light processions, with which they presumably also honored Saint Martin on his memorial day.
Colorful lanterns and singing here, creepy masks and “trick or treating” there: a spokesman for the Diocese of Erfurt does not have the impression that the parades are in competition with each other.
Halloween has no meaning for Christians.
Martin's Day is particularly celebrated in Eisenach: this is where the “Heischegang” takes place.
Disguised as March men, children go from door to door and "beg" for small gifts with rhyme.
The custom can be traced back to Martin Luther's school days in Eisenach.
He roamed the streets to serenade in front of the houses to ask for donations so that he could pay his host parents.
Sweet and pretty
Sweets: Consumers in Germany spend millions on Halloween sweets.
But chocolate and Co. are also bought for Martinszüge and the March men.
Pumpkin: Pumpkins have long been a common decorative item in autumn.
They are usually bred specifically for this.
The interest in Halloween pumpkins at their stand on the Domplatz in Erfurt was consistently high, said an employee at the stand of Dirk Stern from Elxleben (Ilm district).
“The families come and buy to be carved”.
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The big pumpkins are especially popular for hollowing out.
But many small Hokkaido and decorative pumpkins are also sold and unprocessed as decorations.
“They'll be eaten later when Christmas comes.
They last forever, no issue ”.
dpa
