November 11 is Saint Martin's Day in Germany. It is a traditional holiday that is celebrated in Germany, Austria, parts of Belgium and parts of the Netherlands. According to Wikipedia, Martin 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 baptised
; he has clothed me."
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| Lanterns the boys made in German class. |
To honor Saint Martin, children make paper lanterns and walk the streets in a parade being led by a man dressed as Saint Martin on a horse. They sing songs about lanterns and Saint Martin. At the end of the parade there is a reenactment of St. Martin giving part of his cloak to a beggar.
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| Liam, Kaleb, Alex, Carter waiting for the parade to begin. |
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| The boys and I in the Kaiserswerth parade. The sticks have battery operated lights. |
The boys have been learning the St. Martin's Day Lantern song in German and have been singing it constantly. I learned it just by listening to them and could join along:)
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| The parade in Angermund |
We went to the parade in Kaiserswerth and Angermund. They were on different evenings so we participated in both. The Kaiserswerth parade had all of their school friends and was very large. The Angermund parade was with mostly the German school kids, and a few ISD kids that we knew. It was smaller so we could see St. Martin and the reenactment better. Both were good - just different size. Because the parents paraded with the children, there weren't actually many people watching the parade. Everyone was participating instead. Kind of fun!
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| Beggar on the left, St. Martin on the horse on right |
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| We all stood around the reenactment and sang several times. |
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| St. Martin giving the piece of his cloak. |
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| Kaleb watching the fire. |
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Pictures from the Angermund reenactment.
After parading and the reenactment the children receive a treat bag containing apples, oranges, nuts, chocolate and a loaf of sweet bread. Then, they go to businesses and houses. After singing a St. Martin song they receive more goodies. This is similar to trick-or-treating, but I thought it was so much cuter. The boys, Liam especially, sang their hearts out which was so cute.
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| Singing a St. Martin lantern song at a store for candy. |
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| Liam, Alex, Carter ready to sing! |
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| Weckman bread for St. Martin's Day - sold at all the bakeries. |
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| Kaleb bundled up. It gets cold in the evenings. |
