St. Martin's Day

November 11th is St. Martin's Day and all I really knew about it was that in the evening children walk through neighborhoods singing songs and carrying lanterns. I didn't have time to do any research and in order for you to truly appreciate how this day went for me, I will only provide you with the information that I had at the time.

Rebecca's Kindergarten was to be having their St. Martin's Day procession at 5:00pm and when I picked her up from school at 2:00pm, she had a lantern she had made at school and we were to bring that back at 5:00. The lantern was a painted paper cylinder with a wire handle. In addition, the previous week, a mom had talked me into helping out after the procession selling glühwein (hot spiced wine), but when I reminded her that I don't speak good German, she said, "Oh, you just say 'Ein Euro, bitte.' How hard is that?" Hmm, how hard indeed. I doubted that the only thing I would need to say would be "One Euro, please."

My neighbor Anne and her daughter Jonna came to pick us up a little before 5:00 and when I opened the door, there was Jonna with her lantern all beautifully lit with a little light contraption that looked like a fishing pole. Uh,oh. Apparently, I needed a light, but no one had told me that and it just hadn't occurred to me. I asked Anne where she got the light and she answered, "You can get them at any toy store. Don't you have one?" When I said no, she followed up with, "Oh. Well, what do you normally use to light your children's lanterns?" I explained that we don't really do lanterns in the U.S. Anne was very surprised by that, shocked that we don't celebrate St. Martin's Day and told me that children carry lanterns at other time of year in Germany or even when just going for a walk in the evening during the winter. Lucky for us she had an extra light Becca could use.

At the school the kids were excited to show off their lanterns which were in all shapes and sizes: dragons, suns, stars, etc., or just plain ones like Becca's. The sun set and we sang a song about St. Martin and lanterns. Then, we began walking through the neighborhood.

Becca and Jonna hand in hand.

We stopped at a path and lo and behold, there was a fellow with a long red cape on horseback. We stopped and sang another song. Ah ha. That must be St. Martin. But what's the deal with the cape? Must research. So, we walked along with St. Martin at the head of the procession on his rather skittish horse. We paused in a field, sang another song and then headed back to school.

Here's Becca with her class assistant. So, back at the school, a small bonfire was lit (who knew?), there was more singing and, oh, yeah, I was supposed to sell glühwein. Gulp. I approached the table and quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to be of any help. There were plenty of women already there, ladling piping hot glühwein from a huge pot into cups. I couldn't have Becca around that hot pot and I couldn't let her wander around alone in the dark either. So, I stood there a moment, not sure of what to do. "I should walk over there and tell the women that I was supposed to help, but that I really can't, " I said to myself. But, I didn't think I could express that clearly enough in German and just didn't feel like embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of people. So, I never said a word and prayed that that mom, who said she really needed the help, wouldn't confront me the next day at school.

I just sort of stood there for a few minutes in the cold, not really knowing what to do when I noticed people eating something, something that looked like bread or a pastry that they were getting from a table. I walked over to the table and a mom working there said, "Your child is an Igel, right?" "Yes, an Igel (a hedgehog). Her name is Rebecca Nylund," I answered. She looked through the bags in the Igel box and said, "Hmm, I don't see her name." She looked again and then said, "Did you order a some German word I didn't know? Order something? I was supposed to have ordered something? Nobody told me that. There was probably a sign up to order that whatever it was, but I didn't notice one and probably would not have understood it anyway.

Once again, we were in luck. They had a few extra whatever they were for sale and we bought one. I sat Rebecca down, reached into the paper back and pulled out, of all things, a piece of bread in the shape of a goose.

It must have been the whole feeling of having no idea what was going on the whole evening that made me want to burst out laughing. Of course, a goose bread! Why shouldn't there be a goose bread in the bag? I knew so little about St. Martin's Day, it could have been in the shape of a can of Spam and I wouldn't have known the difference. I definitely needed to do some research.

Rebecca biting the head off the goose. I hope we weren't breaking some unwritten rule about the proper way to eat a goose-shaped bread on St. Martin's Day.

Becca is not sure what she thinks of its raisin eye.

OK. So, the internet to the resue! St. Martin's Day is the feast day of 4th century Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptized; he has clothed me."

The day is celebrated in the evening of November 11 in many parts of Europe. Here is Germany, children go to houses with paper lanterns and candles, and sing songs about St. Martin in return for treats (we didn't go to individual houses) Often, a man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front of the procession.

To this day, the origin of the much-loved procession of lanterns is still unclear. To some, however, it is a substitute for the St. Martin bonfire, which is still lit in a few cities and villages throughout Europe. It formerly symbolized the light that holiness brings to the darkness, just as St. Martin brought a flicker of hope to the lives of the poor through his good deeds.

In some areas, there is a traditional goose meal. According to legend, Martin was very modest and reluctant to become bishop as the Church wanted, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him. I guess that explains the goose bread.

Alles klar.